Recently I’ve been delaying posting a few things because I wanted to wait till I had more time to cover them, but I’m realizing that I’ll probably have new things to write about on the 15th (which is when regular posting will hopefully resume), so have at it – your first ever premium link list:
1. The Bowles-Simpson Plan is out (but apparently it’s not the final plan that will be presented to Obama), and it looks like a great deal for market urbanism. Their “Zero Plan” is a broad base, low rate approach that eliminates all tax deductions and credits, including not only the mortgage-interest rate deduction that we’ve discussed earlier, but also the tax break that businesses get for providing employees with parking that Shoup criticized a few weeks ago. (By the way, that first linked TPM article is by far the most comprehensive and concise outline of the plan that I’ve seen in the media so far.)
2. Cap’n Transit gives an overview of his local community group’s proposal for eliminating parking minimums in a politically-palatable way. Spoiler: it involves everybody’s favorite transit maps – frequency maps! People involved in DC’s recent moves towards parking reform should especially take note, since the success of their plan depends on the definition of “good transit service.”
3. Reinventing Parking has a post on illegal parking extortion in developing countries. In India and Bangladesh, which Paul Barter discusses, the problem is parking contractors illegally raising prices. In Bucharest, though, where I used to live, the “extortionists” were much less organized, usually gypsy street kids, who didn’t do much to stop you from parking, don’t actually provide protection for the car, and probably aren’t going to do anything to your car but guilt trip you if you don’t pay them. In either case, it sounds like a problem of the state biting off more than it can chew with regards to managing public space.
4. A few days ago I asked if anyone knew anything about how Google’s bus program turned out, and someone linked to this very interesting SF Chronicle article about how Googlers are paying a premium to live along the bus lines.
5. “SoHo,” she added, “is living a big charade.”
Also, I should add that thanks to Benjamin Hemric’s persistence, I’ve finally discovered why none of my comments are posting, so expect to see them in the future. Apologies to anyone who’s commented recently and expected a response – I’ve been leaving them, but I didn’t realize they still weren’t showing up.
