One common argument against new housing is that it will turn "[neighborhood at issue] into Dubai." Evidently, some people think Dubai is a hellscape of super-dense skyscapers.In fact, Dubai isn't very dense at all. Downtown Dubai has a population of about 13,200 people in 0.77 square miles, or … [Read more...]
More evidence that sunlight is no crisis
In my email box today, I received a message from an anti-housing group, touting a study from the localize.city website* on sunlight on New York neighborhoods. The purpose of the study is to show which neighborhoods have the least sunlight.The study found that 27 of the city's allegedly … [Read more...]
The Paper of Record Gets Yorkville Wrong
Even the most supposedly reputable mainstream media is often less than careful in its coverage of housing issues. For example, a few weeks ago the New York Times ran an article on the Upper East Side's Yorkville neighborhood, implying that high-rises are "erasing their community's … [Read more...]
Learning from Astor Street
One common argument against mixing housing types and densities is that if housing type A (for example, townhouses or single-family homes) is mixed with housing type B (for example, condos), the neighborhood will somehow be "ruined" for residents of the less dense housing types.Last week, my new … [Read more...]
The Truth About “Red Vienna”: Its a YIMBY Paradise!
One common leftist argument against new housing is the "Red Vienna" argument: the claim that housing can only be affordable in places where the government dominates the housing market. Supporters of this claim like to mention Vienna, where (according to progressive lore) Big Brother builds lots and … [Read more...]
High-Rises and Street Life
One common argument against tall buildings is that they reduce street life, because the most expensive high-rises have gyms and other amenities that cause people to stay inside the buildings rather than using the street. Because Manhattan has plenty of high-rises and plenty of street life, I have … [Read more...]
A great new paper on how government fights walking
Many readers of this blog know that government subsidizes driving- not just through road spending, but also through land use regulations that make walking and transit use inconvenient and dangerous. Gregory Shill, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law, has written an excellent … [Read more...]
Big Media Gets Big Buildings Wrong
While reading someone else's work, I recently ran across an article by David Cay Johnston of the New York Times, claiming that overseas oligarchs turning apartments all over the world into unused "ghost apartments". In this article, Johnston writes: "In Paris, for instance, one apartment in four … [Read more...]