In Dark Age Ahead, Jacobs proclaims that 'we show signs of rushing headlong into a Dark Age.'Jane Jacobs wasn’t optimistic about the future of civilisation. ‘We show signs of rushing headlong into a Dark Age,’ she declares in Dark Age Ahead, her final book published in 2004. She evidences a … [Read more...]
Lessons from Cities and the Wealth of Nations: a manual for urban policymakers
Jacobs' adopted city of Toronto; source: Unsplash.Continuing this series of book reviews on Jane Jacobs’ works, I now turn to Cities and the Wealth of Nations. But there is already a fantastic piece on the Market Urbanism website, by Matthew Robare, who reviews this book and outlines what Jacobs … [Read more...]
Lessons from Jane Jacobs on The Economy of Cities
Four Cities Suite, by Hiro Yamagata (1983)At the heart of Jane Jacobs’ The Economy of Cities is a simple idea: cities are the basic unit of economic growth. Our prosperity depends on the ability of cities to grow and renew themselves; neither nation nor civilisation can thrive without cities … [Read more...]
The urban economics of sprawl
Should YIMBYs support or oppose greenfield growth? Two basic values animate most YIMBYs: housing affordability and urbanism. Sprawl puts those values into tension.https://twitter.com/salimfurth/status/1775556643909935597Let's take as a given that sprawl is "bad" urbanism, mediocre at … [Read more...]
How Much Should We Blame Planners for Sprawl?
How much should we blame planning for the degree to which cities sprawl? As much time as we (justifiably) spend here on this blog explaining how conventional U.S. planning drives excessive sprawl, it's worth periodically remembering that, at the end of the day, the actual extent of the horizontal … [Read more...]
Density Is How the Working Poor Outbid the Rich for Urban Land
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...]
Only 2 Ways to Fight Gentrification (you’re not going to like one of them)
Gentrification is the result of powerful economic forces. Those who misunderstand the nature of the economic forces at play, risk misdirecting those forces. Misdirection can exasperate city-wide displacement. Before discussing solutions to fighting gentrification, it is important to accept that … [Read more...]
Market Meltdown and Bailout Videos
Wow! This market is a mess.As a great follow up to his posts at CafeHayek on government's intervention in the housing market, Russell Roberts discusses the situation and bailout with reason.tv:Also...Here's the video from an Economics forum discussion at MIT (my Alma mater) on … [Read more...]