Joel Kotkin

Will Midland Become the Dubai of Texas?

An online petition opposing a proposed 53-story, mixed-use "Energy Tower" began circulating in March. "Is this what we want to present to the world, that we're the Dubai of Texas?", asked the organizer. However, Midland is not new to tall buildings.

April 11, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

Kotkin and Florida Duke it Out Over 'Limits' of the Creative Class

After a decade of debate, Richard Florida's theories on the 'creative class' have been championed by many, and challenged by others (perhaps none more forcefully than author Joel Kotkin). In recent articles, the two are battling it out once again.

March 21, 2013 - The Daily Beast

Look to the Old Confederacy, not the Coasts, for America's Economic Revival

Accounting for 45% of America's land mass and 30% of its population, the Great Plains, the Intermountain West, the Gulf states, and the Southeastern industrial belt are key to a national revival, says a new report from the Manhattan Institute.

February 26, 2013 - New Geography

California's Growing Housing Imbalance

Robert Steuteville looks at a recent report on the Golden State's supply and demand imbalance in the housing market. It's not what the The Wall Street Journal has led you to believe.

May 2, 2012 - Better Cities & Towns

Standing Up for Smart Growth in California

Josh Stephens, who is quickly becoming the SB 375 defender par excellence, responds to recent criticisms of California’s land use policies by Joel Kotkin in the pages of The Wall Street Journal.

May 1, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Urbanism is for Everyone

Is it mid-March already? I’m far overdue for announcing my departure from Planetizen, which happened at the tail end of 2011. It was a wonderful 3 ½ years at the helm, and I thank Chris Steins and Abhijeet Chavan for giving me the opportunity back in 2008 to steer this incomparable resource.

March 14, 2012 - Tim Halbur

America's Most Livable City Needs Improvement

Portland leads the nation is sustainability and in fact, may be responsible for starting this movement, but its economy remains mediocre and it is one of America's least diverse cities. Urbanophile's Aaron M. Renn explains why.

July 4, 2011 - Urbanophile

New Housing Starts Reveal Shift Toward Multi-Family Housing Construction

AP reports on the Anderson Forecast from UCLA that looks into CA's housing slump and shows two distinct markets, one on the rise and the other (single-family housing) falling.

June 16, 2011 - AP via Bloomberg Business Week

Kotkin Decries "Cramming and Concentration"

Joel Kotkin says that despite the fashion for density among urban planners, the future relies on "dispersion" and focusing on developing small and mid-range cities.

May 8, 2011 - New Geography

Is Jersey City a Suburb? Joel Kotkin Thinks So.

Joel Kotkin recently argued that America is becoming more suburban. Tim Evans says that it's easy to draw that conclusion "when you define 'suburb' so loosely that it includes just about everything."

March 3, 2011 - Garden State Smart Growth

The High Cost of Unaffordable Housing

Joel Kotkin argues that planners too often ignore "the most critical issue" in housing.

January 29, 2011 - Forbes

Cities No Longer Need Help

Joel Kotkin argues that most U.S. cities that were struggling in the '60s and '70s have forged a comeback and should no longer need the sort of redevelopment and federal attention they've been given.

January 21, 2011 - New Geography

Physicist Tackles Urban Theory

Physicist Geoffrey West of the Santa Fe Institute applied his talents to unraveling urban issues like population growth in a similar vein that he did earlier with biology. He found answers that explain how all cities work if enough data is supplied.

December 20, 2010 - The New York Times - Magazine

10 Places Poised for Economic Recovery

Joel Kotkin hypothesizes as to which cities will emerge from the recession stronger than ever.

November 9, 2010 - New Geography

City vs. Suburbs: A False Debate

Christopher Leinberger, author of The Option of Urbanism, takes on Joel Kotkin's latest dustup on the "war between the city and the suburbs." Leinberger argues that the data Kotkin's using is dated and doesn't reflect reality.

July 13, 2010 - Brookings blog

Kotkin Takes Aim at Urbanists

Naming Richard Florida, Carol Coletta and ULI as pro-urban forces, Joel Kotkin accuses them of having "wishful thinking" in regards to the back-to-the-city movement. Kotkin says people want single-family homes, not condos.

July 6, 2010 - The Wall St. Journal

Has Expansion of the Welfare State Hindered Social Mobility in London?

Joel Kotkin examines the causes of growing disaffection among Britain's youth and the associated class conflicts that were highlighted by the recent general election.

June 7, 2010 - New Geography

Kotkin and Clubs

In a widely-read review of Joel Kotkin's book, a statistic claiming that suburban dwellers join significantly more social clubs than urban residents is called into question by Robert Steuteville.

April 9, 2010 - New Urban News

Obama Is At War With Suburbia, Says Kotkin

Joel Kotkin says that the recent Republican win in Massachusetts shows that suburban voters are in revolt against the Obama administration's urban-centric policies.

January 21, 2010 - The American

Don't Forget Roads, Says Kotkin

Joel Kotkin explains why the Obama Administration's focus on transit is wrong-headed and doesn't do anything for the majority of Americans.

September 14, 2009 - New Geography

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