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.

Video: Sandy Ikeda on The Unintended Consequences of “Smart Growth”

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I came across this video interview of economist Sandy Ikeda by the Mackinac Center. Sandy currently blogs at thinkmarkets and has contributed guest posts to Market Urbanism. I thought Sandy did a great job discussing many of the topics we cover in this site. Sandy is particularly insightful when … [Read more...]

HSR Urbanists: “We Are All O’Tooles Now”

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I probably won't make any friends today, but now I’ve read one too many urbanist (many who’s ideas I usually respect) use unsound logic to support high speed rail. This argument often includes something like this: “…and furthermore, highways and airports don’t come close to paying for themselves, … [Read more...]

20/20 Segment on Private Roads (& Some things to ponder while in traffic)

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Some other things to ponder for the next time you are sitting on a congested highway… When I talk to people about tolling roads, most people immediately reject the idea entirely.  I like to ask them to think about it next time they are in a traffic jam.  Hey, if you sit in traffic, you … [Read more...]

Urban[ism] Legend: The Myth of Herbert Hoover

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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...]

Redistribution (a follow up)

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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...]

Uncomfortable truths about the progressive legacy

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by Stephen SmithYesterday I was listening to the pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial on the radio, and one of the speakers said something that struck me as emblematic of the challenges that Barack Obama faces, though I doubt she realized the ironic significance. She was praising … [Read more...]

Urban[ism] Legend: Positive NPV Infrastructure

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As Washington debates how many hundreds-of-billions of the nearly trillion-dollar stimulus will go towards infrastructure or to other spending/tax cut schemes, pundits claim that spending billions on "shovel ready" public works projects can effectively create jobs that will lead to recovery. As … [Read more...]

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