New (sub)Urbanism

Canada - A Suburban Nation

2006-08-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Globe and Mail has a decent article today on suburbanization in Canada. Like its southern neighbor, Canadian suburbs are becoming more diverse and densely populated.

Like many mainstream journalists, however, Jill Mahoney trumpets New Urbanism developments as a growing antidote to suburban sprawl. While there are numerous new urbanist developments--such as Cornell in Markham or East Clayton in BC--they remain the exception and are not adequately linked to regional planning.

Citation: Jill Mahoney, Suburban Myths Demolished," The Globe and Mail, 31 July 2006, p. A4.

The New Urbanism Comes to the Carribbean

2006-05-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of the Cayman Compass, it appears that the global conquest of the New Urbanism planning paradigm is proceeding quite nicely.

In a speech last week in the Grand Cayman capital of George Town, Dart Realty CEO, James Lammers, discussed the company's new masterplan project, called Camana Bay, which is currently under construction in the British protectorate.

Built on the typical new urbanist model, Camana Bay is themed as a place where "life blossoms." I am curious as to who the market is for the community. The Cayman Islands, in addition to being the site for shell corporations to dodge US tax laws, is also a popular tourist resort. Given an average per capita GDP of $32,000 (US), I am not sure if the locals are the target for this development.

Perhaps Dart is envisioning another Seaside-type of development? Or maybe Camana Bay is just a convenient way to ship profits made through Dart Realty's parent company, US plastics manufacturer Dart Container, to an offshore entity as way to avoid taxes.

Nimby and Brzezinski?

2006-04-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

Today's Washington Post reports on negotiations between suburban Virginia's Fairfax county and Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's former National Security Adviser over a plan by the county to put in a sidewalk in front of his home on 1061 Spring Hill Road in McClean.

According to the article Brzezinski has been less than enthusiastic about the plan, failing to negotiate on terms for a sidewalk easement. Having lived in Fairfax County for almost 30 years, he undoubtedly has seen the sleepy farming county grow over the past couple of decades into a sprawling behemoth.

Like other suburbanites, Brzezinski exhibits the classic NIMBY attitude toward growth. Commenting on the McMansions that have sprouted all over this prosperous county, the Post quotes Brzezinski as saying that they are "reflective of cultural pretension and pomposity" and "make the whole area look like a joke, a Disneyland imitation of the European aristocracy, without the land."

Brzezinski probably has a point; however, his reactionary stance is not helping a concerted--if overdue--effort to increase mobility options in the county. As the map shows, Brzezinski's property is near the corner of Spring Hill and Old Dominion Dr.--a thoroughfare with retail shopping possibilities--which the county wants to link through a pedestrian corridor as part of its countywide trails plan.

Let's hope that Brzezinski's intransigence subsides long enough to realize that increasing pedestrian connectivity is an important step towards smart growth and will like increase the livability (and property values) of his home and neighborhood.

More Urban Craziness from South Korea

2006-04-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Taipei Times and the KBS World Radio are reporting on the grand opening of Puju Camp in the shadows of the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.

Puju Camp is the latest in the Geyonggi English Village program that is expanding across the northern province.

Like the New Songdo City, being constructed in the southern part of the country, Puju is designed to be an English-language enclave. Unlike New Songdo--which is envisioned as an international entrepreneurial zone--Puju Camp is an educational and recreational site.

Designed as an alternative to sending South Korean youth abroad to learn English, Puju Camp provides the theme of the English-speaking city within the country. It is supposed to obviate what Gyeonggi province Governor Sohn Hak-kyu calls the "'Goose Father' phenomenon" whereby people leave the country to study and never return.

The Chinese news service, Xinhua, reports that Puju sports a reproduction of Stonehenge, English castles, and a "mini train."

Puju Camp seems to be further evidence of the immanent themeing of the entire globe and the elevation of the hyper-real as urbanism's animating force.

Density as an Antidote to Obesity?

2006-04-01T16:08:00.000-08:00

According to the Vancouver Sun, SmartGrowth BC has released a study by UBC's Larry Frank that suggests:

Each quartile increase in residential density corresponds with a 23-per-cent increase in the odds of walking for non-work travel, according to a recent Seattle study quoted in the report.

We have covered this connection before, but it is always important to point out new data.

SmartGrowthBC doesn't appear to have the report on their website so I don't know if Clark deals with this, but it is important to point out that density must be accompanied by mixed land use in order to engender a less sedentary lifestyle. As some defenders of dominant patterns of suburbanization point out, suburban density has increased over the past decade. I would not expect this to correlate, however, with active living behaviors since little has been done in reducing mixed-use zoning codes.

Perhaps some of the new research coming out of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Active Living by Design program will shed more light on the relationship between health and the urban form.

Economic Doldrums Hurt Affluent Suburbs

2006-04-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

The Wall Street Journal has a good article today discussing the travails of the wealthy Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills.

It seems the recent economic woes hurting the major automakers are "trickling down" to affect not only the normal class of victims--unionized workers--but are also causing the upper classes to feel the pinch.

Of course residents of Bloomfield Hills--a community whose annual household income is in excess of $150,000--probably have more resources to deal with economic uncertgainty than the average auto worker.

What is interesting from the standpoint of metropolitan development, however, is the regional impact of economic monocultures and to demonstrate the fact that the persistent economic anemia that has affected the US economy since 2001 is causing changes in behavior among the upper-middle classes.

I would expect that this will undoubtedly be an issue in many of the competitive suburban Congressional seats during next November's election.

Geriatric Commune Built in California

2006-02-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

The New York Times today has an interesting article on a cohousing project in Davis, California developed by and for a group of retirees. The small development, called Glacier Circle, features a series of townhomes and a "common house" that allows for gathering and socializing. The idea behind this development is to enhance social networks that are often in a state of uncertainty for many seniors.

Employing a modified "superblock" layout--the development is part of a movement challenging the modernist impulse to institutionalize the elderly and to resist the rather vacuous "lifestyle communities" that dominate the upper-class retirement landscape.

One issue that does not get addressed in the Times article is the fact that the segmentation of urban function that characterizes post-War North American suburban development has been profoundly anti-elderly. While Glacier Circle further advances that project, it is important to note that vibrant social networks and the compact urban form that marks pre-War cities offer a great deal of autonomy for seniors. In a city, the proximity of shopping, social activity, and multiple transportation options can enhance the quality of life for people as their physical mobility declines.

Social isolation still exists in urban areas--as Eric Klinenberg has demonstrated in his treatment of patterns of elderly mortality during Chicago's 1995 heat wave--but more concern with the particular needs and interests of historically-underrepresented populations such as the elderly or children can provide inspiration for more sensible general planning policies.

Washington, DC Bus System--An Example of Transportation Injustice

2005-12-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post has an excellent article on the woes of the city's Metrobus system. Unlike the city's subway system which is relatively efficient, clean, and reliable, the bus system is exactly the opposite.

Buses are difficult to run efficiently due to the fact that they generally don't have a dedicated right-of-way, making them susceptible to traffic congestion patterns. They are also usually used by the most economically marginalized people in US urban areas due to the general lack of investment given to public transit.

In DC these structural issues seem to be compounded by poor management and lack of investment in analyzing the system's performance. The article is well worth reading for an example of the deplorable consequences of a system that combines poor administration with minimal resources.

Housing Affordability Plummets in US

2005-12-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

The Wall Street Journal Reports today on the latest National Association of Realtors' Affordability Index which indicates that, nationwide, housing affordability is at its lowest level since 1991.

While homeownership is at record levels, the article points out that people are likely spending a higher percentage of their income on housing and living further afield from metropolitan employment and cultural centers.

As evidence of this trend, check out the article in today's New York Times documenting the growing numbers of New Yorkers commuting to the city from Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.

The editorial cartoon shown above, drawn by Ventura County Star's Steve Greenberg represents accurately how many communities are being squeezed by the rising housing prices to the extent that middle-class professionals cannot live in the towns where they work.

Housing affordability is one of the most pressing domestic policy issues in the US today, but curiously it is also one of the least discussed in the political realm. If the Democrats were smart--wishful thinking, I know--they would develop this as a key wedge issue in next year's midterm elections.

California's Central Valley Makes Developers Pay for Pollution

2005-12-17T08:59:00.000-08:00

An article in today's New York Times discusses the recent decision by Fresno County to require commercial and residential developers to pay fees for air pollution generated by new development.

According to the article, the fees may be minimized through compliance with new regulations that promote design which reduces air pollution.

This is an interesting "indirect" approach at dealing with the Valley's poor air quality and the type of growth that facilitates it. The main sources of air pollution in the Valley are automobile emissions and agricultural production. However, development trends are showing that agriculture in many parts of the Valley is being supplanted by exurban development. By targeting developers, the fees will ideally influence the type of developments they build, encouraging more environmentally-friendly behaviors.

Of course, representatives of the building industry are against the regulations, arguing that they will boost costs. This is perhaps true, however the health affects of poor air quality are immense and the fees are minimal (averaging $780 per home with no mitigation as opposed to $480 with full compliance to the air quality regulations).

This modified market-based approach towards dealing with the pressing issue of air pollution in an indirect fashion is relatively unique to the United States and it is unclear whether it will be effective in reducing air pollution. I am generally skeptical of leaving public health issues up to the market since, in this case, developers can just continue building developments that require pollutive activity and pass the modest price of the fees on to consumers.

Furthermore, individualizing the fees is not a substitute for responsble regional planning. Individual developers may make environmentally-sustainable subdivisions, but people will likely still have to commute long distances to work, shopping, etc... While the fees are going to be utilized for air quality improvement projects, such as public transportation enhancements, it is unclear if these enhancements will be effective without regional plans that concentrate higher-density land development around urban centres.

Interestingly, the New Urbanist-type of developments that would be encouraged under these regulations are already sought after in many markets, making developers more likely to build these types of developments regardless of the savings from lowered pollution fees.

This initiative will certainly merit observation in the long term.

Here is more information on the new regulations from the Fresno Bee. Here are a couple of pro and con editorials also from the Bee. Draft materials relating to the regulations can be found here.

EU Ministerial on Sustainable Communities is Underway

2005-12-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

I haven't had a chance to digest all of the information coming out of the European Union's Ministerial Informal Meeting on Sustainable Communities that took place in Bristol this week, but it should be interesting to monitor.

Issues of governance when it comes to developing urban policy are extremely important, but often overlooked. In the case of European cities, bringing an international level of governance into the mix is undoubtedly going to have significant impacts on metropolitan development.

The major keyword underlining much of the discussion is "sustainability." This is a highly contested term. Some have argued that the impossibility of pinning down its meaning makes it less useful for guiding policymaking. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see the discussion emerge from various quarters. Here is a copy of EU Commissioner Danuta Hübner's speech to the ministerial. Here you can find a report of British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's pushing for a "European Social Model" of sustainability. Finally, take a look at the Bristol Accord--the document emerging from the meeting to guide future discussions.

I will try and post on the substance of the Bristol Accord in the next week.

Seaside, FL - Weight of Success Proving Heavy

2005-12-09T08:56:00.000-08:00

The New York Times has an article on the challenges facing Seaside--the Andres Duany-designed Florida Panhandle resort community that presaged the success of the New Urbanist movement in the United States.

One of the challenges is ecological. Hurricane Dennis subsumed portions of the beach and damaged the dunes separating the housing from the Gulf's waters. As the article rightly asserts, the planning framework employed by developer Robert Davis and Duany--which limited private housing on the oceanfront in favor of a communal beach--proved fortuitous. Since housing doesn't abut the water and natural dune systems were respected, housing took less of a hit than in other parts of the region.

Erosion, however, remains an issue--particularly given recent predictions by climatologists that severe weather will likely continue to pummel the region. What would happen in the event of a Category 5 hitting Seaside is unknown, but it certainly wouldn't be pretty.

The article also discusses the success of Seaside and how prices have increased dramatically and "urban" problems like traffic congestion are festering.

This latter aspect is interesting. The article fails to discuss the regional growth in the Panhandle and the role of state government--and, in particular, Governor Jeb Bush--in setting into motion a series of growth policies that are significantly transforming the area. The issue is particularly complex--as most large scale development issues are; but I would point people interested in learning more about the transformation of the panhandle into what will essentially be one large suburb sprawling to two sources.

First, check out June Wiaz and Katherine Ziewitz's book from last year, Green Empire: The St. Joe Company and the Remaking of Florida's Panhandle which looks at the state's largest real estate developer and land owner and their plans for transforming the region. Next, Bill Moyers did a special a couple of years ago exploring the issue of Jeb Bush's ties to St. Joe's. I haven't verified the links, but this blog apparently has clips of the program.

New Urbanist Land Grab Begins in Mississippi

2005-12-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

It seems as if the land grab is in full swing on Mississippi's hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast as the "Mississippi Renewal" project is starting to survey land and implement the plans concocted by a group of New Urbanists last October.

In response to a post I made criticizing the process as being elite-driven and lacking significant public input, John Massengale, an architect and town planner involved in the project, suggested otherwise, indicating that public meetings were undertaken and that they were well-attended.

While Massengale contends that "our first instruction from [Mississippi Governor Haley] Barbour was, 'No one will be told to leave their property,'" now that the New Urbanist brigades have left Mississippi, we are seeing familiar patterns of dispossession ensue. The New York Times reports that many residents in Biloxi's neighborhoods--having returned to the city after months of displacement--are finding that their plans to rebuild their homes and neighborhoods are being resisted by the city and developers.

The New Urbanist vision sees the Gulf Coast "competing with Myrtle Beach," making an extension of tourist amenities inevitable. For residents such as those profiled in the Times piece, that means space for casino expansion and golf course development--not the rebuilding of their lost homes.

I expect that we will hear further stories of longtime resident displacement as the rebuilding effort continues. It still seems clear, however, that plans such as those developed by Barbour's renewal commission were made without significant mechanisms for participation by the everyday people affected by the disaster. This is not meant to discount the New Urbanism. As Massengale points out on his own blog, residents of affected areas see considerable promise in New Urbanist planning frameworks.

I am more concerned with processes of democratic decisionmaking and accountability that should be leveraged as communities deal with the aftermath of the destruction. It is quite easy for private interests with access to huge amounts of resources to influence extensive (and government-subsidized) rebuilding in such a way that lines their own pocketbooks at the expense of the public interest. It would be unfortunate to see the New Urbanism hijacked in such a way.

Sprawl Comes to India

2005-12-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

If you can handle Amy Waldman's simplistic neo-colonialist characterization of India's "stubborn natives'" irrational rejection of "progress," then her article in today's New York Times on the Golden Quadrilateral Highway, which circumscribes the Indian sub-continent, is worth a read.

Waldman's tone is especially condescending, but her descriptions of the way in which the massive, controlled-access highway project is changing life in India's cities and villages are worth noting. Much like the interstate highway system in the US, the Golden Quadrilateral is bisecting villages, transforming urban and rural economies, and changing mobility patterns in the country.

Noteworthy is how everyday Indians affected by the highway have largely been shut out of the process of planning the road. Also noteworthy is the absence of any discussion about the viability of such investment in highways given the realities of global oil markets. India imports more than 70% of its oil from abroad. In an era of increased demands and decreasing supplies, the energy implications of such investment are significant.

The Internet Has Finally Proven Its Worth

2005-12-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I posted about Google's Ride Finder which allows users to find real-time information about the location of taxis in selected American cities. Based on the google map interface and using global positioning technology, Ride Finder gives you both location and telephone numbers for cabbies.

Numerous folks have hacked google maps to display other customized geographical information. Today, the weblog Chicagoist reports the introduction of the website, Drinktown. Drinktown uses information from taverns in Chicago and Milwaukee to provide interactive maps showing the location of particular drink specials around each city. Drinktown provides excellent functionality, allowing you to search by zip code, particular night of the week for specials, and the type of drink special (beer, mixed drink, wine, etc...).

This is, by far, the most useful redeployment of google maps that I've seen--let's hope it spreads to other cities!

(Image taken from Chicagoist)

Transportation and Emission Reductions

2005-12-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

With the first major post-Kyoto global conference on climate change underway this week in Montreal, there are interesting proposals emerging from various NGOs concerned with the connections between urban form and energy use.

The Victoria Transportation Institute has issued a nice, concise paper (in .pdf format) laying out what it calls "win-win" strategies for utilizing transportation policy reform for reducing emissions. Among the proposals it advocates are charging adequate fees for roads and parking, making transportation funding mode-neutral, and employing land use strategies that allow for higher densities.

Given the fact that transportation is the single largest source of emissions in auto-dependent countries like Canada and the United States, these proposals are especially pressing. The federal level in the US offers little hope for substantive action, of course, due to the corrupt and incompetent nature of the Bush regime. Luckily, the mayors of over 190 US cities have recently signed on the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which indicates their support for reducing emissions in accordance with Kyoto.

This is poor substitute for a binding federal policy, but in the absence of any federal leadership, it is the best that can be expected.

Australian Labor Party Battles Sprawl

2005-12-01T07:16:00.000-08:00

A couple of interesting articles from the Queensland Courier-Mail point to proposals to quell sprawl in Australian metro areas. The first discusses a policy paper to be released by the opposition Labor leader Kim Beazley that advocates increasing urban core redevelopment at the expense of the "McMansions" that dot may suburban areas. The policy paper appears to have not yet been posted on the opposition website, making it difficult to assess the proposal.

In Queensland, Labor Primer Peter Beattie is proposing that drivers parking in the Brisbane Central Business District pay a tax that would be reinvested in public transport. Unlike the London congestion charge, this plan would not tax people who drive through the CBD--only those parking.

Efforts to more effectively charge users for the true costs of automobile travel are catching on, especially given the success of London's experiment. I am normally wary of regressive taxation schemes, but when the revenue generated is dedicated to improving mobility technologies that can be used cheaply by the public they are sensible. It is good to see that Beattie's proposal also advocates for bulking up the bicycling infrastructure.

Canada's Mayors Brace for Election

2005-11-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

Paul Martin's government officially collapsed yesterday, paving the way for an election scheduled for January 23, 2006. While the issue of the Liberal party's corruption prompted the latest collapse of the minority government and "clean governance" promises to be a consistent campaign theme over the next few weeks, the mayors of Canada's largest cities are taking a proactive approach to make sure that urban interests are served by the next government.

One of Martin's accomplishments was the New Deal for Cities which funnels gas tax money back to cities for use on "sustainable infrastructure" projects--such as public transportation.

Most of the major cities have already signed agreements with the federal government to insure that the gas tax money continues to flow regardless of the party in charge. The mayors are broadening their view--in yesterday's meeting they agreed that the next government should provide them with a slice of the income and sales taxes, as well.

Whether that will happen is uncertain at this point. But it is a positive development that the New Deal will continue. Moderate environmentalists have welcomed it in light of Canada's continuing problems meeting its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol--a particularly embarrassing disclosure given this week's meeting in Montreal to discuss the post-Kyoto climate change agreements.

China's Cities: A Living Hell?

2005-11-30T12:34:00.000-08:00

Given the recent tragedy in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province where, for five days, the city's water supply has been shut off due to an upstream toxic chemical spill, it might be an important time to point people in the direction of two recent excellent articles on China, environmentalism, and urbanism.

As a result of a decade and a half of extensive industrial growth, China's cities are among the most polluted in the world. The lack of strong enforcement of environmental protection, massive urban migration, and the centrality of polluting industries to the country's economic growth have all merged to create a pretty dire situation in many of the country's cities.

Bill McKibben, in the December 2005 issue of Harper's, has an excellent article detailing his recent trip to some of the industrial areas of the country. Download his article here (it's a very large .pdf file).

Also worth reading is a lengthy article on China's economy by Robert Skidelsky in the Dec. 1 issue of the New York Review of Books. Among the books he addresses is John Friedmann's China's Urban Transition.

China's balance of new prosperity and dire poverty is having varied and contradictory manifestations with regard to urban space. Home of the world's largest mall and cities of 4 million people with a water supply contaminated by Benzene, it certainly is rife with competing tendencies.

Of course, European and US cities of the nineteenth century exhibited these same contradictions in urban space. One of the ways in which these contradictions were "resolved" (if one argues that they are, indeed, resolved) has been through both the expansion of democratic accountability and the more recent offshoring of pollutive industries. Given China's totalitarian regime and the lack of options for offshoring industries--China is, more or less, the global "bottom of the barrel" in terms of labor costs--it seems that the China will likely have a different pattern of negotiating these contradictions.

When Corporations Build the City

2005-11-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

"Public-Private Partnerships" are all the rage these days. Municipal governments, strapped for cash and facing crumbling public infrastructure are increasingly looking to private companies to inject much-needed cash into re-development of roads, public transit and sewers.

While these arrangements may be convenient--or even unavoidable--for many municipalities, they demand intense public scrutiny given the fact that the financiers have their own interests to look after.

Australian MP Malcolm Turnbull has an interesting op-ed piece in the Sydney newspaper, The Age that mentions the new 2.1km Cross City Tunnel that runs under Sydney's central business district. The Tunnel was built and financed by CrossCity Motorway which will own and operate the tunnel for 30 years. Apparently, in negotiating the deal, the government of New South Wales may have struck an unpublicized agreement with the developer to insure that they receive a healthy return on their investment.

Turnbull alleges that the government is ignoring other remedies for reducing congestion and increasing mobility in order to guarantee that people's only option for getting around Sydney's CBD is to take the Cross City Tunnel, giving CrossCity Motorway a good chance for reaping large profits at the public's expense.

The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption is set to investigate emerging claims of wrongdoing, so the story is far from over. For urbanists, this example should make us extremely skeptical about private involvement in providing essential components of the public infrastructure.

Many Sydney bloggers offer more information on the situation: The Pigs Are Flying, Modia Miontaur, Spleenie's Rant.

Exploring Chicago's Alleys

2005-11-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

The Chicago Tribune had a great series of articles a couple of weeks ago on the culture of alleys in the city. It was an excellent series that actually explored these spaces as important cultural and economic sites in the social geography of the city. Alleys are one of the most under-appreciated spaces in urban life, and its great to see a mainstream media outlet give them their due!

Redlining Returns to New Orleans??

2005-11-20T21:10:00.000-08:00

The Dallas Morning News has an interesting article on the rebuilding of New Orleans. From the early days of settlement in the city, the Lower Ninth Ward was a cypress swamp that was subject to frequent flooding. Thus, its value as desirable real estate was minimal and it became the most affordable place for the city's historically marginalized populations. The levee projects of the past one hundred years kept it from total destruction--until Katrina.

Now, as New Orleans contemplates rebuilding a city that promises to be half its previous size in population, the question of which areas to concentrate rebuilding is a major issue. Apparently the old techniques of redlining are being considered. This technique has traditionally been used as a way to identify neighborhoods that do not have great potential for maintaining property values. If a neighborhood was redlined, people who wanted to purchase property in the area would have difficulty obtaining a mortgage. In the past, the racial makeup of neighborhoods was used as a prime indicator of maintenance of property values: more African Americans, less likelihood for maintenance of property values.

Of course, these determinations were based on racist assumptions that permeated the political culture of the United States until the emergence of the modern civil rights movement in the 1950s. It would be extremely problematic if these techniques were brought back to justify the lack of investment in a predominantly African American neighborhood following the worst natural disaster in the nation's history.

Tax Reform and Urbanism

2005-11-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year the US President appointed an advisory panel to offer recommendations for "simplifying" the federal tax structure. On Tuesday, the panel presented its report to Treasury Secretary John Snow.

Usually when conservatives like Bush speak of "simplifying" the tax system, it means finding ways to continue to expand income inequality in this country by decreasing the tax burden on the rich and increasing the tax burden on the middle class.

In conservative circles there was great hope that the Presidential commission would recommend a "flat tax" percentage or a national sales tax whose regressive nature would decrease the tax burden on the wealthy. Great conservative economic minds like that of former high school wrestling coach, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, have been advocating such schemes for years.

Rather surprisingly, the commission did not embrace a flat tax scheme but did recommend capping the mortgage interest tax deduction, home equity loan deductions, and eliminating deductions of local and state taxes.

This is pretty remarkable since the tax breaks--as they are currently structured--benefit those at the higher ends of the socio-economic spectrum significantly. Curiously, this is one of the reasons given by the commission in their recommendation. For more on the economic aspects of the proposals, check out David Burnori's op-ed from the Washington Post, Daniel Gross' commentary in Slate, and this article from today's New York Times.

Let me touch briefly on the portents for urbanization should these deductions be abolished. First, it is important to remember that metropolitan and suburban development in the US over the past 60 years has been largely shaped by federal tax and spending policies. Ken Jackson's seminal work, Crabgrass Frontier, gives a great background on this. Mortgage and tax deductions subsidize home owners and are largely responsible for the spawning the sprawling residential sub-divisions that are a fixture of the suburban landscape.

Private capital is attracted to these projects since the subsidy schemes artificially lower the market value of housing. Aided by compliant municipal governments who see the promise of higher property taxes, developers at the exurban fringe generally are given a green light for large-scale projects. These artificially low prices are one of the reasons for the much-publicized "housing boom" and the concominant affordable housing crisis which affects those low-income earners who cannot afford to buy a house.

Similarly, the ability for homeowners to deduct local property taxes is one of the reasons many suburban municipalities have superior public safety amenities and public schools. The fact that homeowners in affluent suburbs can write off their property taxes makes it more politically palatable to increase those taxes for quality public services.

Clearly the government involvement in these indirect housing subsidies benefits wealthier communities at the expense of poorer ones. But what would be the impacts on urban development should these deductions be reduced?

One of the arguments leveled by the commission is that the mortgage subsidy unnaturally attracts capital that would otherwise be invested in different sectors and the result is inefficiencies. They are probably correct in this assumption--however, they downplay the implications of shifting capital investment to other economic sectors.

One characteristic of the housing industry that differs from other sectors is that investment is, generally, tied to particular places. Construction creates many jobs that can not be outsourced. With the end of mortgage subsidies, capital would be invested in other sectors. Due to the increasing globalization of information technologies and manufacturing, it would not be unreasonable to expect large scale investment to pour into these non place-bound industries, continuing to improve corporate bottom lines, but doing little for the thousands employed in the housing industry.

Getting rid of the subsidy, however, would probably have an appreciable impact on suburban development. Housing value would diminish at first in order to adjust to the dictates of the market. There may be less incentive to build large, new developments at the urban fringe, however. Municipalities may be able to guide planning more efficiently without having to worry about satisfying the wills of corporate "mega-developers."

It is probably not even worth seriously discussing the commission's recommendations since they would be extremely difficult to adopt given the current political climate. Needless to say, Bush has shown no interest in making the tax system more equitable given his dastardly tax cuts for the wealthy at the beginning of his first term and his idiotic and misconceived plan to offer tax rebates to "jump start" the economy.

Furthermore, to challenge the mortgage subsidy would require substantial political courage--something hard to conceive coming from the most cowardly president since Warren Harding. Also, given the fact that suburban voters would be particularly hit by these changes, it is extremely unlikely that a Republican Congress would do anything to alienate this voting block.

There are also actually very good reasons to maintain these subsidies, which I'll take up in a future posting.

Of course, one of the main reasons for the commission in the first place was to deal with issues of economic growth in an era marked by wreckless spending deficits. Perhaps an alternative way to deal with this would be to hold Bush accountable for his miserable failure in foreign policy?

Everybody Loves a Parade

2005-10-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago I saw John Norquist, CEO of the Chicago-based Congress of New Urbanism, give a lecture extolling the virtues of traditional urban design as a remedy for suburban sprawl. One of the New Urbanists' big claims is that sprawling suburbia inhibits the spontaneous social interaction that is essential for vibrant urban life.

To demonstrate this point he showed a picture of your standard seven lane suburban arterial highway hosting a parade. It looked like a miserable event: spectators were far removed from the action, lined up in an unpaved ditch with no shade on a sunny day. For Norquist, this was the epitome of the lack of civic connectedness that accompanies dominant forms of suburbia.

Norquist must have been pleased yesterday as Chicago was ground zero for civic parades. The largest event was an outpouring of love and appreciation for the city's heroes of the baseball diamond--the Chicago White Sox. Long eclipsed by the north-side Cubs, the White Sox dominated the major leagues this year, culminating in one of the most awesome displays of mettle as they shut down opponent after opponent in the playoffs.

Mayor Richard J. Daley, a life-long Sox fan, pulled out all of the stops for the city's celebration and the parade itself epitomized the majesty of the city and the selfless nature of the team as it proceeded from the team's stadium at 35th and Shields through a panopoly of Chicago's working class neighborhoods. From Bridgeport to Bronzeville, Chinatown to Pilsen, Little Italy to Greektown and culminating in a ticker tape waltz down the city's financial and governmental strip, LaSalle Street, the players--and more than a handful of corporate sponsors--marched victoriously through the city to lined streets.

According to estimates given by the city, approximately 1.7 million people witnessed the event! In sum, it was a great finale for an excellent season and a fitting tribute to the city, the players, and the White Sox's long-suffering fans.

Congratulations Oswaldo Guillén and the players! As always, Chicago legend Studs Terkel offered insight on the meaning of the Sox win to the city in yesterday's New York Times.

Parading in Chicago didn't stop with the Sox extravaganza. The monthly Critical Mass ride commenced at Daley Plaza at its usual late Friday afternoon time. As a tribute to the legacy of the great US civil rights leader, Rosa Parks, the Mass visited many of the sties of importance in African American history in Chicago.

Its great to see the citizens of Chicago reclaim the streets for a celebration of the city's great cultural and social legacies!

"Sustainable" development in Fulton County?

2005-10-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

Metropolitan Atlanta is ground zero of suburban sprawl. Like in other suburban areas throughout North America, the denizens of Atlanta's suburbs have a love/hate relationship with sprawl. They get fed up with the traffic generated by sprawl, elect a governor with a strong regional planning agenda and then promptly dump him when he tries to implement significant policy change. Additionally, as Clark Atlanta University's Robert Bullard has argued, Atlanta's sprawl has the "convenient" side effect of spatially segregating the city's minority population, making it difficult for them to access economic opportunities.

Thus, anytime we hear about efforts in the Atlanta to quell sprawl and develop in a more "sustainable" manner we approach them with a dose of healthy skepticism.

Nevertheless, the Serenbe development in south Fulton County merits some attention. The New York Times recently described the genesis of Serenbe. It seems that local land owners partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Georgia to establish the Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance which devised a master plan for over 40,000 acres of largely undeveloped land. The Alliance is promoting condensed development with the protection of significant parcels of greenspace. In order to quell land owners who count on selling their land to developers for a handsome profit, the Alliance persuaded the state legislature to adopt a streamlined "transfer of development" legislation that allows landowners to sell the development rights to their land.

Under the TDR scheme, Fulton County determined that certain undeveloped lands in the area of Serenbe would be eligible for the transfer of development rights. They have also determined that other areas of the county will be eligible for higher-density development.

When a landowner is ready to sell, in exchange for agreeing to protect their undeveloped land they are actually getting development credits that they can sell on the market to a developer in the zone where higher-density is allowed. The idea is that undeveloped land will be saved while higher density will be encouraged elsewhere.

Serenbe is designed in a high density fashion to maximize protected land and insure that areas around will not be subject to rampant development.

It is an interesting scheme, but whether it can be effective in quelling sprawl without significant regional planning is questionable. Nevertheless, there do appear to be some bloggers out there who were impressed enough with Serenbe to buy...