Midat Sodom And The Housing Affordability Crisis, Michael Lewyn
Feb 2019
Midat Sodom And The Housing Affordability Crisis, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Ancient Jewish texts states that the city of Sodom was overthrown because of its hostility to hospitality. Today, American cities often limit new housing; is this policy analogous to midat Sodom (Hebrew for "the ways of Sodom")? What arguments justify these policies, and what counter-arguments are relevant to those arguments?
Planetizen Blog Posts- First Half Of 2019, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2018
Planetizen Blog Posts- First Half Of 2019, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Op-ed length articles on various land use-related issues.
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 …
Introduction To Transit-Oriented Development, Michael Lewyn
Oct 2018
Introduction To Transit-Oriented Development, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Explains how transit-oriented development differs from the automobile-oriented development that surrounds many suburban train stations, why the former is desirable, and what sort of zoning changes promote such development.
The Rise Of Market Urbanism, Michael Lewyn
Jun 2018
The Rise Of Market Urbanism, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
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.
Market Urbanism, Michael Lewyn
Apr 2018
Market Urbanism, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
A speech comparing market urbanism and new urbanism.
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.
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
Powerpoint- Setback Speech, Michael Lewyn
Jun 2017
Powerpoint- Setback Speech, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Setback regulations often require that all buildings be a certain amount of feet (usually about 25-50 feet from the street). As a result of these zoning rules, all destinations outside the most urban areas have to place either parking or useless green spaces between the street and a store, office building or residence.
I argue that these regulations make walking more difficult, for four reasons. First, pedestrians have to waste time walking through these empty spaces. Second, walking through a sea of parking is simply no fun. Pedestrians tend to enjoy shade and a sense of enclosure, so they …
Suburbia, Gentrification And Jews, Michael Lewyn
Feb 2017
Suburbia, Gentrification And Jews, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Has the gentrification of recent decades arrested the 20th-century movement of Jews to suburbia? After reviewing Jewish population surveys, I conclude that in most cities, the Jewish intown population has increased modestly. I also discuss why some cities' Jewish populations are more suburbanized more than others.
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 Environmentalist Case For Sprawl- And Why It Fails, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2016
The Environmentalist Case For Sprawl- And Why It Fails, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
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.,
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.
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 …
Robocar Risks, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2016
Robocar Risks, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Suggests that policymakers should not widen roads or stringently enforce anti-jaywalking laws in order to accommodate autonomous vehicles.
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
2007 Cnu Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2016
2007 Cnu Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
The Congress for New Urbanism (cnu.org) once had a group blog that I contributed to. These are my 2007 posts, mostly about the 2007 CNU conference.
2015 Cnu Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2016
2015 Cnu Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
My blog posts at the Congress for New Urbanism (cnu.org) website, obtained at archive.org. Unfortunately, a few posts (mostly from May) still have not been found.
Attacking Smart Growth, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2016
Attacking Smart Growth, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Review of The Human City, by Joel Kotkin
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/ )
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.
The Roots Of Expensive Zoning, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2015
The Roots Of Expensive Zoning, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Review of Zoning Rules, by William Fischel.
2016 Market Urbanism Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn
Dec 2015
2016 Market Urbanism Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
Available at marketurbanism.com
