Asking, "But who will build the roads?" is a cliched response to proposals for a more libertarian political system. However, it leads to the interesting historical question of "Who has built the roads in anarchic societies?" Colonial America provides a few examples that answer this question. Perhaps … [Read more...]
Potential for Voluntary Infrastructure
Last fall I visited Budapest and learned some interesting history of the city's beautiful Chain Bridge. Before 1849, the small cities of Buda and Pest were connected by a temporary bridge that was only viable during warm months. In the winter, the bridge had to be taken down due to ice, making it … [Read more...]
Car and Driver(less) Link List
1) A reader pointed out this post at Volokh Conspiracy arguing that personal cars give us freedom, citing the example of automobiles helping African Americans boycott segregated buses in the 1950s. Sasha Volokh writes: Let’s think back to 1955, when African Americans stayed off segregated buses in … [Read more...]
The High Cost of Free Parking Chapters 1-4
Here's the first installation of Market Urbanism Book Club, covering the first four chapters of Donald Shoup's The High Cost of Free Parking. If you've read the book previously or are reading along, please share your thoughts and questions in the comments.Chapter 1:Shoup outlines the unusual … [Read more...]
DC Office of Planning releases an underwhelming study of proposed new streetcar network
Last week the DC Department of Transportation DC Office of Planning released a Streetcar Land Use Study describing the impacts that the proposed DC streetcar network will have for the city. Greater Greater Washington accepts the study as proof that the streetcar will be great for DC. The report is … [Read more...]
NYC Taxi Reform Doesn’t Go Far Enough
This post originally appeared at Neighborhood Effects, a Mercatus Center blog where we write about the economics of state and local policy.Next week, New York Governor Cuomo is likely to sign a bill that will marginally increase competition in the NYC cab market. The new rule will allow … [Read more...]
Alon Levy on the Suburbanization of Poverty
Over at Pedestrian Observations, Alon Levy has a typically well-written and researched post on the gentrification of poverty. He explores the well-researched trend that low-income Americans are increasingly moving to the suburbs as gentrification is driving up rents in inner cities. He hypothesizes … [Read more...]
Transit Oriented Development in Chevy Chase
In Chevy Chase, MD county planners have revised plans for the Chevy Chase Lake Sector from high rise, mixed-use development to low-rise, primarily residential buildings. The trigger to allow for higher-density development will be the arrival of the Purple Line, a proposed light rail that would … [Read more...]