|
||||
|
Manhattan. CC image from sakeeb. Breaking news! Last week, the New York Times reported that it is expensive to live in Manhattan. The Times frames the question through the lens of the middle class, asking what the definition means in the context of they city’s densest borough. In a city like New York, where everything is Continue reading Middle class in Manhattan? Requiring developers to build off-street parking is expensive. That’s the key takeaway from a City of Portland study on the impacts of parking requirements on housing affordability. (This study was linked to in a previous post) To illustrate the point, the city looks at a hypothetical development and considers a number of different scenarios for Continue reading Parking tradeoffs – on-street and off-street Why didn’t anyone tell me that DC is the most affordable city in America? Such was one of the headlines of a summary article about a new report from the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. The report’s title (Losing Ground: The Struggle Of Moderate-Income Households To Afford The Rising Costs Of Continue reading The most affordable city in America! Surface parking in Minneapolis. CC image from Zach K. Writing in MinnPost, Marlys Harris asks why (seemingly) nothing is getting done in Minneapolis. She comes up with three broad reasons: a negative attitude towards new development, economic justifications that don’t pencil out for new projects, and the impact of zoning and land use regulations – Continue reading Parking requirements and unintended consequences 'Truth' – CC image from Kellan A few items on affordability and development: Short term vs. long term: Matt Yglesias asks why we’re not building more multi-unit buildings in the face of tremendous demand, and the answer is (broadly speaking) financing: Karl Smith, citing me, blames anti-density land use rules. Naturally I would like everyone to buy my book and Continue reading Constraints to affordability House for rent. CC image from Sean Dreilinger Foreclosed sprawl – the next frontier of renting? The New York Times looks at the practice of firms buying up foreclosed, cookie cutter sprawl housing at relatively low prices with the idea of renting these houses out to tenants. As an inspector for the Waypoint Real Estate Group, Continue reading Links: The new American Dream CC image from Jaybird A few more thoughts (and links) to discussion from The Rent is Too Damn High. On rent control: Mike Konzcal (linking to JW Mason) notes how Yglesias’ book is more or less an endorsement of renting, yet rent control and similar sorts of tenant protections are part of what helps give renters Continue reading The rent is still too damn high I just finished a nice, quick read of Matt Yglesias’ new e-book The Rent is too Damn High. Following in the same vein as Ryan Avent’s The Gated City, Yglesias documents the perverse economic impacts of development regulations and restrictions on urban areas. Though not as well sourced and without the in-depth discussion of Avent’s Continue reading The rent is too damn high Ryan Avent’s recently published Kindle Single on urban economics entitled “The Gated City” finally enticed me to venture into eBooks. I’ve tested out friends’ Kindles, but never felt the urge to spend my cash on one – I still like the feel of a real book and don’t care to carry yet another device around, Continue reading eBooks and Cities |
||||
|
Copyright © 2013 City Block - All Rights Reserved |
||||
Recent Comments