There are lots of ways of measuring how New Zealand is doing, and none of them is perfect.
We stack up very well on measures like life expectancy, unemployment, infant mortality, and car ownership. read more »
Newgeography.com - Economic, demographic, and political commentary about placesAre We Really Among the Wealthiest People on the Planet?
by Don Brash 02/13/2022
There are lots of ways of measuring how New Zealand is doing, and none of them is perfect. We stack up very well on measures like life expectancy, unemployment, infant mortality, and car ownership. read more » »
Subjects:
Monopoly Hotels
by John Sanphillippo 02/11/2022
I recently enjoyed a podcast where the two hosts engaged in a bit of banter about real estate. One had gradually purchased a few homes in a row along the same street and compared them to the little houses in the game of Monopoly. read more » »
Subjects:
The Zaibatsu-ization of America
by Joel Kotkin 02/10/2022
Enthusiasts of “the new economy” long cherished the notion that it would be different from the unenlightened, sluggish, and piggish older one. Yet our economy seems increasingly to resemble not some hippy capitalist utopia, but the deeply concentrated economy of pre-war Japan. read more » »
Subjects:
$85 Billion for Empty Buses and Railcars
by Randal OToole 02/09/2022
The future of public transit is nearly empty buses and railcars. Yet President Biden’s American Jobs Plan calls for spending $85 billion on transit. Although transit carries less than 1 percent of passenger travel in the United States, and no freight, this represents 28 percent of the funds Biden proposes to spend on transportation. read more » »
Subjects:
A New Dawn for the Working Class?
by Joel Kotkin 02/08/2022
The labouring masses are restless, as evidenced by the Canadian trucker strike, union drives in Amazon warehouses in the US and in demonstrations throughout the developing world. More revealing still may be the turmoil in the labour markets, where workers are changing jobs, creating their own and, overall, refusing to return to the structures of the pre-pandemic order. read more » »
Subjects:
What Can Jersey City Teach Us About YIMBYism?
by Pete Saunders 02/07/2022
I’m back. I haven’t written much lately but I am always reading and gathering topics for future posts. Here’s one. Over the last 2-3 months, I’ve come across Twitter discussions among many self-professed YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) advocates. If you’re familiar with YIMBYs you know that they believe the lack of housing affordability in American cities largely stems from regulatory restraints that limits housing production. read more »
Subjects:
California Imported Crude Oil Ranks as a Major Emissions Generator
by Ronald Stein 02/06/2022
Shipping is by far the biggest transport polluter in the world. The fuel used is the cheapest and most polluting fuel available for the world’s 90,000 ships that burn approximately 370 million tons of fuel per year, emitting 20 million tons of sulfur oxides. read more » »
Subjects:
The Last Utopia: The 15-Minute City
by Alain Bertaud 02/04/2022
Mayors and urban planners have crucial roles in the management of cities. They must help cities adapt rapidly when confronted with external shocks—the pandemic is only the latest one of these. To be a prudent and efficient janitor is the main task of mayors. read more » »
Subjects:
St. Louis Plans More Transit Spending
by Randal OToole 02/03/2022
As an op-ed article in the St. Louis Business Journal points out, buses carried 40.3 million riders in 1993, before the region’s first light-rail line opened. read more » »
Subjects:
Is Suburbia’s Global Benchmark Share of Urban Jobs 87%?
by Ross Elliott 02/02/2022
“The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” read more » |
Subscribe to NG ArticlesThe Coming of Neo-FeudalismJoel Kotkin's newest book The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class is now available to order. Learn more about this title and Joel's other books. Infinite SuburbiaInfinite Suburbia is the culmination of the MIT Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism's yearlong study of the future of suburban development. Find out more. Recent blog posts
BooksAuthored by Aaron Renn, The Urban State of Mind: Meditations on the City is the first Urbanophile e-book, featuring provocative essays on the key issues facing our cities, including innovation, talent attraction and brain drain, global soft power, sustainability, economic development, and localism. Recent popular content
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