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Full-Text Articles in Architecture
The False Hope Of Comprehensive Planning, Michael Lewyn
The False Hope Of Comprehensive Planning, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Some commentators on sprawl and smart growth speak of municipal comprehensive plans and sprawl as polar opposites: but in fact, a comprehensive plan can be used to further auto-oriented sprawl just as easily as it can be used to encourage more pedestrian-friendly development. This speech uses parts of Jacksonville, Florida's plan as examples of pro-sprawl planning.
Sprawl In Canada And The United States (Powerpoint), Michael E. Lewyn
Sprawl In Canada And The United States (Powerpoint), Michael E. Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
PowerPoints for a speech explaining that sprawl in Canada is (1) less extensive than in the USA and (2) caused partially by government regulation.
Public Transit: Myth And Reality, Michael E. Lewyn
Public Transit: Myth And Reality, Michael E. Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Rebuts myth that public transit is inherently unpopular by pointing out that where development is compact and streets are walkable, transit ridership tends to be higher.
Sprawl In Europe And America, Michael E. Lewyn
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
Sprawl, Y'All, Michael E. Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Explains why conservatives should be worried about suburban sprawl.
Pedestrian Safety Is Not A Tort, Michael E. Lewyn
Pedestrian Safety Is Not A Tort, Michael E. Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
In recent decades, American state and local highway officials have built wide streets and roads designed primarily to accommodate high-speed automobile traffic. However, such high-speed streets are more dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists than streets with slower traffic, and thus fail to adequately accommodate nondrivers. Government officials design streets for high-speed traffic partially because of their fear of tort liability. An influential street engineering manual, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ “Green Book”, has generally favored the construction of such high-speed streets, and transportation planners fear that if they fail to follow the Green Book’s recommendations, they …
Why Pedestrian-Friendly Street Design Is Not Negligent, Michael E. Lewyn
Why Pedestrian-Friendly Street Design Is Not Negligent, Michael E. Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
American streets are typically designed for fast automobile traffic. As a result, those streets are often dangerous for pedestrians.
In part, the anti-pedestrian design of American streets is a result of transportation planners' perceptions of American tort law. In negligent street design cases, courts and juries sometimes rely upon guidelines set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), a national association of government transportation officials. Because AASHTO's street-design rules have historically favored wide streets built to accommodate high-speed traffic, planners sometimes assume that in order to avoid liability, they must do the same.
The purpose of …
Five Myths About Sprawl , Michael E Lewyn
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
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.
Campaign Of Sabotage: Big Government's War Against Public Transportation , Michael E Lewyn
Campaign Of Sabotage: Big Government's War Against Public Transportation , Michael E Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
This article discusses a variety of state, federal and local policies which have reduced transit ridership, such as unfunded mandates, anti-transit zoning policies, and highway funding policies that shifted development to areas with minimal or nonexistent transit service.
"Thou Shalt Not Put A Stumbling Block Before The Blind": The Americans With Disabilities Act And Public Transit For The Disabled, Michael E Lewyn
"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 …
Parents' Attempts At 'Protection' Do Children No Favors In Long Run, Michael E Lewyn
Parents' Attempts At 'Protection' Do Children No Favors In Long Run, Michael E Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Some parents keep their children locked up inside Mommy's car and house until they learn to drive, fearing that their children will not be safe outside. But car accidents have killed far more children than pedophiles - a fact which suggest that the dangers of too little freedom may exceed the dangers of too much freedom.
Suburban Sprawl: Not Just An Environmental Issue, Michael E Lewyn
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.