In my home county, Montgomery County, Maryland, rent control is on the agenda after County Executive Marc Elrich and a county council majority each released competing proposals to cap annual rent increases.Adam Pagnucco responded with a series of posts at Montgomery Perspective about the … [Read more...]
Book Review: HIAHP
Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern's book Homelessness is a Housing Problem filled such a useful niche that even before I read it, I had started referring to it by acronym. But, like Missing Middle Housing, this book moved my priors in the opposite direction than the authors intended.As a … [Read more...]
Welcome Michael Nahas
Market Urbanism is proud to welcome Michael Nahas as a new writer who will bring an Austin perspective to the blog. Michael's Twitter handle is @MichaelDNahas, and he also blogs at City Econ.Here's a short interview we did over email.Emily: How did you become interested in … [Read more...]
The fallacy of total rent regulation
One of the most-common beliefs many leftists in America hold is that the staggering increase in apartment rents is not a result of not building enough supply but rather a combination of greedy landlords, corporations buying out rental properties, and landlords intentionally keeping units vacant to … [Read more...]
Introducing Szymon Pifczyk
New year, new ideas. Market Urbanism is proud to welcome Szymon Pifczyk as a new writer who will bring new perspectives to this ever-evolving blog. Szymon's Polish-language Twitter handle is @sheemawn, which is a pronunciation clue. His English-language account is the popular @YIMBYPoland.Here's … [Read more...]
Wanted: Market urbanist research assistant
Ever wondered how you could make your urbanism hobby a full-time job? Come work with me & Emily Hamilton at the Mercatus Center's Urbanity project:Are you a gritty, liberty-minded researcher who is passionate about cities? This is a unique opportunity for an aspiring scholar to develop a … [Read more...]
Before YIMBY
In an encouraging post this morning, Matt Yglesias - one of the O.G. YIMBYs - summed up 10 years of success since his book, The Rent Is Too Damn High, was published. If you'd asked me, I'd have guessed that Too Damn High was published in 2015 or 2016, when YIMBY was in its infancy and researchers … [Read more...]
Rent Control is How the Rich Outbid Less-Affluent People for Valuable Land
Several homes in my neighborhood have sold recently, each more expensive than the last. The priciest was a lovely home that drew $1.65 million at the peak of this spring's market.Takoma Park is a great place to live. It's also the only jurisdiction in the region that has rent control.As a … [Read more...]