Month: July 2019
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Economists & Scientists agree: To save the planet, we have to price carbon
One thing economists agree about: pricing carbon is essential to saving the planet; but if you don’t believe economists, you ought to believe Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Economists are famous for disagreeing with one another. For every proposition, there is an equal and opposite economist. An even economists frequently have trouble selecting a single…
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A modest proposal: Extend the Americans with Disabilities Act to highways
Let’s require that highways really be accessible to those who can’t drive: State highway departments should provide bus service on state roads for the disabled The Americans with Disabilities Act was landmark legislation to make sure that the disabled were not denied equal access to the public realm. The ability to travel freely is an…
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The Week Observed, July 26, 2019
What City Observatory did this week 1. Why gentrification is good for long time residents of low income neighborhoods. We take a close look at a new study from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank that challenges much of the frequently repeated claims about gentrification. It finds that there’s relatively little displacement from gentrifying neighborhoods, that…
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Devaluation of housing in black neighborhoods, Part 2: Appreciation
Are home prices appreciating more or less in black neighborhoods? Is that a good thing? Today, in part 2 of our analysis of the home price gap between majority black and predominantly white neighborhoods we look at the pattern of home price appreciation for black and white home buyers. Yesterday, in part 1 of our…
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The devaluation of black neighborhoods: Part 1.
Lingering racism holds down property values in majority black neighborhoods For most American households, their home is their largest financial asset; how valuable that asset is, and whether it appreciates has a profound impact on a household’s financial well-being. Unsurprisingly, a big component of the racial wealth gap in the United States has to do…
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How gentrification benefits long-time residents of low income neighborhoods
The new Philadelphia Fed study of gentrification is the best evidence yet that gentrification creates opportunity and promotes integration To many “gentrification” is intrinsically negative. When wealthier, whiter people move into the neighborhood, it must necessarily mean that lower income people of color are either driven away (to even worse neighborhoods) or suffer from higher…
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Why homeownership is frequently a bad bet
Home buying is a risky bet: There’s a 30% chance your house will be worth less in five years It’s a widely agreed that promoting homeownership is a key means to help American households build wealth. But as we and others have argued, homeownership can be a risky and problematic investment for many households–and is…
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The Week Observed, July 12, 2019
What City Observatory did this week About those swelling suburbs. Much was made last week of a Wall Street Journal story noting that 14 of the 15 fastest growing cities with populations greater than 50,000 were suburbs. As with previous such reports, that’s been taken to mean that America’s urban revival is waning and that…
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About those swelling suburbs
Faster suburban population growth doesn’t signal a preference for suburbs: Here’s why Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported suburbs growing faster than cities. The article, “American suburbs swell again as a new generation escapes the city.” The article looks at Census data showing that some of the nation’s fastest growing cities are sunbelt suburbs.…
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The Week Observed, July 5, 2019
What City Observatory did this week 1. What Oregon’s “single family zoning ban” signals for housing policy. Just before adjourning, the 2019 Oregon Legislature adopted the nation’s first statewide ban on exclusive, single family zoning. The legislation effectively re-legalizes duplex, triplex and fourplex housing in urban neighborhoods that have been restricted to one-family homes. While…
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Happy Birthday America; Thanks Immigrants!
We celebrate the fourth of July by remembering that a nation composed overwhelmingly of immigrants owes them a special debt. America is a nation of immigrants, and its economy is propelled and activated by its openness to immigration and the new ideas and entrepreneurial energy that immigrants provide. Its commonplace to remind ourselves that many…
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In Oregon: The middle isn’t missing any more
Oregon moves decisively to legalize missing middle housing Oregon became the first state in the nation to comprehensively bar local governments from imposing exclusive single-family residential zoning, and to effectively open up nearly all residentially zoned land to duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. HB 2001 passed the Oregon House and Senate, and is on its way…
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Has Falling Crime Invited Gentrification? – NYU Furman Center
http://furmancenter.org/research/publication/has-falling-crime-invited-gentrification