by Stephen SmithI was heartened to see an article about the need for mass transit in the pages of The Nation, though I was severely disappointed by the magazine's own hypocrisy and historical blindness. The article is in all ways a standard left-liberal screed against the car and for mass … [Read more...]
Ant Cities Don’t Have a Planning Department
Ants are a lot like humans in some ways. Look what ants can achieve without any top down management:[hat tip: Cafe Hayek] … [Read more...]
Another Angle on Planning in Houston
Brian Phillips at Live Oaks contacted me regarding the recent post by Stephen Smith on planning in Houston. Brian is a long time opponent of land use restrictions and defender of property rights in Houston. Brian has a different point of view on the subject, and has written a post on his blog, … [Read more...]
Parking Minimums Hamper Development and Affordability
Thanks to Dan and Benjamin for separately tipping me off to this link: AP: Cities rethink wisdom of 50s-era parking standardsLike nearly all U.S. cities, D.C. has requirements for off-street parking. Whenever anything new is built — be it a single-family home, an apartment building, a store … [Read more...]
Hyde Park Chicago Before Zoning
photo by flickr user mandusI recently came across a great blog, Hyde Park Urbanist, which focuses on urbanism in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Hyde Park is located along Lake Michigan on the South Side and is the home of The University of Chicago as well as Frank LLoyd Wright's famous … [Read more...]
Journalists and Cities
Here's a link to an interesting article by Scott Page at Planetizen called A Journalistic View of Cities Scott discusses how mainstream journalists are poorly equipped to write appropriately on urban issues aside from than architecture.I was reading the New York Times Magazine special … [Read more...]
Socialist Cities
So, you think the planners in your area are taking something a little too far? Be glad you aren't in Venezuela...I wish I could link to the article by Michael Mehaffy in The Urban Land Institute's May edition of Urban Land titled "Venezuela's New Socialist Cities", but ULI doesn't provide the … [Read more...]
Government Planning Day
The Antiplanner discusses how well-intentioned agencies become wasteful government-planning bureaucracies. The mal-investment in our socialist highway system and the resulting congestion, pollution, disrepair, and sprawl come to mind. Using smart growth, modern day planners are trying to correct … [Read more...]