1. This week at Market Urbanism
Nick Zaiac contributed his first Market Urbanism piece: The Cato Institute Goes After Arbitrary Historic Preservation Laws
between municipalities they can vary, depending on the precedents set by different circuit courts. Now the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington think tank, is filing a brief that aims to bring consistency to these laws nationwide.
Your Town Is A Financial Timebomb by Johnny Sanphilippo:
Do your best Ross Perot imitation and say the words, “sucking sound.” The primary difference between the older development pattern and the stuff that’s being built today has to do with the ratio of public investment vs. private value. Downtown and the adjacent residential areas are mostly small-scale, compact, multi-story buildings with a minimum amount of roads, pipes, and wires connecting them. The new stuff is overwhelmingly huge roads, attenuated water and sewer lines, endless cables and a tremendous amount of surface parking and grass.
2. Where’s Scott?
Scott Beyer spent his first week in Austin, and this weekend will visit the city’s northern suburbs, including Cedar Park, Round Rock and Georgetown. His Forbes article this week was about how Miami’s Parking Deregulation Will Reduce Housing Costs
While Frey was unsure yet about what kind of rents the building would command, he estimated that building structured parking–in this case 12 spaces, under the previous regulations–would have cost $300,000, or $25,000 per space. This, he said, would have added roughly $330 per month to average rents
3. At the Market Urbanism Facebook Group:
Sandy Ikeda spoke about Jane Jacob’s legacy at the Museum of Eldridge Street alongside Mindy Fullilove and Ron Schiffman. Sandy asked the MU group for some clarification on statements made at the event by Ron Schiffman, an urban affairs scholar at the Pratt Institute. After some interesting dialogue, Sandy concludes Schiffman likely misused terms.
David Welton is curious if developers would break from their mold if zoning didn’t get in their way
via Anthony Ling: “Patrik Schumacher unleashing entrepreneurial spirits at a widely read architecture magazine!“
Roger Valdez wrote: When Will Affordable Housing Advocates Push For More Supply, Fewer Rules?
Dan Bartolet wrote, Why Quashing Short-Term Rentals is a Zero-Sum Game for Housing Affordability; Seattle’s data-blind rush to regulate Airbnb is a recipe for unintended consequences.
via Matt Robare: “CT Supreme Court to decide if zoning enforcement warrants a warrant“
via Marcos Paulo Schlickmann: “Some Neo-Luddism” about driverless cars
via Jim Pagels and Caleb Brown: Cato podcast, Free Parking’s High Costs to Transit
via Anthony Ling: Blockchain-powered real estate platform Ubitquity records first property ownership transfer on the Bitcoin public ledger
via Nolan Gray: Park & Rides Lose Money and Waste Land — But Agencies Keep Building Them
via Matt Robare, “Seattle could abolish neighborhood councils“
via Nick Zaiac, “a wonderful case study in NIMBYism, to say the least.”
via Matt Robare, “From the Department of the bleeding obvious”: Walkability Is Key for Transit Use, Says New Study
4. Elsewhere
Vox explains the over-regulation–much of it at the urban level–that is “rigging” the economy
Reason Magazine: Cops, Blacks & Crime
City Journal: court fine policies turn citizens into ATMs
5. Stephen Smith‘s tweet of the week:
When housing is your biggest asset, even long-term owner-occupiers are speculators on some level. https://t.co/misUWM64QG
— Market Urbanism (@MarketUrbanism) July 14, 2016
