Market Urbanism

Liberalizing cities | From the bottom up

“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.

Washington Post: Only Idiots Think Infrastructure Spending Is Wasteful, And Americans Are Idiots

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It’s no surprise that a lot of politicians and policymakers believe that America’s biggest infrastructure problem is insufficient taxpayer funding. But never have I seen it expressed so condescendingly as in a Washington Post article published yesterday in the PostLocal section, not … [Read more...]

Washington Post: Only Idiots Think Infrastructure Spending Is Wasteful, And Americans Are Idiots

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It’s no surprise that a lot of politicians and policymakers believe that America’s biggest infrastructure problem is insufficient taxpayer funding. But never have I seen it expressed so condescendingly as in a Washington Post article published yesterday in the PostLocal section, not … [Read more...]

DC Approved 4,000 New Housing Units This Year, But Is It Enough?

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Twitter tells me that earlier tonight, “not-ruling-it-out” possible future mayoral contender (and local smart growth demigod) Tommy Wells held his inaugural book club meeting; the book discussed was Ed Glaeser’s Triumph of the City. DC’s chief planner Harriet Tregoning was … [Read more...]

Zoning in NYC, Then and Now

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New York City’s Department of City Planning claims that the original 1916 zoning code allowed enough building stock growth to accomodate as many as 55 million people in the city. Readers can probably guess that today’s code is a bit less liberal, but Columbia University’s Center for Urban Real … [Read more...]

NYC Officials Take Notice of Astronomical Subway Construction Costs

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New York City’s subway lines – the engines that keep the city’s real estate market moving – are notoriously expensive to build. Tunneling projects in New York routinely clock in at five to ten times the cost of their Asian and European counterparts, putting the city’s measly 20-30% aboveground union … [Read more...]

The Progressive Reaction Against NYC’s First Subway

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nycsubway.org has an amazing trove of transit history, and I just got done reading “The Impact of the IRT on New York City” by Clifton Hood, on the effects of New York‘s first subway rapid transit line, first opened in 1904. There’s so much in it to recommend, but one of the … [Read more...]

Meet Me At The Corner Of Mises & Jane Jacobs!

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I'On Village, South Carolina About three years ago Adam wrote about the the story of I’On Village, a New Urbanist development build about a decade ago five miles outside of Charleston, and the difficulties that Vince Graham faced trying to build it. For one, the project had to be scaled … [Read more...]

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