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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.

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  • What Should I Read to Understand Zoning?

traffic and development

September 26, 2023 By Michael Lewyn

One common NIMBY argument is that new development is bad because it brings traffic. As I have pointed out elsewhere, this is silly because it is a "beggar thy neighbor" argument: the traffic doesn't go away if you block the development, it just goes somewhere else.But my argument assumed that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Michael Lewyn, NIMBYism, Transportation, Travel

Is there really a building boom? Not as much as you might think

September 12, 2023 By Michael Lewyn

I've noticed numerous stories and tweets about a building boom: for example, a recent CNBC story asserts that the number of new apartments is "at a 50-year high." Various twitterati have used this claim to support their own points of view: some claim that rents are stabilizing because of this new … [Read more...]

Filed Under: history, housing, Michael Lewyn

Are Republicans or Democrats more pro-housing? Yes.

August 21, 2023 By Michael Lewyn

Some weeks ago, I was participating in a Zoom discussion on NIMBYism, and someone asked: are Republicans and conservatives more pro-housing than Democrats and liberals, or less so?After examining some poll data, I discovered that the answer depends on how the question is asked. A 2023 Yougov … [Read more...]

Filed Under: housing, Michael Lewyn, NIMBYism Tagged With: Democrats, republicans

Why lawyer salaries matter

June 23, 2023 By Michael Lewyn

Today's Wall Street Journal includes a front-page article about sky-high lawyer incomes. The article points out that top lawyers can earn $15 million per year or more.Why is this relevant to urbanism or markets? Because one common argument against new condos (at least in NYC) is that they … [Read more...]

Filed Under: housing, Michael Lewyn, NIMBYism

On coexistence

June 19, 2023 By Michael Lewyn

One common NIMBY* argument is that new housing (or the wrong kind of new housing) will "destroy the neighborhood." For example, one suburban town's politicians fought zoning reform in New York by claiming that allowing multifamily housing "is a direct assault on the suburbs."Indeed, many people … [Read more...]

Filed Under: housing, Michael Lewyn, NIMBYism, Travel, Uncategorized, zoning Tagged With: charlotte

Another of these studies that don’t mean what some people thinks it means

April 11, 2023 By Michael Lewyn

A group of researchers at the Urban Institute came out with a new study on zoning and housing affordability. At governing.com, a headline about the study screamed: "Zoning Changes Have Small Impact on Housing Supply." The Governing writer's spin was, of course, "there's no evidence it [upzoning] … [Read more...]

Filed Under: housing, Michael Lewyn, zoning

Do The Cities Need The Suburbs?

February 26, 2023 By Michael Lewyn

Aaron Renn has an interesting article in Governing. He suggests that even though urban cores are responsible for a significant chunk of the regional tax base, "[t]he city is dependent on the suburbs, too." In particular, he notes that downtowns are dependent on a labor and consumer pool that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Michael Lewyn, sprawl Tagged With: suburbs

The conspiracy theory of rent increases

January 30, 2023 By Michael Lewyn

An article in Curbed by Lane Brown has gotten much publicity in Twitter.  The article makes two factual claims: 1) New York City is still losing households, and thus there was no reason for rents to go back up in 2021-22; and 2) landlords are conspiring to keep supply down because some … [Read more...]

Filed Under: housing, Michael Lewyn Tagged With: Vacancy

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