Posts tagged Economics

  • More connectivity for ChiPitts

    Creative Class scholar Richard Florida (one of the six authors on my great urbanism books list, at the bottom of the sidebar) feels poor transit connectivity between Pittsburgh and Chicago is holding back the “ChiPitts” megalopolis, 85% the size of “BosWash.”  Keep reading…

  • Donatelli builds what investors will fund

    Prince of Petworth interviews Chris Donatelli, developer behind the Ellington on U Street, Highland Park in Columbia Heights, and the upcoming Park Place in Petworth. Many of Donatelli’s decisions have been constrained by what he can and can’t raise money for. This supports Christopher Leinberger’s assertion that the real estate finance market inhibits…  Keep reading…

  • Ed Glaeser: level the playing field

    In a Boston Globe op-ed, Harvard economist Ed Glaeser is the latest to make the argument that our economic policies let suburbs pay less than their fair share while cities pay more. Via Ryan Avent.  Keep reading…

  • Pay-as-you-drive insurance

    One obstacle to transit ridership is that cars are mostly a sunk cost. Once you’ve already paid for the car or car loan, registration, insurance, maintenance, etc., the incremental cost of driving the car more is small (though growing, as gas prices rise). The variable costs are also largely hidden: you pay for gas ahead of time, not when you make the drive vs. train decision,…  Keep reading…

  • Density police not required

    Urban, walkable, mixed-use areas are the future of America. They’re more environmentally friendly, better for healthy people and strong communities, shorter commutes make people happier, and the market wants more of it.  Keep reading…

  • The favored quarter, illustrated

    The Option of Urbanism talks about the “favored quarter”, the pattern in almost every city’s suburban development where most of the wealthy white people settled in certain parts of the region, leading to mall developers and employers wanting to locate there, leading to more highways there, making property values rise and more wealthy white people, malls, and jobs locating there.  Keep reading…

  • Optimal bus waiting strategy

    Mathematically, it’s best to simply wait for a bus once you arrive at a bus stop, rather than giving up and walking if it’s taking too long, according to Harvard mathematician Scott Kominers. Freakonomics’ Stephen Dubner is disappointed the analysis didn’t consider walking backward to a previous stop. (Lots of interesting comments about more nuances…  Keep reading…

  • Ed Glaeser: transit attracts poor people?

    Richard Florida has a post about a new article by Harvard economist Ed Glaeser that “the income elasticity of demand for land is too low for urban poverty to come from wealthy individuals’ wanting to live where land is cheap (the traditional explanation of urban poverty)… The urbanization of poverty comes mainly from better access to public transportation in central…  Keep reading…

  • SmarTrip will link to credit cards

    Among other improvements coming next year to Washington DC’s fare card is the one I most wished for when I first arrived here: the ability to link it to a credit card and automatically replenish it as it gets low, like E-ZPass does.  Keep reading…

  • Public investment has been good for DC

    According to the Washington Post, Downtown DC is enjoying a renaissance (duh), but also specifically, $400 million in public investment over the last ten years has generated “hundreds of millions of dollars annually in tax revenue.”  Keep reading…

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