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.

Not Marshmallows, but a Really, REALLY Big Lollipop

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In the last post, commenter AWP helped me realize that the marshmallow mountain analogy could be improved upon, since one person eating a marshmallow prevented another person from eating that same marshmallow.  But the road cannot be subdivided as simply.  Yes, a nit-picky implication of the vagueness of the term “good”, but I want to communicate as well as I can.

So, I plan to revise the article to use the analogy of a really, really big lollipop.  It’s a significant enough revision that I think it deserves mentioning.  Let me know if you think of a better analogy.

Government built the interstate highway system, they could build a BIGGER lollipop than this...

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  • awp

    If my understanding of how Asphalt and Lollipops are made

    you mix together the ingredients, then heat it up, then pour it to shape*

    then this is a very apt analogy, and we could even use the same machines we use now to make a freeway network shaped lollipop, and a lick of lollipop would then be a Public Good.

    *with the only difference for concrete that you don’t have to heat it up.

  • Frank Starkey

    In FL, gov’t would only build a huge lollipop if the lickership projections showed that the State taxpayers wouldn’t end up having to subsidize it. Of course, these projections would be based on how many people currently lick a lollipop that doesn’t exist, and assume no one is introduced to the deliciousness of sugar, or whose only similar experience is a cough drop (Amtrak)…

    Yes, the analogy works beautifully.

  • Benjamin Hemric

    I’ve been meaning to comment on the important market urbanism topic of this post, but I have been — and still am — too busy.

    HOWEVER, I can’t help but submit a comment on the photo that is accompanying the post, as the photo is — by coincidence — a photo of an intersection in Jamaica Hills, Queens, down the street from where I grew up, and the intersection has an interesting history that may be of some interest to readers of the Market Urbanism blog!

    This photo looks across 164th Street, just north of 85th Ave., and is taken from what was once the private right of way of a trolley line that used to connect downtown Jamaica with downtown Flushing. (On Google Maps, the private right of way, which no longer goes all the way through, is named “Glenn Ave.”) Most of the trolley line was along public streets (and through large public parks), but along certain sections it ran along a private right of way (some of which was in people’s backyards).

    The reason this section of the trolley line is along a private right of way is kind of interesting. There’s a ridge that runs east-west along a large section of Long Island. (Supposedly it is a debris line of the last polar ice cap.) The ridge created too steep an incline for a trolley, so builders of the trolley line built this private right of way that cuts across the ridge at a lower incline.

    The trolley line closed in the mid-1930s, I believe. In part it was a victim, if I remember correctly from my research, of Mayor LaGuardia’s anti-trolley animus. (He thought trolleys were a thing of the past.)

    When I lived in Jamaica, the two-story buildings across the street used to house, among other things, an old-fashioned pharmacy, stationery / “candy” store, and bar and grill (that made pizzas). In my imagination, I kind of envisage it a nice little trolley stop for this “trolley car suburb.”

    The area’s current history is also interesting. In the 1970s, the neighborhood became a center of the Sri Chinmoy spiritual movement, and many of the buildings in the area are owned by people affiliated with the movement. Sri Chinmoy was from India, so a lot of the buildings have interesting decorative touches that I guess are South-Asian inspired (or maybe it was Sri Chinmoy’s personal taste?). For instance, note the blue and white paint on the building on the left side of the photo.

    I believe the Sri Chinmoy people use the old trolley line as a running track and picnic grounds. (The Sri Chinmoy spiritual movement seems to place a lot of value on physical fitness and, seemingly, extraordinary feats.) However the private right of way no longer goes all the way through, as the City built a school on the “far” end of the right of way (on Parsons Blvd.).

    This intersection is, by the way, only a very short walk (two short NYC bus stops) away from downtown Jamaica and that new Ramada Inn hotel that I mentioned in one of my Feb. 9, 2011, comments on the post about upzoning and parking minimums in Jamaica.

    Benjamin Hemric
    Sun., Feb. 27, 2011, 8:30 p.m.

  • Benjamin Hemric

    I’ve been meaning to comment on the important market urbanism topic of this post, but I have been — and still am — too busy.

    HOWEVER, I can’t help but submit a comment on the photo that is accompanying the post, as the photo is — by coincidence — a photo of an intersection in Jamaica Hills, Queens, down the street from where I grew up, and the intersection has an interesting history that may be of some interest to readers of the Market Urbanism blog!

    This photo looks across 164th Street, just north of 85th Ave., and is taken from what was once the private right of way of a trolley line that used to connect downtown Jamaica with downtown Flushing. (On Google Maps, the private right of way, which no longer goes all the way through, is named “Glenn Ave.”) Most of the trolley line was along public streets (and through large public parks), but along certain sections it ran along a private right of way (some of which was in people’s backyards).

    The reason this section of the trolley line is along a private right of way is kind of interesting. There’s a ridge that runs east-west along a large section of Long Island. (Supposedly it is a debris line of the last polar ice cap.) The ridge created too steep an incline for a trolley, so builders of the trolley line built this private right of way that cuts across the ridge at a lower incline.

    The trolley line closed in the mid-1930s, I believe. In part it was a victim, if I remember correctly from my research, of Mayor LaGuardia’s anti-trolley animus. (He thought trolleys were a thing of the past.)

    When I lived in Jamaica, the two-story buildings across the street used to house, among other things, an old-fashioned pharmacy, stationery / “candy” store, and bar and grill (that made pizzas). In my imagination, I kind of envisage it a nice little trolley stop for this “trolley car suburb.”

    The area’s current history is also interesting. In the 1970s, the neighborhood became a center of the Sri Chinmoy spiritual movement, and many of the buildings in the area are owned by people affiliated with the movement. Sri Chinmoy was from India, so a lot of the buildings have interesting decorative touches that I guess are South-Asian inspired (or maybe it was Sri Chinmoy’s personal taste?). For instance, note the blue and white paint on the building on the left side of the photo.

    I believe the Sri Chinmoy people use the old trolley line as a running track and picnic grounds. (The Sri Chinmoy spiritual movement seems to place a lot of value on physical fitness and, seemingly, extraordinary feats.) However the private right of way no longer goes all the way through, as the City built a school on the “far” end of the right of way (on Parsons Blvd.).

    This intersection is, by the way, only a very short walk (two short NYC bus stops) away from downtown Jamaica and that new Ramada Inn hotel that I mentioned in one of my Feb. 9, 2011, comments on the post about upzoning and parking minimums in Jamaica.

    Benjamin Hemric
    Sun., Feb. 27, 2011, 8:30 p.m.

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