Urban Issues

More on Rust Belt to Sun Belt Migration

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Three weeks ago I wrote a piece about the role that a “Rust Belt Diaspora,” or the people who relocated from Rust Belt to Sun Belt states over the last 50 years  read more »

Immigration the American Way

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As the U.S. southern border begins to function once again, it’s time to consider what kind of immigration policy we should adopt.  read more »

California’s Housing Problems Require a Better Solution than Densify, Densify, Densify

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The Palisades and Eaton fires represent thousands of personal tragedies, but they also constitute a collective disaster, adding new housing shortages to California’s already massive shortfall  read more »

Sheds and Living Life On the Street

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I had the privilege of seeing the gorgeous photography show Out on the Street: The Dining Sheds & Empty Streets of New York, 2020-2024, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.  read more »

Why Jews Are Fleeing the West

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Jewish history has long been defined by migratory movements away from trouble and towards safer places.  read more »

The Democratic Bourgeoisie is Fighting to Take the Party Back from the Left

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For generations, the ultra-rich in big American cities have been willing to go along with progressives and their policies. But now, as urban areas across the country depopulate and lose jobs, some of those oligarchs – from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Boston – appear to be increasingly willing to take on the Left.  read more »

Why Call It "The Rust Belt"?

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There’s a question I get every so often in social media – “why do you use the term “Rust Belt”?“ Usually it comes from people who live in the region, who dislike the term and wish for some kind of rebranding. I agree. But what’s better?  read more »

How Sydney CBD Became a Capital of Luxury Urbanity

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With a great deal of success, urban development elites have been able to sustain the illusion that Central Business Districts or downtowns are still the functional metropolitan centres they were five decades ago.  read more »

Climate Change, Insurance, and the LA Fires

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Scientific American blames the Los Angeles fires on climate change. A Yale University publication agrees.  read more »

Rust Belt Expatriates And The Diaspora

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So the Super Bowl is set, and the Detroit Lions are not in it.

It was tough watching my Detroit Lions go down two weekends ago  read more »