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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 30 of 34
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Do Americans Support More Housing?, Michael Lewyn
Do Americans Support More Housing?, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
An analysis of opinion poll data on housing issues. The article finds that Americans generally believe that their community needs more housing of all types, but are more closely divided about whether such housing should be in their own neighborhoods. The article further finds that members of minority groups, lower-income Americans, and younger Americans are more pro-housing than older, affluent whites.
Green Amendments Land Use And Transportation: What Could Go Wrong?, Michael Lewyn
Green Amendments Land Use And Transportation: What Could Go Wrong?, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Numerous states have amended their constitutions to include a green amendment (that is, an amendment providing that the state's citizens have a right to a healthy environment). Unfortunately, the vagueness of these amendments leaves an enormous amount of interpretative power to courts. This article examines how some courts have interpreted green amendments and how these interpretations risk the misuse of green amendments. Additionally, this article examines how such misuse may be avoided.
Using Youtube To Explain Housing, Michael Lewyn
Using Youtube To Explain Housing, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
In 2021, the author ran for Borough President of Manhattan, New York. The author tried to his scholarship into his campaign by producing over twenty Youtube videos, most of which addressed land use and housing policy. The article describes the videos, and evaluates their usefulness.
Does Democracy Justify Zoning?, Michael Lewyn
Does Democracy Justify Zoning?, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
One common argument for restrictive zoning is that zoning is more democratic than allowing landowners to build what they please. This article critiques that claim, suggesting that free markets are equally democratic because they allow for self-rule. Moreover, zoning is less democratic than other forms of government decisionmaking, because zoning hearings are often sparsely attended, and commenters at public meetings are unrepresentative of the public as a whole.
Which Transportation Technologies Do We Want?, Michael Lewyn
Which Transportation Technologies Do We Want?, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
A review of Todd Litman's book, New Mobilities- Smart Planning for Emerging Transportation Technologies
Land Costs And New Housing, Michael Lewyn
Land Costs And New Housing, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Restrictive zoning limits housing supply, which (according to the law of supply and demand) increases housing costs. But some commentators argue that more permissive zoning would actually increase housing costs by increasing land costs. This article points out that if the latter claim was true, land costs would have risen in places that allowed lots of new housing and fallen in more restrictive regions such as San Francisco. In fact, land costs increased in both types of metro areas. More importantly, overall housing costs increased more rapidly in more restrictive metros.
The Case Against The Case For Zoning, Michael Lewyn
The Case Against The Case For Zoning, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Power points used in a presentation on a work in progress, responding to Christopher Serkin's "Case For Zoning" article at 96 Notre Dame L. Rev. 749.
Pedestrians Under Attack, Michael Lewyn
Pedestrians Under Attack, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
A review of Right Of Way by Angie Schmitt
Will Zoning Fix Itself?, Michael Lewyn
Will Zoning Fix Itself?, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Typically, zoning artificially limits housing supply, thus increasing housing costs. One possible defense of this system is that zoning can fix itself- that is, that when rents and housing costs become unusually high, politicians will deregulate and thus reduce housing costs. This article suggests that such a happy result is unlikely; instead, where housing costs spiral out of control, voters and politicians are likely to make regulation even more strict out of a fear of gentrification.
Yimby And Covid-19, Michael Lewyn
Yimby And Covid-19, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Discusses whether the COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the case for the pro-housing YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) movement.
Bringing Judaism Downtown: A Smart Growth Policy For Orthodox Jews, Michael Lewyn
Bringing Judaism Downtown: A Smart Growth Policy For Orthodox Jews, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Until the late 20th century, the most rigorously traditional Jews, haredi Jews (often referred to as “ultra-Orthodox”) tended to congregate in New York City. But as New York became more expensive and haredi population grew due to high birth rates, some haredi Jews (known collectively as “haredim”) moved to small towns and outer suburbs in search of cheaper land, sometimes creating towns dominated by haredim such as Kiryas Joel, New York and Lakewood, New Jersey. As haredi populations have continued to grow, their households now seek undeveloped land outside these enclaves. But as haredim move deeper into the countryside, zoning …
Downtown Condos For The Rich: Not All Bad, Michael Lewyn
Downtown Condos For The Rich: Not All Bad, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Some new condominiums in urban neighborhoods are too expensive for anyone but the very wealthy. Buyers of these high-cost units include not only wealthy city residents, but also nonresidents who wish to use housing as an investment rather than a residence. Some commentators use this apparent fact as an argument against new market-rate housing generally; they claim that new housing will be purchased by out-of-town investors rather than used by local residents and that those investors will leave housing units empty, rather than renting them out. A related argument is that, even if market-rate condos are purchased by local residents, …
The Limits Of Equity, Michael Lewyn
The Limits Of Equity, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
"Equity" is a common buzzword in urban planning circles. However, nearly any land use decision can be justified as more equitable than the alternatives.
Subways And Covid-19: A Literature Review, Michael Lewyn
Subways And Covid-19: A Literature Review, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Discusses a variety of articles and blog posts which address the impact (or lack thereof) of the New York subway system upon the COVID-19 pandemic.
Socialists And Housing, Michael Lewyn
Socialists And Housing, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
My review of Capital City by Samuel Stein
Make New York Affordable Again, Michael Lewyn
Make New York Affordable Again, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Suggests a package of zoning reforms to hold down New York City housing costs, and responds to counterarguments.
Do You Believe In Ghost Apartments?, Michael Lewyn
Do You Believe In Ghost Apartments?, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
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 scenario, …
Are Wide Streets Negligent?, Michael Lewyn
Are Wide Streets Negligent?, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
American commercial streets are typically designed to encourage rapid automobile traffic, thus making streets unsafe for pedestrians. In the 2016 case of Turturro v. City of New York, the New York Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict against a city for failing to slow down such traffic. This article describes Turturro, but shows how limited its holding was: the Turturro court emphasized a city's failure to study traffic calming, so if a city studies its options adequately it can avoid liability even if its policies are unsuccessful.
The Rise Of Market Urbanism, Michael Lewyn
The Rise Of Market Urbanism, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Compares market urbanism to new urbanism and to defenders of suburban sprawl. Like new urbanists, market urbanists find urban life to be socially valuable, and emphasize that sprawl is not always in line with consumer preferences. But market urbanists are more likely to emphasize the role of government regulation in creating suburbanization, and to oppose anti-sprawl land use regulations.
Explaining Market Urbanism, Michael Lewyn
Explaining Market Urbanism, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Compares Market Urbanism to New Urbanism and Landscape Urbanism
Bicycle-Friendly Policies, Michael Lewyn
Bicycle-Friendly Policies, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
A review of Copenhagenize by Mikael Colville-Andersen
The Environmentalist Case For Sprawl- And Why It Fails, Michael Lewyn
The Environmentalist Case For Sprawl- And Why It Fails, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Environmentalists generally favor compact, walkable development, because development that reduces automobile use may reduce automobile-related pollution. Defenders of suburban sprawl argue, however, that compact development may actually increase pollution in a variety of ways. This article criticizes the latter argument.,
Does The Threat Of Gentrification Justify Restrictive Zoning?, Michael Lewyn
Does The Threat Of Gentrification Justify Restrictive Zoning?, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
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.
Robocar Risks, Michael Lewyn
Robocar Risks, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Suggests that policymakers should not widen roads or stringently enforce anti-jaywalking laws in order to accommodate autonomous vehicles.
The Obama Administration's Parting Shot, Michael Lewyn
The Obama Administration's Parting Shot, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Discusses the "Housing Development Toolkit", a policy paper on affordable housing issued by the White House in September 2016.
Attacking Smart Growth, Michael Lewyn
Attacking Smart Growth, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Review of The Human City, by Joel Kotkin
The Roots Of Expensive Zoning, Michael Lewyn
The Roots Of Expensive Zoning, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Review of Zoning Rules, by William Fischel.
Deny, Deny, Deny, Michael Lewyn
Deny, Deny, Deny, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
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.
How To Make Suburbia Less Sprawling, Michael Lewyn
How To Make Suburbia Less Sprawling, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
Review of Retrofitting Sprawl, edited by Emily Talen.
Against The Neighborhood Veto, Michael Lewyn
Against The Neighborhood Veto, Michael Lewyn
Scholarly Works
American zoning often gives neighborhoods elective veto power over nearby real estate development. This “neighborhood veto” sometimes artificially reduces housing supply and urban density, thus making housing more expensive and making American cities more dependent on automobiles. This article criticizes the common arguments that neighborhood activists use to restrict development.