A crazy owner and inept management are destroying a critically important Southern California institution. And I’m not talking about the Dodgers. read more »
Blogs
Los Angeles Metro Bus System Compares Favorably With its Peer Group
As the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) prepared for its most recent round of major bus operations reductions, Metro CEO Art Leahy has been quoted:
"(T)oo many bus lines with excessive service has led to regular budget deficits1." read more »
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"A Cloud of Contagion": States, Cities, and Federal Default
The Pew Center on the States has released a new report examining the impact a potential federal default would have on state and municipal governments. The picture isn't pretty. read more »
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Cities Have Outgrown Their Role as Mere Creatures of the Provinces
The Martin Prosperity Institute recently released the map below, which compares the GDP of several US metropolitan areas to the size of national economies. For instance, the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has a GDP of $311.3 billion dollars. If it were a country, it would be the 40th biggest national economy on earth, ahead of countries such as Denmark ($310.1) and Greece ($303.4). read more »
Attracting National and Global Tourists to Houston
PWC ranked Houston #11 *in the world* for business, life, and innovation - a really amazingly high ranking when you think about it. Here's what they said: read more »
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Australia's 2011 Census: Chock Full of Surprises
There is nothing better than a good old count to check out what’s really happening. And a lot has happened across Australia over the last five years. But what actually has happen to the country’s demographic fabric might surprise many.
There are ten trends which I think will emerge out of our next national count on Tuesday 9th August. read more »
Land Use Regulation Blamed for High Hong Kong House Prices
The Wall Street Journal reports that growing concern about Hong Kong's high house prices has led the special administrative region's Chief Executive Donald Tsang to promise an overhaul of housing and land use policies in the fall. read more »
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Learning the right lessons from LA’s “Carmageddon”
Carmageddon has come and gone, and the world didn’t end. The catalyst for the predicted disaster was the closure of Interstate 405 in Los Angeles for construction for the weekend of the 16th and 17th of July. Freeway closures aren’t all that unusual, but the 405 is not a regular freeway. It is both the busiest, and most congested road in America. The 405 carries an estimated half million vehicles per weekday. Had traffic been even close to normal volumes—even weekend volumes—the event would have earned the nickname. However, less people drove. Way less people. read more »
Adelaide Land Prices Top Sydney
The median price of serviced (improved) lots for new houses in Adelaide is reported to have risen above that of far larger Sydney by the Housing Industry Association of South Australia. Housing Industry Association of South Australian Executive Director Robert Harding attributed the high price of land to government policies that have limited the supply of land available for building. read more »
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Another Congressional Cut for High Speed Rail
July 15: Today there was another indication that the newly constituted House of Representatives understands the “litmus test” imperative of zeroing out high speed rail appropriations, in light of potentially required cuts in essential programs like Medicare, Social Security and others. $1 billion was switched to Midwest flood relief in an approval today of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill for the 2012 budget. read more »