Digital Commons Network^™

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.

Learning From Detroit, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Reviews a recent book about Detroit's problems.

How To Make America Walkable, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Review of Walkable City, by Jeff Speck

Suburban Sprawl: Weaker But Still Alive, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Review of The End of the Suburbs, by Leigh Gallagher.

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.

How Comprehensive Planning Makes Suburbia More Sprawling, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Many commentators associate comprehensive land use planning with smart growth- but in fact, municipal plans can be used to further sprawl as well as smart growth.

Judaism And Urbanism: Jewish Communities React To Suburbanization, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

This speech addresses both how Jews should react to suburbanization and how they in fact have reacted in a variety of metropolitan areas.

Why Leave It To The Liberals? Conservative Views On Smart Growth, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Part of panel discussion on "Why Leave It To The Liberals? Conservative Views on Smart Growth"

Why (And How) Conservatives Should Support Smart Growth, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Conservatives have generally been critical of the smart growth movement, because they often fear that smart growth is synonymous with overregulation of land use. This article explains why sprawl threatens conservative values, and suggests conservative-friendly smart growth policies that can both make government less intrusive and make America more walkable.

Sprawl In Europe And America, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Rebuts the "Inevitability Theory of Sprawl"- the common argument that anti-sprawl policies would be futile in the United States because sprawl has grown even in Europe. Although Europeans are far more likely to travel on foot, bike or public transit than Americans, some commentators argue that these realities are irrelevant because European cities are trending towards sprawl- that is, that Europeans are far more likely to live in suburbs and drive to work than they once did.

This article argues that the European "trend to sprawl" is in the process of reversing itself. Over the past decade, some European cities …

Sprawl, Y'All, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Explains why conservatives should be worried about suburban sprawl.

Five Myths About Sprawl , Michael E Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

In Sprawl: A Compact History, Robert Bruegmann, an art historian, has painted a superficially convincing case for the status quo, asserting that sprawl is “a natural result of affluence that occurs in all urbanized societies.” Bruegmann's book has generated glowing media publicity. This article suggests that Bruegmann overestimates the universality of sprawl, by overlooking the differences between pedestrian-friendly cities with some sprawling development and cities in which automobile-dependent sprawl is the only choice available to most consumers. In addition, Bruegmann understates the harmful social effects of sprawl, especially the effect of automobile-dependent development upon non-drivers. Bruegmann also consistently underestimates the …

How Government Regulation Forces Americans Into Their Cars: A Case Study, Michael E Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Shows how zoning law in Jacksonville contributes to automobile dependence.

Why Sprawl Is A Conservative Issue , Michael E Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

This speech argued that conservatives should fight sprawl as a threat to conservative values such as limited government, freedom, lower taxes, and social stability. I explained how sprawl is the direct result of big government, education policies, and housing regulations that still favor suburban construction on previously undeveloped land. He will also discusses policies that could limit or mitigate sprawl and yet be consistent with conservative and libertarian values such as individual choice and free market activity.

"Thou Shalt Not Put A Stumbling Block Before The Blind": The Americans With Disabilities Act And Public Transit For The Disabled, Michael E Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ordered local governments to make bus and train systems more accessible to the disabled. The ADA imposed costly requirements upon local public transit systems but did not give local governments funds with which to satisfy this mandate. By reducing the funds available to transit systems, the ADA has sometimes forced cutbacks in transit service for everyone (including, ironically, the disabled to the extent that disabled people were able to use public transit before the ADA's enactment). Thus, the ADA has occasionally been counterproductive.

The root cause of the ADA's inadequacy is that the ADA …

Suburban Sprawl: Not Just An Environmental Issue, Michael E Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Explains why conservatives should be concerned about suburban sprawl, and how market-oriented solutions can mitigate sprawl.

Are Spread Out Cities Really Safer? , Michael E Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

One of my first articles. A discussion of the gap between perceptions of crime and the reality of crime, noting that sprawling Sun Belt cites were erroneously perceived as safer than they really were, while older, denser northern cities were erroneously perceived as more dangerous.