Engineering Standards In Highway Design Litigation, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2017
Engineering Standards In Highway Design Litigation, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Chapter in "Engineering Standards for Forensic Application." (coauthored) Focuses on soveriegn immunity for highway designers.
Health And Safety Overregulation, Michael Lewyn
Jan 2017
Health And Safety Overregulation, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Anti-jaywalking laws are designed to protect the safety of pedestrians. Similarly, police and child protection officials punish parents who allow their children to walk to school, in the name of child safety. This speech criticizes these policies and their justifications.
The Criminalization Of Walking, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2016
The Criminalization Of Walking, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
The simple act of walking is sometimes criminalized in the United States. Anti-jaywalking statutes and ordinances—originally motivated by auto-industry lobbyists in the 1920s—call for fines and, sometimes, imprisonment for crossing the street. Additionally, some localities have interpreted statutes against “child neglect” to encompass a parent’s decision to let their kid walk outside alone. The result of this criminalization? Such policies have reduced pedestrian liberty, increased automobile traffic and pollution, and created a disincentive for physical activity in the midst of an obesity and diabetes epidemic. In addition to discussing these effects, this Article argues that the purported safety benefits of …
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.
The Middle Class, Urban Schools, And Choice, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2016
The Middle Class, Urban Schools, And Choice, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
It is common knowledge that middle- and upper-class parents tend to disfavor urban public schools, and often move to suburbs in order to avoid having to send their children to those schools. Thus, the condition of urban public schools contributes to suburban sprawl- that is, the movement of people and jobs from city to suburb.
This article discusses a variety of possible solutions to the unpopularity of urban schools among middle-class parents. Part I of the Article suggests that this problem is a cause as well as a result of middle-class flight: that is, urban schools have poor reputations because …
The Middle Class, Urban Schools And Choice, Michael Lewyn
Oct 2016
The Middle Class, Urban Schools And Choice, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Urban schools tend to be less attractive to middle-class parents than suburban schools; as a result, the public school system generates suburban sprawl. This talk discusses both egalitarian and market-oriented means of making cities more attractive to parents.
Is An Apartment A Nuisance?, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2014
Is An Apartment A Nuisance?, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
In an ongoing Texas lawsuit, some homeowners allege that a nearby apartment building will constitute a nuisance. This article asserts that courts should generally reject nuisance claims against multifamily housing, based on the public interest in favor of increased housing supply and infill development.
2009 Planetizen Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2008
2009 Planetizen Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Planetizen.com blog posts on urban and suburban issues.
