Market Urbanism

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.

The Market, Zoning, and Freedom.

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J. Brian Phillips wrote a great post at Houston Property Rights about liberal property rights in Houston, but what Brian had to say applies to every place. Here's a snippet, but the entire post deserves a reading:when developers and builders see a need for greater density, they respond … [Read more...]

Dealing With NIMBYs

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NIMBYism is the biggest obstacle to the evolution of vibrant urban communities, but the incentives for some to use public forums to impose restrictions on neighboring properties are great. Local politicians often bow to the most vocal residents, often with minority opinions, to avoid making waves, … [Read more...]

Reason.org’s Staley Not in Favor of Property Rights if…

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That is, he argues that private property should be subject to government planning restrictions if a developer building densely on its property creates a traffic burden on government roads.Wooten points out that any solution to Atlanta's traffic congestion has to focus on roads, not transit or … [Read more...]

Glaeser on Affordability of NY vs Houston

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Harvard Economist Ed Glaeser wrote an opinion piece in the New York Sun about the differences in housing affordability and other costs of living between Houston and New York.New York is naturally more expensive than Houston because the geographical constraints force higher density development, … [Read more...]

Urban[ism] Legend: Greedy Developers

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This post is part of an ongoing series featured on Market Urbanism called Urbanism Legends. The Urbanism Legends series is intended to expose many of the myths about development and Urban Economics. (it's a play on the term: “Urban Legends” in case you didn’t catch that)We've all heard it said … [Read more...]

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