Urban Issues

From Settler Colonialism to a New Post-Colonial Settlement

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In this era of heightened racial and ethnic tension, few academic concepts have enjoyed as much success as “settler colonialism.”  read more »

Subjects:

The Midwest: Talent, Ambition, and Culture

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Last weekend there was a debate taking place on a very small corner of the Internet. It was about the Midwest’s culture and its impact on growth and development prospects.  read more »

Has Transit Entered the "Death Spiral"?

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Transit ridership dropped sharply with the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The slow rebound in the years that followed has prompted discussion, sometimes in hushed tones, as to whether transit had entered a “death spiral.” That ominous description refers to a situation where a decrease in ridership leads to lower farebox revenue, which in turn leads to service cuts, which further reduces ridership, and so on in a vicious downward cycle.  read more »

In Praise of Sprawl

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Delayed decision-making, bureaucratic dithering, and the stubborn resistance of NIMBYs have all been frequently cited as planning-related barriers to the development of much-needed housing.  read more »

Four Decades of Work Access (Commuting) in Los Angeles

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This article describes work access in the Los Angeles combined statistical area (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties) from 1980 to 2022, using US Census Bureau data.  read more »

Right-Wing Anti-Semitism Still Haunts the West

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In a post-7 October world, many have finally woken up to the reality that the locus of anti-Semitic sentiment now resides on the left.  read more »

Downtowns Don't Matter Anymore

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Joseph Lawler’s learned essay on induced demand, looking at the case of highway expansion in Austin, Texas, is fair-minded, but somehow seems more about theory than actual reality. He talks about downtown as if it really mattered all that much. It doesn’t.  read more »

The Puzzle of Generational Politics

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Age is a big deal. We saw just how big a deal it is from the deterioration of President Biden evident during the recent debate with Donald Trump. There’s a growing sense that the world is being run by a gerontocracy  read more »

The Baby Recession Continues as Births Drop to Lowest Level in Almost Two Decades

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KPMG Australia analysis shows the country is in the midst of a baby recession as births across the country fall by 4.6 per cent year on year.  read more »

More on the Flight from Density: Within Major Metropolitan Areas

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The new data on net domestic migration between major metropolitan areas (more than 1,000,000 residents) over the last three years (July 2020 to July 2023) shows a strong movement of people away from higher urban densities to lower urban densities.  read more »