In a new report with the Cato Institute, Randal O'Toole takes off the gloves and lays the blame for the housing crisis squarely on urban planners.
O'Toole argues that because the housing crisis happened in places like California and Florida that have growth management policies, and didn't happen in places like Texas and Georgia where they do not, urban planning is the true cause of the housing crisis.
From the report: "Urban-growth boundaries and greenbelts not only drive up the cost of new homes, they make each additional new housing unit more expensive than the last. In other words, they steepen the supply curve.
Once growth boundaries are in place, cities no longer need to fear that developers will simply build somewhere else. This gives the cities carte blanche to pass increasingly restrictive rules on new construction. In places like Houston, such rules would drive developers to unregulated land in the suburbs. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the nearest relatively (with emphasis on 'relatively') unregulated land is in the Central Valley, 60 to 80 miles away."
FULL STORY: How Urban Planners Caused the Housing Bubble
O'Toole, Cato Institute Part Ways
Randal O'Toole, who resisted contemporary progressive planning trends by supporting the unfettered expansion of automobile infrastructure and single-family residential development, is no longer employed by the conservative-leaning Cato Institute.
Solutions to Fixing the Gas Tax Crisis
The Wall Street Journal published a 10-page energy section with the declining gas tax problem on page 1. Five solutions are offered: taxing the miles, taxing the roads, indexing the gas tax, taxing the oil, and taxing the cars. Each has challenges.
Congress Fails to Learn From I-35W Bridge Collapse
Five years after the I-35W bridge collapse, Congress has yet to address the failing condition of America's bridges. There is no consensus between the two parties in Congress on how to remedy the situation, unlike the progress shown in Minnesota.
Planning for Congestion Relief
The third and final installment of Planetizen's examination of the role of the planning profession in both perpetuating and solving traffic congestion.
Minneapolis Housing Plan a Success—Not for the Reason You Think
Housing advocates praise the city’s move to eliminate single-family zoning by legalizing triplexes on single-family lots, but that isn’t why housing construction is growing.
New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives
The Biden administration this morning released a new program of actions intended to spur housing construction around the United States.
Study: Most of Vancouver Is a ‘15-Minute City’
A large majority of Vancouver residents can access a grocery store in 15 minutes or less by bicycle or on foot.
Urban Design, Transport, and Health
The Lancet medical journal published a series of articles that explore how to evaluate and guide urban planning decisions to create healthy and sustainable cities. Live long and prosper!
Detroit Bike Share Celebrates Five Years
In its five years of operation, Detroit’s MoGo bikeshare has added electric and adaptive bikes to its fleet of more than 600 bikes.
Urban Planning Partners
Sandy City
Ada County Highway District
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Redwood City
City of Rohnert Park
City of Hot Springs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
