Urban Issues

The Expansion of the "Citadel of Affluence"

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I’ll state this right from the outset. This is not a take-down. I’m expressing a point of view that differs from conventional urbanism wisdom.  read more »

The American University is Rotting From Within

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The Western world has many enemies – China, Russia, Iran, North Korea – but none is more potentially lethal than its own education system.  read more »

Democrat Resistance to Mass Deportations Could Push the US to a Civil War

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If something approaching civil war occurs in the US, as many Americans now believe, the most immediate cause may be President Trump’s move to deport huge numbers of people  read more »

More on the Housing Crisis/Auto Industry Analogy

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The strangest thing happened to me over the last few days. I stumbled on an analogy that I hadn’t considered as particularly relevant, but now discovering how relevant it really is.  read more »

The Real Reason for America's Housing Crisis

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Back in September, I wrote a piece that highlighted a notable but underestimated accomplishment in Chicago’s housing market.  read more »

SF Muni Tries Washington Monument Strategy

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Like many transit agencies, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) is facing a big budget deficit  read more »

The Democratic Party's "Governance" Problem

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I thought I was done with my own 2024 election introspection, but I’m not.  read more »

How Texas Can Defy the Demographic Odds

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In the center of the American Sun Belt lies the eighth-largest economy in the world, home to nearly one out of 10 Americans.  read more »

The West Seattle Link Extension Has Gone Off the Rails

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On September 20th Sound Transit published the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed light rail extension to West Seattle.  read more »

U.S. Residential Building Permits by Market Size: 2023

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In 2023 a total of more than 1.5 million residential building permits were issued in the United States, according to the Census Bureau.  read more »

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