It's already Sunday and I've exhausted my cache of unread blog posts from the week, so I went in search of new blogs to read and can across this really good one: Spatial Analysis. A post from December has this set of maps – private turnpikes in 18th century London and the congestion zone map in the … [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...]
Elevated rail vs. road, and…monorails?
I started reading Fogelson's Downtown with the intention of learning more about elevated trains, and though I've been slightly disappointed in that regard (more to come on that after I finish and attempt a more comprehensive review), he does include a lot of interesting history. I'm posting this … [Read more...]
Parking lots as tax arbitrage during the Great Depression
I've learned a lot from Fogelson's Downtown, but one thing that I had absolutely no idea about before I read this book was how Depression-era tax policies encouraged downtown landlords to tear down their buildings and replace them with parking lots (emphasis mine): By the mid 1930s the owners of … [Read more...]
Calling your opponents “socialists” and “un-American” is as American as skyscrapers
It's pretty amusing to me that liberals today are still whining about being called "socialists," considering the charge is at least a century old. Here one example from Robert Fogelson's excellent Downtown chapter on height restrictions around the turn of the century: The Post voiced especially … [Read more...]
The problem with “public” transportation
The blog 2nd Ave. Sagas has written something that I think sums up pretty well transit advocates' poor knowledge of private mass transit history: Of course, public transit is vital to the city’s well being. Because Manhattan is an island, it can’t handle the traffic. It’s a commercial hub … [Read more...]
Parking politics in the 1920s and a bleg
While doing research for something totally unrelated, I came across this paper by Asha Weinstein (.pdf) on parking policy in Boston in the 1920s. One of the things she (?) discusses is the political feasibility of charging for the right to park downtown: Despite this general consensus, however, … [Read more...]
Stadtluft Macht Frei (city air makes one free)
Thomas Schmidt wrote a great article for LewRockwell.com that covers a lot of urbanist ground, with some help from a broad selection of Jane Jacobs’ work. Here’s a snippet: Though you might blame any number of obvious villains and historical processes for this, the name Ebenezer Howard would … [Read more...]