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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.
Why Leave It To The Liberals? Conservative Views On Smart Growth, Michael E. Lewyn
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"
Our Own Private Sustainable Community: Are Green Covenants, Conditions, And Restrictions A Viable Alternative To A More Environmentally Sustainable Future For Homeowners?, Darren Prum, Robert Aalberts
Our Own Private Sustainable Community: Are Green Covenants, Conditions, And Restrictions A Viable Alternative To A More Environmentally Sustainable Future For Homeowners?, Darren Prum, Robert Aalberts
Darren A. Prum
Residential and commercial property owners have sought for centuries to develop and enrich their physical environment through private land use planning. In more recent decades, residential owners residing in community interest communities have been particularly active in crafting an evolving array of deed restrictions contained in Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions( CC&R’s). CC&R’s, which are generally created by the CIC developer , are mutually binding and enforceable against all those who live or conduct business in self-selected residential subdivisions or commercial developments . Importantly, CC&R’s are monitored sometimes quite forcefully, under the watchful eye of an empowered planned development association.
Although …
In Third Parties We Trust? The Growing Antitrust Impact Of Third-Party Green Building Certification Systems For State And Local Governments, Darren Prum, Robert Aalberts, Stephen Del Percio
In Third Parties We Trust? The Growing Antitrust Impact Of Third-Party Green Building Certification Systems For State And Local Governments, Darren Prum, Robert Aalberts, Stephen Del Percio
Darren A. Prum
According to the American Institute of Architects, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of municipalities with a green building program in place since 2007. And 24 of the country's 25 largest metropolitan areas are built around a city with green building legislation on its books. Reducing buildings' environmental impact is a noble - and critical - goal. But governments' reliance on private, third-party standard-setting organizations - and the rating systems that they promulgate - as the basis for that legislation may be legally problematic.
This Article reviews one of those potentially problematic bases: antitrust. In order …
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.
What Would Coase Do? (About Parking Regulation), Michael E. Lewyn
What Would Coase Do? (About Parking Regulation), Michael E. Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
American municipalities typically require landowners to provide visitors and guests with ample amounts of parking, in order to prevent externalities such as cruising (drivers wasting gasoline and polluting the air while searching for scarce parking). However, minimum parking requirements may create social harms that outweigh this benefit. By artificially increasing the supply of parking, minimum parking requirements effectively subsidize driving, thus increasing rather than decreasing pollution and congestion.
Sprawl In Canada And The United States, Michael E. Lewyn
Sprawl In Canada And The United States, Michael E. Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
The purpose of this paper is to ascertain (1) whether suburban sprawl is as widespread in Canadian metropolitan areas as in their American counterparts, and (2) whether Canadian government policies, and in particular Canadian municipal land use and transportation policies, encourage sprawl. The thesis concludes that sprawl is less widespread in two respects. First, Canadian central cities have not declined to the same extent as American central cities. Second, urban and suburban Canadians are less dependent on automobiles than are Americans. The thesis goes on to point out that in Canada, as in the United States, government land use and …
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 …
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 …
Watts My Line? Energy Generation Siting Strategies For Urban Areas, Caleb W. Christopher
Watts My Line? Energy Generation Siting Strategies For Urban Areas, Caleb W. Christopher
Caleb W Christopher
The growth of urban areas has historically been both constrained and encouraged by energy and related infrastructure. Varying degrees of regulation have been sought to respond to compelling public safety needs: more recently, modern environmental law system was derived from public conflicts over siting of an energy plant. While the greater urban density offers reduced per-capita energy consumption rates, contemporary urban revitalization has brought a greater amount of people into closer contact with their energy sources. The unique geography, and increased securities needs, of urban areas demand both reliability and local proximity in energy source production. Urban siting issues will …
How City Hall Causes Sprawl - A Case Study, Michael E Lewyn
How City Hall Causes Sprawl - A Case Study, Michael E Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
A book review addressing the city of Atlanta's pro-sprawl transportation, zoning and urban renewal policies.
Sprawl, Growth Boundaries And The Rehnquist Court , Michael E Lewyn
Sprawl, Growth Boundaries And The Rehnquist Court , Michael E Lewyn
Michael E Lewyn
This article addresses the constitutionality and wisdom of Oregon's urban growth boundary (UGB) program. The article concludes that the program is constitutional under current precedent, and that (contrary to claims made by UGB critics) there is little evidence that the UGB has caused Oregon's runup in housing prices. On the other hand, UGB supporters may have exaggerated the UGB's positive environmental results.
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.
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.