Urban Issues

The West Faces a New Type of Housing Crisis

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Throughout the West, particularly the Anglosphere, housing costs are ravaging the middle class. Homeownership, long the key to social mobility, is on the decline  read more »

How the City of Angels Went to Hell

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A journey through Los Angeles, the adopted home of Vice President Kamala Harris, offers a masterclass in urban dysfunction.  read more »

Moving Away from Density to Less Dense Detached Housing Areas

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Further evidence of the continued dispersion of the US population is revealed by an examination of net domestic migration data  read more »

Faster, Better, More: How to House Australia

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This paper, by property expert Ross Elliott, explores the reasons behind our current housing shortages and identifies a range of policy measures which have contributed to – rather than alleviated – the magnitude of the current housing ‘crisis.’  read more »

Canada Total Fertility Rate (TFR) Drops to 1.26, BC to 1.00

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Statistics Canada, Canada’s government statistical agency, has announced that the nation’s Total Fertility Rate dropped to 1.26 in 2023.  read more »

I'm Not an Urbanist. I'm an Urban Sociologist.

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I’ve written a lot about how growing up in Detroit was instrumental in my desire to improve and revitalize cities. Watching a city being hollowed out and disgraced in the ‘70s and ‘80s can have that impact.  read more »

Kamalafornia Über Alles

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For the last century, no state more epitomized the ideals of upward mobility and technological and cultural innovation than California.  read more »

Chicago's Household And Income Growth Comes With A Good Deal Of Black Flight

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Sometimes you try to put a positive gloss on a situation, but the underlying concerns that cause the need for such spin come back to bite you.  read more »

Austin Builds Apartments and Single-Family Houses, Prices Fall

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Just a quick note on an encouraging article by James Rodriguez of Business Insider. Rodriguez reports a significant reduction in house prices in Austin, Texas, due to building a large number of single-family homes and apartments. I was unable to discern whether the article dealt with the Austin market (the metropolitan area) or the city (which is a housing submarket). Nor could I tell if his insightful comparison to San Francisco was the housing market (metro) or the city submarket.  read more »

Immigration Has Benefits and Drawbacks

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Overall, immigration has both positive and negative effects, something rarely acknowledged by advocates on either side.  read more »