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“Market Urbanism” refers to the synthesis of classical liberal economics and ethics (market), with an appreciation of the urban way of life and its benefits to society (urbanism). We advocate for the emergence of bottom up solutions to urban issues, as opposed to ones imposed from the top down.

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  • What Should I Read to Understand Zoning?

The Case for Subsidizing Deed Restrictions

May 9, 2018 By Nolan Gray

Houston skyline

In most of my discussions of Houston here on the blog, I have always been quick to hedge that the city still subsidizes a system of quasi-private deed restrictions that control land use and that this is a bad thing. After reading Bernard Siegan’s sleeper market urbanist classic, “Land Use Without … [Read more...]

Filed Under: housing, planning, zoning Tagged With: bernard siegan, covenants, deed restrictions, hoas, homeowners associations, Houston, land-use regulation, zoning

Are Houston’s Deed Restrictions “Basically Zoning”?

April 11, 2018 By Nolan Gray

Houston Neighborhood

Houston doesn’t have zoning. As I have written about previously here on the blog, this doesn’t mean nearly as much as you would think. Sure, Houston’s municipal government doesn’t segregate uses or expressly regulate densities. But as my Market Urbanism colleague Michael Lewyn has documented, city … [Read more...]

Filed Under: planning, zoning Tagged With: bernard siegan, deed restrictions, hoas, home-owners associations, Houston, land-use regulation, private covenants, private governance, zoning

Density Is How the Working Poor Outbid the Rich for Urban Land

February 5, 2018 By Nolan Gray

multifamily housing

The great failing of modern land-use regulation is the failure to allow densities to naturally change over time. Let me explain.Imagine you are trying to sell a property you own in a desirable inner suburban neighborhood in your town. The lot is 4,000 square feet and hosts an old 4,000 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics, housing, zoning Tagged With: alain bertaud, density, louisville, real estate, Urban Economics, zoning

Is Zoning Popular? Reevaluating the Evidence

January 25, 2018 By Nolan Gray

New Brunswick, NJ Zoning Map

In my regular discussions of U.S. zoning, I often hear a defense that goes something like this: “You may have concerns about zoning, but it sure is popular with the American people. After all, every state has approved of zoning and virtually every city in the country has implemented zoning.”One … [Read more...]

Filed Under: history, planning, Urban[ism] Legends, zoning Tagged With: Chicago, euclidian zoning, history of planning, Houston, new york, planning, racial segregation, scpea, St. Louis, szea, zoning

Mini review: Suburb, by Royce Hanson

January 17, 2018 By Michael Lewyn

Suburb: Planning Politics and the Public Interest is a scholarly book about planning politics in Montgomery County, a (mostly) affluent suburb of Washington, D.C.  The book contains chapters on redevelopment of inner ring, transit-friendly areas such as Friendship Heights and Silver Spring, but also … [Read more...]

Filed Under: infrastructure, Logistics & Transportation, Michael Lewyn, NIMBYism, planning, Transportation, zoning Tagged With: downzoning, level of service, Washington

Zoning Laws, the Housing Market and the Ripple Effect

December 28, 2017 By George Leef

ripple effect housing

Henry Hazlitt has called economics a science of recognizing secondary consequences. What he and others who have taken the time to study the working of free markets have perceived is that there is a natural orderliness in uncoerced dealings between men which tends to maximize the well-being of each … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics, history, housing, zoning Tagged With: exclusionary zoning, inclusionary zoning, zoning

The Progressive Roots of Zoning

November 24, 2017 By Adam Hengels

by Samuel R StaleyBefore the twentieth century land-use and housing disputes were largely dealt with through courts using the common-law principle of nuisance. In essence if your neighbor put a building, factory, or house on his property in a way that created a measurable and tangible harm, courts … [Read more...]

Filed Under: history, Law, planning, Policy, zoning Tagged With: Edward Bassett, history, New York City, planning, progressivism, zoning

Subsidizing Suburbia: A forgotten history of how the government created suburbia

September 5, 2017 By Devon Zuegel

This is the first article of a five-part series on suburbia in the United States.In primary school, one of my friends lived in a duplex. This fact blew my mind. To my inexperienced 7-year-old mind, a duplex barely registered as a house. Her family shared a driveway with their neighbors, and their … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economics, housing, Policy, sprawl, zoning Tagged With: subsidization, suburbia, suburbs

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