(A shot of Wilshire Boulevard, one of the only areas in Los Angeles that allows high-rise development. / photo by Scott Beyer)
1. This week at Market Urbanism:
The Rural Libertarian As A Historical Anomaly by Sandy Ikeda
I believe the positive correlation between political conservatism and libertarianism and rural or “agricultural” living is an historical anomaly; that historically the countryside has been a great obstacle to liberty while cities have been the places where liberty and the fruits of liberty have flourished.
Burrowing Owls, Comic Books, and Telling Stories That Change the World by Jeff Fong
Translating the article’s information, ideas and arguments into a visually consumable format, however, makes it accessible to a much larger group of people. For every person that read the original article, there are probably fifty who would thumb through the comic book if left out on your coffee table.
7 Reasons To Oppose Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Integrity Initiative by Shane Phillips
It’s a really bad plan, but calling Measure S “bad” doesn’t go nearly far enough. It is, in fact, the Donald Trump of ballot initiatives. It’s a cynical effort to co-opt a legitimate sense of frustration—frustration felt by those who haven’t shared in the gains of an increasingly bifurcated society—and to use that rage and desperation for purely selfish purposes.
2. Announcement:
Kim-Mai Cutler, a Bay Area journalist, launched a kickstarter for her upcoming comic book about the need for more housing. Saturday is the final day of the campaign.
3. Where’s Scott?
Scott Beyer will spend most the upcoming week meandering his way from Los Angeles to San Francisco, stopping in Malibu, Santa Barbara, Monterey and other coastal cities. His Forbes article this week was about his Year Spent Traveling Through America’s Fast-Growing Sunbelt
The popular explanation is that people are seeking warmer climates. This is likely somewhat true–but regulatory climates also factor in. Economic Freedom rates, which in America have been a driver of population shifts, are generally higher in the Sunbelt. And land-use regulations are looser, leading to more housing and cheaper prices.
4. At the Market Urbanism Facebook Group (now over 2,000 followers):
Nolan Gray asks, “Anyone know any examples of cities successfully permitting by-right ADUs?”
Tom W. Bell shared a chapter in a forthcoming book, and asks, “How badly can a planned community go?” [Case Study: Fordlandia] as well as his forthcoming book, “Your Next Government? From Nation States to Stateless Association”
Roger Valdez wrote: Liberal Economists Trust Poor People More Than Liberal Politicians Do
Nicholas Rogers asks, “Does anyone know of any pro-market urbanist organisations?”
Jesse Kanson-Benanav invites us all to “a Greater Boston YIMBY meetup to help strengthen connections between pro-housing activists across our region.”
Derek Khanna is “looking for feedback on a long-form piece on housing policy in SF with 12 ideas to fix rent costs (to be published by Lincoln Network).”
Jacci Ziebert asks for podcast recommendations. Have any other recommendations?
Brennan Griffin is “interested to hear what folks in this group think of this argument on linkage fees by The Urbanist from 2015. Linkage fees are coming up in Austin in the coming months.”
Nga Ph?m is hoping someone will add more recent information to the wikipedia article on gentrification, and refers to “Five Myths about Gentrification“
Joe McKinney posts, “Don’t Argue About Regulation, build Uber. Don’t argue about monetary policy, build bitcoin. Don’t argue about it, build the alternative.”
via Christopher Lanter, “‘Rent Stabilization Ordinance’ gumming up the works in LA’s rental market.“
via John Morris and Michael Wilson: Where the Buffalo Zone; An innovative zoning code overhaul could help revive the western New York city and is already inspiring copycats.
via John Morris: Found this cool site/blog about small streets, alleyways around the world.
via Mark Frazier: How to Predict Gentrification: Look for Falling Crime
via Michael Wilson: Where People Will Want to Be: “Surban” Communities
via John Morris, “Alleyways are becoming trendy in cities like DC.“
via Joe McKinney: Experts Predict Boom in Mexico’s New Special Economic Zones
via Asher Meyers, ‘MIT Study: “suggests that using carpooling options from companies like Uber and Lyft could reduce the number of vehicles on the road 75 percent without significantly impacting travel time.’
via Asher Meyers: Luxury Apartment Boom Looks Set to Fizzle in 2017
via Jon Coppage: Main Street Gets a Boost from Washington
via John Morris: When the Wealthy and Privileged Hijack All the Narratives—Including Convincing the Poor that Housing Is Bad
via David N. Welton, “Strong Towns article on Hacker News getting lots of attention:” “The Real Reason Your City Has No Money“
via Nick Zaiac, “New paper from David Scheicher just released.” Stuck in Place: Law and the Economic Consequences of Residential Stability
via Luiz Eduardo Peixoto: After decades of growth, South Korea is now a land full of apartments
via Bjorn Swenson, “Boulder, CO is hiring a directing planner“
via Jeff A. Taylor: Tiny houses in Atlanta face tough restrictions
via John Morris: Five years in, Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project is hardly any closer to being a real city (Las Vegas)
via Jim Pagels: Ben Carson HUD confirmation testimony, stressing the importance of deregulation
via Michael Lewyn, “What do people think of this idea- the idea that inclusionary zoning etc. doesn’t raise rents because landowners rather than developers pay its costs?“
5. Elsewhere
Chicago Alderman threatens to block micro-apartment project after judge orders evicted tenants to leave.
The Architecture of Neoliberalism by Douglas Spencer review – privatising the world (A primitive critique of Patrik Schumacher’s “radical free-market urbanism”)
6. Stephen Smith‘s tweet of the week:
There is no amount of subsidy that is going to solve San Francisco’s housing crisis https://t.co/HDqpUxmcLT
— Market Urbanism (@MarketUrbanism) January 3, 2017
