Philip Rojc is a Contributing Editor at Planetizen. He writes about cities, philanthropy, and socioeconomic equity.
The Origins of Speed Limits
Motor vehicle crashes claim over 30,000 lives per year, with related costs in the hundreds of billions. While we sometimes view that frightening statistic as inevitable, there are reasons to reexamine speed limits and how we set them.
How Falling Inequality Rates Mislead
While the vast majority of cities saw an increase—or no decrease—in neighborhood inequality since 1990, nearly 30 regions became more equal. But paper equality can be problematic when the rich simply up and left town.
Op-Ed: Transit-Oriented Gentrification Should Be Taxed
This piece from the Vancouver Sun advocates using land value capture taxes to fund transit and related improvements. Such a tax would target speculation, the author writes, rather than productive activity.
Severe Underfunding Hurts Denver Bike Plan
According to an audit, the Denver Moves plan hasn't lived up to its goals, mainly because of a poor showing in the city's budget since implementation in 2011.
Most Downtowns Still Lagging Behind
Central districts have been surging back since the 1980s. But in most cities, the upper third of earners still favor outlying areas and are underrepresented closer to downtown.