I just read a 2018 book by a variety of authors (most notably Jonathan Levine, author of Zoned Out), From Mobility to Accessibility: Transforming Urban Transportation and Land Use Planning.The key point of the book is that rather than focusing solely on "mobility", planners should focus on … [Read more...]
Liberty Machines™
During an urbanist twitter free-for-all last week, the thoroughly awesome term "liberty machines" was used to describe the virtues of the car. The claim was made that cars let individuals go wherever they want, whenever they want and are therefore a ‘freedom enhancing’ form of … [Read more...]
“Curb Rights” at 20: A Summary and Review
At 4:30 am, alarms on my cellphone and tablet start beeping, just enough out of sync to prompt me to get up and turn them off. By 5:00 am, I riding as a passenger along an unusually sedate New Jersey Turnpike, making friendly conversation with my driver and survey partner to make sure he stays … [Read more...]
When It Comes to Walkability, Mexico City Is Miles Ahead
This piece was coauthored by Nolan Gray and Katarina Hall.It’s like Los Angeles, but worse. To many, that’s the mental image of Mexico City: a city of unending traffic, unbearable smog, and unrestrained horizontal expansion. Yet when one walks the streets of Mexico City, a distinct … [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...]
Six Shooters and Bullet Trains: High Speed Rail in Texas
California might have some competition in the race for high-speed rail.Texas Central Railway wants to begin construction on a high-speed line from Dallas to Houston as early as 2017. The current plan is to go from downtown to downtown, with possibly one stop along the way in College Station. An … [Read more...]
Rothbard The Urbanist Part 6: Traffic Control
Maybe the delay in posts led you to believe the Rothbard Series was complete. The good news is that there are a few more posts to go, and the ones coming up next should be the most interesting to urbanists.If you haven’t kept up with our discussion, Murray Rothbard’s classic For A New Liberty … [Read more...]
HSR Urbanists: “We Are All O’Tooles Now”
I probably won't make any friends today, but now I’ve read one too many urbanist (many who’s ideas I usually respect) use unsound logic to support high speed rail. This argument often includes something like this: “…and furthermore, highways and airports don’t come close to paying for themselves, … [Read more...]