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.

A Request for Readers

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1. I’ve been writing for Market Urbanism for about a year now and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Getting your comments and hearing from readers is so rewarding. To provide more of what you’re interested in, I would really appreciate any comments about what topics or types of posts you would like to see covered here.

2. This summer I’m hoping to read two urbanist staples that I’ve read a lot about but am ashamed to say I’ve never actually read: The Economics of Zoning Laws: A Property Rights Approach to American Land Use Controls by William Fischel and Donald Shoup’s The High Cost of Free Parking. If anyone else would like to tackle these in the next few months or has already read them and would like to contribute to some discussion on them, I’d be happy to set up a Google Group for that.

  • I’d be interested (definitely in Parking and I might be able to gird my loins for Zoning) and I might be able to recruit the fiance, too…

  • Jeremy H.

    Would love to see more coverage of HOAs and similar quasi-private, quasi-government institutions (both the good and the bad).

  • Emily Washington

    Thanks, Jeremy. That’s a great idea. I want to become more familiar with Elinor Ostrom’s work which provides some of the foundations for that area.

  • Chris C

    I’d be interested in discussing both books.

  • Brian Phillips

    I would also be interested in discussing those books. Please let me know if you set up a Google Group.

  • 2. I haven’t read either but I want to read both. (Hell, I wasn’t aware Fischel had written a book about this – I’d only read his papers. Sigh.)

    1. To be honest, what kind of posts are you most comfortable writing? I’d be most interested in hearing what you know and think about various infrastructure privatization case studies. But you seem to be more comfortable writing about urbanist issues, which is fine; it’s interesting as well, and if you feel like this is your strength, you should stick to it. (It happens to me, in reverse – i.e. I’m interested in both urban and transportation issues, but I feel like my transportation posts are a lot more original and successful.)

  • “Bourgeois Nightmares: Suburbia, 1870-1930” by Robert Fogelson is a good (if slightly repetitive) read that you might find interesting.

  • Jeremy H.

    Haven’t read it, but looks good, thanks. McKenzie’s “Privatopia” is a good summary of HOAs, even though he takes a somewhat negative view of them (just saw he published a follow-up last year, “Beyond Privatopia,” that I haven’t read). Spencer MacCallum’s “Art of Community” is a classic, if slightly dated (though he has written good follow-up articles over the years).

  • Peaton

    Instead of google could you host the comments on the blog? I think it would be great, and also I suggest a reading list.

  • Emily Washington

    The comments issue isn’t up to me, but that is something I could run by Adam. You may have already seen this, but he put together a pretty comprehensive reading list here: 
    http://www.marketurbanism.com/academic-links/

  • Emily Washington

    Good point, I tend to write what I know the most about, and I do not have the transit expertise that you or Stephen does at all. Mostly though, blogging is such a great opportunity to learn, so as I get more comfortable with transportation issues, hopefully I’ll be writing more about that.

  • I’m willing to give anything a shot if there’s a desire for a feature, just let me know. With wordpress there may be plug-ins that
    can accommodate just about anything you can think of.

    Also, I haven’t added to the academic links tab in a while, but if you suggest something, I’ll add it.

  • 1) Write what you’re interested in.

    2) I just purchased Economics of Zoning and would love to discuss it with the readers via Google Group. And Shoup’s is a classic that I’ve love to debate with other readers.

  • Haven’t read Fischel, but I have read Shoup (though it’s been a while).  Shoup’s book is a lift, and it can be somewhat dry – but the good thing is that each chapter can be read somewhat independently of the others without losing too much. 

  • Jeff Jacobberger

    I’d be happy to contribute to the discussion about The High Cost of Free Parking.

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