Denver Post Article on Green Building Codes Misses the Point
Green building codes are back in the news again in Colorado. The Denver Post has a new report updating readers on how the rebuilding process is going for Marshall fire victims in Louisville and Superior. Evidently, many homeowners are choosing to rebuild under the latest and most stringent building energy code standards that featured heavily in the […]
Land-Use Manifesto 2013
Here is the second of my statements of principles for the New Year. 1. The Property-Rights Principle: Government should not regulate land uses except to prevent trespasses or nuisances. People should be allowed to use their land in any way they see fit provided their use does not harm others (such as through air, water, […]
A Rental Crisis?
The Bipartisan Policy Center released an “infographic” arguing that there is an imminent shortage of rental housing. “Five to six million new renter households will form over the next ten years,” says the “graphic” (quotations used because it really isn’t that graphic), but a “slowdown in new construction . . . means rental market conditions […]
How Many Tiny Houses Are in Houston?
San Francisco has approved the construction of tiny apartments as small as 150 square feet. Previous zoning required a minimum of at least 290 square feet. New York City is considering a similar measure. Tiny houses for sale in Petaluma, CA. Flickr photo by Nicolas Boulosa. Meanwhile, construction of 200-square-foot single-family homes is growing popular […]
European Housing Disasters
Land-use planning has made British housing so expensive that more than half of all homeowners expect to have to downsize the next time they move while only 22 percent expect to upsize. Home prices in Britain and other European countries with lots of land-use regulation tend to bubble as much as prices in California and […]
Land-Use Regulation & Income Inequality
Harvard economists have proven one of the major theses of American Nightmare, which is that land-use regulation is a major cause of growing income inequality in the United States. By restricting labor mobility, the economists say, such regulation has played a “central role” in income disparities. When measured on a state-by-state basis, American income inequality […]
Land-Use Regulation & Income Inequality
Harvard economists have proven one of the major theses of American Nightmare, which is that land-use regulation is a major cause of growing income inequality in the United States. By restricting labor mobility, the economists say, such regulation has played a “central role” in income disparities. When measured on a state-by-state basis, American income inequality […]
Will Screwing Investors Save the Economy?
Cornell law professor Robert Hockett has proposed a way out of the “mortgage debt impasse” that he thinks is slowing our economy: have the federal government take all of the underwater homes by eminent domain, paying fair market value for the homes, and then sell the homes, hopefully to the previous buyers. Since the federal […]
The War on the Working Class
It is always a thrill for an author to receive the dust jacket for a new book, so I’ll indulge myself by presenting the complete jacket for the Antiplanner’s latest book, American Nightmare (click on the image for a full-sized, 1.5 megabyte, view). Here is a brief preview of the book, which is scheduled for […]
Forthcoming Book: American Nightmare
The American dream of families owning their own homes has become a victim of class warfare, with the middle class attempting to suppress homeownership among the working class and other people they view as undesirable neighbors. That, at least, is one of the major themes of American Nightmare: How Government Undermines the Dream of Home […]
Sorry Smart Growthers, Baby Boomers Aren’t Interested
One of the articles of faith among smart-growth advocates is that retiring baby boomers will want to move into downtown or suburban high-density, mixed-use developments. In 2009, “Chris” Nelson himself came to Damascus, a very low-density suburb of Portland, to tell residents how wonderful it would be if they rezoned their city for high-density housing. […]
Now, This Is Ridiculous
What’s the most ridiculous zoning rule or decision you’ve ever heard of? Here’s a candidate: Alexandria, Virginia (which wants a Portland-like streetcar) has told property owners in one neighborhood that replacement of rusty chain-link fences violates the city’s historic preservation ordinance. “While many feel that [chain-link] fences have negative connotations, this material has played an […]
