Thomas Schmidt wrote a great article for LewRockwell.com that covers a lot of urbanist ground, with some help from a broad selection of Jane Jacobs’ work. Here’s a snippet: Though you might blame any number of obvious villains and historical processes for this, the name Ebenezer Howard would … [Read more...]
How to Sidestep FAR Restrictions: Mezzanine Floors
Most municipalities use the Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.) metric to restrict development within their communities. F.A.R. is calculated by dividing the total floor area of a building by the area of the site it is built upon. In achieving planners’ and neighbors’ questionable objective of … [Read more...]
Urban[ism] Legend: The Myth of Herbert Hoover
![Urban[ism] Legend: The Myth of Herbert Hoover](https://i2.wp.com/34.201.95.206/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/hoover.jpg?fit=500%2C412)
Herbert Hoover is not a man I consider a "Legend" - quite the contrary. I use the words "Urbanism Legend" in the context of the series of posts intended to dispel popular myths as they relate to urbanism.Myths and fallacies about Herbert Hoover are abundant these days as the media discusses the … [Read more...]
The Story of I’On: Struggles of a New Urbanist Project
I recently googled upon a post at a blog called "Rub-a-Dub" that mentioned a land development project in Mount Pleasant, SC called I'On. I imagine the developers of the I'On "Traditional Neighborhood Development" (TND) community are sympathetic with Market Urbanism, as they named streets after … [Read more...]
Another Angle on Planning in Houston
Brian Phillips at Live Oaks contacted me regarding the recent post by Stephen Smith on planning in Houston. Brian is a long time opponent of land use restrictions and defender of property rights in Houston. Brian has a different point of view on the subject, and has written a post on his blog, … [Read more...]
Urban[ism] Legend: Is Houston really unplanned?
![Urban[ism] Legend: Is Houston really unplanned?](https://i0.wp.com/34.201.95.206/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/houston-sprawl-4.jpg?fit=600%2C439)
by Stephen SmithIt seems to be an article of faith among many land use commentators – both coming from the pro- and anti-planning positions – that Houston is a fundamentally unplanned city, and that whatever is built there is the manifest destiny of the free market in action. But is this true? … [Read more...]
Euclid’s Legacy
While well intentioned, like many progressive interventions of the eary 1900s, zoning has contributed to sprawl (which has begun to be demonized by progressives over the recent decades) and served to inhibit the vitality and diversity of urban neighborhoods. The triumph of the core philosophy behind … [Read more...]
Matt Yglesias fails to make the right case against highways
Matt Yglesias is one of the best mainstream bloggers on land use/transportation that I know of. As one blogger (who I don't recall right now) once said, his urban planning and transportation posts could be blogs in their own right. However, it's puzzling that in an article for Cato Unbound, he … [Read more...]