This week’s column is drawn from a lecture I gave at the University of Southern California on the occasion of the retirement of urban economist Peter Gordon.One of my heroes is the urbanist Jane Jacobs, who taught me to appreciate the importance for entrepreneurial development of how public … [Read more...]
Market Urbanism MUsings March 4, 2016
1. Where's Scott?Scott Beyer spent his second week in the Oklahoma City area, finding a place in the relatively wealthy northern college suburb of Edmond, OK. This week he wrote for Governing about New Orleans' music noise issue, and profiled a man in Forbes who escaped Cuba by raft for … [Read more...]
Market Urbanism MUsings: February 26, 2016
1. This week at Market Urbanism:Nolan Gray contributed a post Who Plans?: Jane Jacobs’ Hayekian critique of urban planning discussing Jacobs' three arguments against central planning: Hayek and Jacobs defended the importance of local knowledge, illustrated the power of decentralized planning, … [Read more...]
New Years link list
Behold, your first link list of 2011!1. The automobile may officially in decline (very good article!).2. Interesting parallels between China and its HSR intellectual property disputes and post-WWII Japan and Korea. More here.3. Fred Barnes writes a stupid article for the Weekly Standard … [Read more...]
Midweek link list
1. Mumbai is rethinking its density bonuses for developers who build parking lots and hand them over free of charge to the city.2. Tort liability driving away possible MARC operators.3. San Mateo County legislators threaten to charge San Franciscans a congestion charge similar to the one … [Read more...]
Yes, Virginia, government roads really are government subsidized, and no, they don’t approximate freed-market outcomes
Recently, I came accross an article by Charles Johnson, who blogs at Rad Geek. The article had linked to a Market Urbanism post about how user fees and gas taxes fall well short of funding road use in the US. Charles' article further debunks the Urbanism Legend asserted by free-market imposters … [Read more...]
Using eminent domain to blight neighborhoods
by Stephen SmithThe Weekly Standard has a comprehensive and compelling piece of investigative reporting on Columbia University's attempt to acquire 17 acres in the heart of the Manhattanville section, north of its Morningside campus. The tale is a classic example of eminent domain abuse – the … [Read more...]
Somin: Prop 99 Worse Than Nothing
Ilya Somin at Volokh: Why California's Proposition 99 is a Lot Worse than NothingYesterday's California returns show that Proposition 98 - the referendum initiative that would have imposed real restrictions on eminent domain and also phased out rent control - has been overwhelmingly defeated by … [Read more...]