"Market Urbanism is the intersection of urban issues and free market philosophy."
We interview Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism Report to introduce the ideas of Market Urbanism and discuss a broad sweep of issues in housing, transportation, and governance.
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View full show notes at http://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana030.
Intro
- Contrition
- Joe's urbanism crash course
- Tim met some OG Market Urbanists
- Scott Beyer and the Market Urbanism Report
- Demystifying urbanist jargon
- Market Urbanists are down in the trenches
- We are explicitly ideological, Scott is more pragmatic
- Urban issues have a natural affinity for libertarian solutions - becuase they work
- Three broad categories - Housing, Transportation, and Governance
- The Anarchitecture Podcast All-Star Game (details in links below)
Discussion
- What is Market Urbanism?
- Cross between free-market policy and urban issues
- Theory - how would decentralized private cities work?
- Practical set of policy reforms
- Market oriented reforms
- How did Scott get interested in these ideas?
- Living in cities, interested in urban issues
- Why are projects hard to get approved?
- Why do downtowns empty out at 5PM?
- Research led to more libertarian understanding
- Influential writers
- MarketUrbanism.com
- Jane Jacobs
- Ed Glaeser
- We see urbanism as a conduit to bring libertarian / free market ideas to a broader audience
- People think of cities as complex infrastructure managed by big government
- A more granular look is more libertarian - the "Street Ballet" of voluntary exchange
- "When cities follow that libertarian impulse, they do really well."
- Nobody has planned the allocation of specific businesses and residences
- Housing
- Market Urbanism approach - a free-flowing, unregulated, market-oriented process
- Theory - How would cities develop under a free market?
- Practical - specific problems and policies in cities
- Restrictive Zoning
- Single Family Zoning in hot markets
- San Francisco - around 75% zoned for single family or duplex
- "The city cannot change."
- Setback Requirements
- Lot Coverage Requirements
- Parking Minimums
- Density Requirements
- Minimum Lot Size - an historic 6-unit building restricted to 2 units
- Counterintuitive zoning - do the planning boards even understand these impacts?
- The empty husk - 8-story building limited to 12 units means the units will be large and unaffordable
- No, they don't understand
- What has motivated zoning requirements?
- Early 20th century; cities grew using a combination of private deed restrictions and municipal zoning
- Racism and classism - "they thought that was a good thing!"
- Separating industry from housing
- Euclid v. Amber - "Euclidean Zoning"
- Late 20th century; more subjective and aesthetic, more complex
- Do cities have a responsibility to preserve property values?
- No - zoning should not be a protection for special interests
- The irony - absent the regulations, property values would increase
- MUH CHARACTER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
- If a potential buyer can subdivide my lot, that increases my property value - capturing the location value twice
- Policy success - "by-right" incremental development allowed in some states
- ADU - Accessory Dwelling Unit; an additional unit on a single family property
- Attached: basement apartment
- Detached: backyard cottage, granny flat
- "We won't build proper housing for the Millenials, but we'll put them in the basement."
- ADU - a fiction created by zoning ordinances - the state taketh, then giveth back but a mere morsel
- It's better than nothing, but we need new housing
- Filtering
- The more new houses you build, the cheaper old houses become (in elastic markets)
- Gentrification
- Less than 10% of people get displaced, and relocate to a similar quality neighborhood (see links below)
- Existing owners tend to benefit from positive externalities
- Middle ground - allow the new developments, give housing vouchers
- You can't prevent neighborhoods from changing
- Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) - "Rent Control 2.0"
- Allow developers to build to a certain level if they allocate a percentage of "Affordable" units
- IZ tends to reduce the overall supply of housing by making projects less feasible
- Transportation
- Theory - Can a market provide sufficient transit efficiency?
- Examples of privatizated transport
- Mexico City - Paseros - "The Uber of Driving!"
- Uber - The Paseros of America
- "Who will build the roads?"
- Alain Bertaud - Order Without Design - Does the government need to build key infrastructure?
- Right-of-ways in developed places
- Brightline High Speed Rail (HSR) - Miami to Fort Lauderdale
- Proposed bullet trains hitting right of way issues
- Acela train - slows down through every Connecticut NIMBY town
- Trade-offs between nuisances and benefits
- Direct negotiations vs. government mediated negotiations
- Coase Theorem - if you want to obstruct development, you need to pay for that right
- Pigouvian tax
- Mitigation rather than obstruction
- If you live in NYC, you should expect tall buildings around you
- High speed rail can increase property values - sell it for a windfall and move away from the nuisance
- Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
- Value capture - train companies own and develop surrounding land plots to fund the rail
- In USA, regulatory hurdles prevent TOD
- For state owned transit agencies, there is no profit motive to develop
- How do you manage a complex street grid?
- Pricing different uses; NO FREE PARKING
- Bus operators could out-bid cars for street space
- Privatizing public space
- Market pricing for street space could entice further investment
- Pricing sidewalks and curb space
- Buses and bike share could carve out their spaces
- Scattered scooters - tragedy of the commons
- Prohibition and monopoly contracts for scooters
- There is no free parking
- No market incentive to build a small commercial garage
- Charge market rates for on-street parking
- Balancing the interest of local business owners - "We'll see how valuable it is to him"
- In urban contexts, most customers aren't driving to your store
- Increasing the cost of parking makes other transit options more attractive
- "Drivers in Boston are jerks, but drivers in Manhattan are just insane"
- The less space you allocate to parking, the more space you have for street beautification
- Car-free streets
- Social distancing promotes outdoor seating
- "Let the market work; let the consumer decide"
- City Governance
- City services shouldn't be government-run
- Charter Schools
- Privatizing (or "divesting", or "DESTATALIZING") public space
- Value Capture
- Land Value Tax - recoup value of improvements for reinvestment
- Government provision - no pricing feedback loops
- User Fees - direct market feedback
- Tax Increment Financing (TIF) - tax on incremental value of a specific amenity
- What about people who can't afford fees?
- Guaranteed minimum income
- Voucher model - rather than funding an MTA, give people transit vouchers and let the market determine transit modalities
- Let wealth redistribution be a separate, more efficient system
- Neoliberalism - "Fund People, not Beauraucracy"
- Obstacles are political - vested interests, patronage mills
- What impact is Market Urbanism having?
- It's more in the "ideas" stage
- YIMBY movement pushing similar message
- Strong Towns movement
- Congress for New Urbanism (CNU)
- Anarchitecture
- State level bills to make housing legal by-right
- We've seen a good response among libertarians
Links/Resources
Episodes Mentioned