Anthony Ling, an excellent Brazilian blogger who also happens to be an avowed market urbanism, gives us an interesting look at the politics and economics of low-income housing in Brazil:In Brazil there is a vast regulation defining what are the minimum requirements to have a building approved by … [Read more...]
If it moves, tax it; if it keeps moving, regulate it; if it dies…
I apologize for the lack of posts for the last few days – I just moved to DC (a few blocks north of H Street, right by Gallaudet, if anyone's curious), and I have yet to begin another rewarding relationship with Comcast. But, I'm here at work (I started interning at Reason magazine today), and I've … [Read more...]
New Years link list
Behold, your first link list of 2011!1. The automobile may officially in decline (very good article!).2. Interesting parallels between China and its HSR intellectual property disputes and post-WWII Japan and Korea. More here.3. Fred Barnes writes a stupid article for the Weekly Standard … [Read more...]
Why I don’t like Inclusionary Zoning
Inclusionary zoning is a hot item among urban planners today, and is often seen as a solution to residential segregation and high housing costs. Exact implementations vary, but the general idea is that developers of multi-unit housing projects are encouraged to set aside a certain percentage of … [Read more...]
Vancouver shows how seeking community amenities from developers can go horribly wrong
A lot of time I hear liberal urbanists claiming that trading development rights for community amenities (I'd definitely include affordable housing mandates here) is a win-win situation, but there's a real danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg, as appears to be happening in … [Read more...]
Downtown Brooklyn’s $2 million affordable apartments (correction)
Inclusionary zoning is a bad enough idea, but at least it doesn't cost taxpayers anything directly. But New York State's Housing Finance Agency is taking the worst of both worlds – affordable housing mandates and public subsidies – and plopping them down in new luxury construction in the heart of … [Read more...]
Redistribution (a follow up)
I threw up Friday's Redistribution post somewhat hastily during my break, but there isn't much more that I haven't said before. As a follow-up, I'd like to tie it in with some other interesting reads.Ryan Avent at The Bellows agreed with Yglesias' post and added: Anyway, I saw in Google reader … [Read more...]
Glaeser: Let Housing Prices Fall
Ed Glaeser gives three compelling reasons why the government should end their infatuation with high housing prices. (Nonetheless, some of the same politicians speak through the other side of their mouths about promoting housing affordability): Why We Should Let Housing Prices Keep FallingThere … [Read more...]