Urban Issues

From the dawn of the colonial era, Canada, the U.S., and Australia thrived by providing what the landless have always sought. In the vast expanses of these countries  read more »

Beyond the cacophony currently surrounding the highly combustible subject of overseas migration, there is an evolving sub-plot in which the narrative reveals a less substantial, but meaningful migratory phenomenon. Understanding it is critical if we are serious about addressing Australia's worsening housing woes.  read more »

After decades of self-celebration and relentless media hype, the great “urban renaissance” predicted by the New Urbanists—a vision of cities built by and for the creative class—has come crashing down.  read more »

Over the past few weeks, seemingly endless stories have detailed San Francisco’s continuing troubles, with its retail core collapse and high office vacancy rates being the latest areas of serious attention.  read more »

Suburban urbanism is making another cameo appearance.

As most followers of cities know, the lack of housing affordability in large cities, combined with the impact of the rising work-from-home phenomenon since the start of the Covid pandemic, has provided a powerful one-two punch to cities  read more »

North America’s most livable cities are also among the least affordable. At least, that’s my conclusion from the Economist‘s 2023  read more »

Last month, Katie Roberts-Hull from YIMBY Melbourne posted an article in The Guardian complaining that heritage laws are thwarting housing supply.  read more »

After the US Surgeon General Advisory raised the alarm over the “devastating impact of the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in the United States,” the Washington Post jumped into the discussion of loneliness with a highly recirculated  read more »

The global housing crisis across the high-income world, particularly in the Anglosphere, represents perhaps the single biggest challenge to the future of the middle class.  read more »

“We are not asking, we are demanding that Governor Newsom allocate $5 billion to public transit,” said Brett Vertocci, a protestor who was blocking rush-hour traffic  read more »