What City Observatory did this week 1. The limits of Nieman Marcus environmentalism. It’s fashionable to demonstrate one’s green credibility by conspicuous acts of non-consumption, but framing our environmental problems as fundamentally those of personal or moral failures misses the point that we’ve set up a social and economic system that generates powerful incentives to […]
The Week Observed, December 21, 2018 Read More »
Where are walkable local shopping districts in your city? There are just six shopping days left until Christmas; while much of our shopping is done on-line or with at big box stores and national chains, many consumers look to support their local businesses during the holiday season. Where, exactly, can you find the clusters of
Where you can walk and shop locally: The Storefront Index Read More »
Conspicuous non-consumption is really faux environmentalism; climate change is a social problem, not a personal one We’re in the midst of the holiday shopping season, a potent reminder of how consumerism dominates so much of our lives. Even before black Friday, merchants have been flogging their holiday wares; even before all the Halloween candy had
The limits of Nieman Marcus environmentalism Read More »
What City Observatory did this week 1. Cities, Ideas and Us: Paul Romer’s Nobel Address. Romer, who won this year’s Nobel Prize in the Economic Sciences had some interesting things to say about cities in his address to the Royal Swedish Academy this past weekend. A key insight of his work is the observation that
The Week Observed, December 14, 2018 Read More »
Harnessing the value of public assets to support the civic commons It’s widely recognized that public assets, like parks, libraries and community centers, generate important and tangible benefits for their neighborhoods. But it’s seldom the case that the value of these benefits is tapped to help generate revenue to enhance and maintain the public assets.
A tool kit for value capture policies Read More »
The number of eating places per capita is a key measure of a city’s livability Cities are great places for consumers. They provide an abundance and variety of choices, especially in the form of experiences. While our conventional economic indicators don’t fully capture the nature and depth of choices in cities, there are some measures
Consuming the city: Ranking restaurants per capita Read More »
Cities are critical to expanding the circle of “us” and generating the new ideas that propel progress In October, Paul Romer was awarded the Nobel Prize in the Economic Sciences for his work on technology and economic growth. This past weekend, he gave an address in Stockholm, explaining the gist of his work and its
Cities, Ideas and Us: Paul Romer’s Nobel Address Read More »
What City Observatory did for the past two weeks Alert followers will know the City Observatory has been preoccupied for the past two weeks; we’re filling in with a “Two-Weeks Observed” edition this week, and will be back to normal editorial approach this coming week. 1. Does Cyber Monday mean Gridlock Tuesday? The rapid growth
The Week Observed, December 7, 2018 Read More »
Some commonly used “rules of thumb” produce very bad results We all know and use rules of thumb. They’re handy for simplifying otherwise difficult problems and quickly making reasonably prudent decisions. We know that we should measure twice and cut once, that a stitch in time saves nine, and that we should allow a little
When planning rules of thumb are “all thumbs” Read More »
