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Market Urbanism Blog Posts - First Half Of 2019, Michael Lewyn Dec 2018

Market Urbanism Blog Posts - First Half Of 2019, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Blog posts on urban issues, mostly related to housing costs.


Do You Believe In Ghost Apartments?, Michael Lewyn Dec 2018

Do You Believe In Ghost Apartments?, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

According to the popular press, expensive cities are being overrun by "ghost apartments"- condominiums owned by wealthy foreigners, but used as investments rather than being rented out to local residents. This article points out that such apartments are in fact a very small percentage of housing supply, even in some cities that are supposedly overran with such condos.

More importantly, the existence of new “ghost apartments” does not justify exclusionary zoning policies. If a city popular with foreign investors discourages construction of new housing, investors are likely to purchase older housing units, outbidding local residents for those units. In this …


Non-Enforcement Takings, Timothy M. Mulvaney Jul 2018

Non-Enforcement Takings, Timothy M. Mulvaney

Timothy M. Mulvaney

The non-enforcement of existing property laws is not logically separable from the issue of unfair and unjust state deprivations of property rights at which the Constitution's Takings Clause takes aim. This Article suggests, therefore, that takings law should police allocations resulting from non-enforcement decisions on the same "fairness and justice" grounds that it polices allocations resulting from decisions to enact and enforce new regulations. Rejecting the extant majority position that state decisions not to enforce existing property laws are categorically immune from takings liability is not to advocate that persons impacted by such decisions should be automatically or even regularly …


The Neighborhood Veto And Its Discontents, Michael Lewyn Feb 2018

The Neighborhood Veto And Its Discontents, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Discusses negative side effects of neighborhood input on land use decisions related to housing. In particular, my speech suggests that the "neighborhood veto" over rezonings increases housing supply by reducing housing prices, and makes development more car-oriented by reducing population density.


Review Of The Fight For Fair Housing: Causes, Consequences And Future Implications Of The 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act, Tim Iglesias Dec 2017

Review Of The Fight For Fair Housing: Causes, Consequences And Future Implications Of The 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act, Tim Iglesias

Tim Iglesias

This is a book review of The Fight for Fair Housing: Causes, Consequences and Future Implications of the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act  ed. Gregory D. Squires (Routledge 2018).
In addition to summarizing and evaluating all 15 chapters this review highlights the two major contributions of the volume: (1) Some chapters (especially chapters 10, 11, 13, and 15) begin to articulate an argument that effective implementation of fair housing law is not just good for members of protected classes but valuable for everyone because it can help markets work better, promote democracy, and expand opportunity for all; (2) the chapters addressing …


Threading The Needle Of Fair Housing Law In A Gentrifying City With A Legacy Of Discrimination, Tim Iglesias Dec 2017

Threading The Needle Of Fair Housing Law In A Gentrifying City With A Legacy Of Discrimination, Tim Iglesias

Tim Iglesias

This essay tells the story of an extended and complex conflict between San Francisco and HUD and the creative solution that emerged from their negotiations. The conflict concerned the application of a community preference to a proposed senior housing development that would be located in a traditional African American neighborhood in San Francisco and its potential violation of federal fair housing law. After a brief background discussion of some of the policy and legal issues raised by community preferences, the essay tells the story of the conflict and its resolution. The essay concludes with reflections on the potential value of …


Super Problems In Superstar Cities, Michael Lewyn, Beth Gazes Dec 2017

Super Problems In Superstar Cities, Michael Lewyn, Beth Gazes

Michael E Lewyn

Review of Richard Florida's The New Urban Crisis


2018 July-December Market Urbanism Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn Dec 2017

2018 July-December Market Urbanism Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Posts at marketurbanism.com


March-July 2017 Market Urbanism Posts, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

March-July 2017 Market Urbanism Posts, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

My blog posts from March to July 2017 at marketurbanism.com


The Obama Administration's Parting Shot, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

The Obama Administration's Parting Shot, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Discusses the "Housing Development Toolkit", a policy paper on affordable housing issued by the White House in September 2016.


My Planetizen Blog Posts July-August 2017, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

My Planetizen Blog Posts July-August 2017, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Blog posts reprinted from planetizen.com


Jan-Feb. 2017 Market Urbanism Posts, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

Jan-Feb. 2017 Market Urbanism Posts, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Blog posts at start of 2017 in marketurbanism.com


Does The Threat Of Gentrification Justify Restrictive Zoning?, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

Does The Threat Of Gentrification Justify Restrictive Zoning?, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Historically, progressives have opposed restrictive zoning, arguing that by restricting the housing supply to high-end housing, zoning reduces the supply of housing available to lower-income Americans. But recently, some progressives have suggested that new market-rate housing facilitates gentrification and displacement of lower-income renters. This article critically examines that theory.


Planetizen Blog Posts September-December 2017, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

Planetizen Blog Posts September-December 2017, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Blog posts related to public transit, housing costs, and other urban issues.


Planetizen.Com Blog Posts First Half Of 2017, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

Planetizen.Com Blog Posts First Half Of 2017, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Blog posts on urban issues. Original versions on planetizen.com


2017 Market Urbanism Report Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

2017 Market Urbanism Report Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

2017 posts on various urban issues (also available at https://marketurbanismreport.com/author/michael/ )


2016 Market Urbanism Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn Dec 2015

2016 Market Urbanism Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Available at marketurbanism.com


Deny, Deny, Deny, Michael Lewyn Dec 2015

Deny, Deny, Deny, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Some commentators argue that new housing supply and less restrictive zoning will not reduce housing prices in high-cost cities. This article discusses and critiques their arguments.


Yes To Infill, No To Nuisance, Michael Lewyn Apr 2015

Yes To Infill, No To Nuisance, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

This article argues against the use of private nuisance suits to exclude apartments from residential neighborhoods, based on the public interest in affordable housing and walkable infill development.


American Dreams, American Realities, Michael Lewyn Dec 2014

American Dreams, American Realities, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Review of Zoned In The USA, by Sonia Hirt.


2015 Planetizen Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn Dec 2014

2015 Planetizen Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

2015 blog posts on urban issues from planetizen.com


How Real Is Gentrification?, Michael Lewyn Dec 2013

How Real Is Gentrification?, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Some commentators argue that gentrification is turning many cities into a playground for the rich. This article rejects that view, pointing out that even relatively affluent cities are still poorer than the average suburb.


Certainty Of Title: Perspectives After The Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis On The Essential Function Of Effective Recording Systems, Donald J. Kochan Dec 2012

Certainty Of Title: Perspectives After The Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis On The Essential Function Of Effective Recording Systems, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Recording systems for property play a pivotal, market-facilitating role for the players engaged in any transaction, the judiciary that must resolve disputes between the players, and others members of the general public by informing each about the true nature of ownership of the real property things in the world. This symposium article explores the essential character of such systems in providing certainty of title, and takes a tour through the mortgage foreclosure crisis to see where adherence to and respect for these systems’ roles broke down. Leading up to the crisis, as securitization became vogue and the housing boom blurred …


Affordable Housing: Update On Federal And State Activities, Patricia E. Salkin Jul 2012

Affordable Housing: Update On Federal And State Activities, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.


The Fair Housing Act, Zoning, And Affordable Housing, Patricia E. Salkin, John M. Armentano Jul 2012

The Fair Housing Act, Zoning, And Affordable Housing, Patricia E. Salkin, John M. Armentano

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.


Can You Hear Me Up There? Giving Voice To Local Communities Imperative For Achieving Sustainability, Patricia E. Salkin Jul 2012

Can You Hear Me Up There? Giving Voice To Local Communities Imperative For Achieving Sustainability, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

Sustainable development is an international challenge that demands attention at all levels of government. The calls to action to achieve sustainability have varied over the last few decades. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s attention was focused on the need for environmental review and growth management strategies. In the 1990s the rhetoric shifted to smart growth and livable communities, and today, the issue has been reframed as advocates view sustainability through the lens of global warming and climate change. Regardless of the nomenclature, however, the end game is the same. While the United States as a whole speaks through …


Apartheid Baltimore Style: The Residential Segregation Ordinances Of 1910-1913, Garrett Power Sep 2009

Apartheid Baltimore Style: The Residential Segregation Ordinances Of 1910-1913, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

On May 15, 1911, Baltimore Mayor J. Barry Mahool signed into law an ordinance for “preserving the peace, preventing conflict and ill feeling between the white and colored races in Baltimore City.” This ordinance provided for the use of separate blocks by African American and whites and was the first such law in the nation directly aimed at segregating black and white homeowners. This article considers the historical significance of Baltimore’s first housing segregation law.