Portlandia Is Here
Although it will not premiere on television until January 21, the first episode of Portlandia is on line. Hulu says something about it expiring in three days, but if the video below doesn’t work, you might be able to watch it here or here. Richard Florida claims that, by attracting the “creative class,” cities like […]
Ritter's "New Energy Economy" Based on Old Fallacies
by Ari Armstrong If you think corporate welfare “creates jobs,” you might be an outgoing Colorado governor. As governor, Bill Ritter signed “an unprecedented 57 clean-energy bills into law,” a January 5 release from Colorado State University reviews. Now Ritter will join the university’s Center for the New Energy Economy, drawing a privately funded $300,000 […]
One More Nail
The Washington Post editorialized against spending any more tax dollars on California’s high-speed rail project, saying “California should have to fill in its project’s economic and logistical blanks” before more federal or even state dollars are spent. While no one is surprised to see fiscally conservative papers such as the Washington Examiner come out against […]
Superstreets Relieve Congestion
With many transportation planners have given up trying to relieve congestion or, worse, are trying to increase congestion in order to persuade people out of their automobiles. So it is refreshing to see some innovative ideas that will actually relieve congestion on the highways used for around 80 percent of our travel. One idea is […]
Virginia Light Rail Woes
The city manager for Norfolk, Virginia, has been forced to resign due to allegations that she knew about light rail cost overruns but failed to inform the city council. The senior vice president for development of Norfolk’s transit agency, Hampton Roads Transit, has also quit in response to allegations that her mismanagement led to the […]
Save the States by Eliminating Urban Renewal
One of Jerry Brown’s first acts after taking office as California’s new/old governor was to propose to eliminate the state’s 425 urban redevelopment agencies. These agencies spend more than $5 billion a year on urban renewal subsidies that are largely unnecessary, and Brown hopes he can somehow tap into that money to help the state […]
Are We at the Bottom Yet?
According to economists at Moody’s, the housing market will bottom out in 2011–which means now may be the time to hunt for cheap homes and be ready to flip them when prices start going up. Unfortunately, the Antiplanner can’t afford the $250 required to listen to Moody’s webconference, so let’s look at some other data […]
Cox: Make Builders Responsible
The builders of any Florida high-speed rail project should be responsible for cost overruns and all operating losses, suggests a new report from the Reason Foundation. Written by the Antiplanner’s faithful ally, Wendell Cox, the report suggests that rail construction is likely to go at least 40 percent over projected costs and that rail fares […]
Passing the Test
This week, the new Republican-dominated House passed one of the first tests of its ability to promote fiscal sanity in the face of interest-group lobbying. On Tuesday, the House voted in new rules that govern its own operations, and one of those rules struck at the heart of recent transportation pork barreling. Even though federal […]
Have We Reached “Peak Travel”?
The New Year brings a number of news reports fretting (or hoping) that the amount of travel we do has peaked or plateaued. Given that cars are becoming more fuel-efficient, that means that the total amount of energy we use driving will significantly decline. However, the real implications of the claim are far more dire. […]
Driverless Cars and the Law
The Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS), which has done much of the development of driverless cars, may join with Stanford’s law school to review the legal changes needed for driverless cars to take the road. The most important (and most difficult) change will probably be to liability law: true no-fault insurance systems would […]
The Vision of the Urbanites
As the Antiplanner has traveled and visited people all over the country, I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon. Though I’ve met thousands of suburban and rural residents who are very happy with their homes and lifestyles, I’ve never met one who thinks the power of government should be used to force others to live in the […]
