Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:22:44 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion webmaster@nysun.com en-us Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/are-internet-communities-cities-1.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/are-internet-communities-cities-1.html Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:59:24 EST One of the courses I teach is called "Cities, Culture, & Economy." It's one of my favorites although, perhaps for that reason, it's also probably the most demanding for my students as well as for me. The requirements include a midterm, a final, five quizzes, a site study, well over 20 article summaries, and a term paper. And I usually have around 30 students, which means A LOT of grading! But since the subject matter relates directly to my research interests, and to the subject matter of Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/on-commuter-rail-in-honolulu-a-state-wit.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/on-commuter-rail-in-honolulu-a-state-wit.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:17:42 EST I've been vacationing in Hawaii these past several days, spending most of the time in Honolulu. This "city" of about 377,000 is currently debating whether to address its mounting traffic congestion by building a 20-mile elevated commuter rail line that will take a decade and an estimated $5 billion (inflation-adjusted) to complete. Here is a recent story in the Honolulu Advertiser that sets out some of the issues involved. A follow-up article reports that a circuit judge has decided just to put Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/traveling-with-context.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/traveling-with-context.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:07:30 EST A few months ago I happened across the Web site of a company called Context Travel, which advertised "scholar-led walks of the world's greatest cities." Since this sentence had all of the hyphens and apostrophes in the right places I thought maybe they were as scholarly as they said they were. According to the Web site, they have tours of various lengths for small groups (promising no more than six persons) in Paris, Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, London, and New York "for intellectually Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/wsj-on-mostly-urban-success-stories.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/wsj-on-mostly-urban-success-stories.html Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:02:00 EST I'm a little late with this, but last Monday's Wall Street Journal devoted a whole section to success stories of economic redevelopment. You can still read it here. (Thanks again to Peter Gordon for the pointer.) There are seven articles describing (so far) successful re-vitalization attempts, in Kalamazoo, Michigan; El Paso, Texas; Kobe, Japan; Wismar, Germany; Omaha, Nebraska; rural Kentucky, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Here are some highlights and comments. • Kalamazoo: "Philanthropists Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/reason-ranks-chicago-last-in-personal-fr.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/08/reason-ranks-chicago-last-in-personal-fr.html Fri, 1 Aug 2008 14:20:07 EST The Chicago Board of Aldermen recently removed its 2006 ban on foie gras on restaurant menus, one of the few victories for liberty in Chicago, which a new Reason magazine report describes as a "wet nurse of a city." Click here to read the report and see how the magazine ranks the other 34 biggest municipalities in the United States. The latest trend in "nanny cities" across the country is permissiveness toward sex and drugs, but intolerance of alcohol, smoking, and fast foods: Two decades of Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/an-alternative-to-monopolistic-public.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/an-alternative-to-monopolistic-public.html Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:06:27 EST After the MTA's breathtaking proposal last week for not one but two more subway-bus-and-toll fare increases — which would make that three increases in about as many years (read about it here) — it may be time to re-visit the whole issue of municipal (read monopolistic) provision of public transport. In particular, an important 1997 paper by Daniel B. Klein, Adrian T. Moore, and Binyam Reja examines the viability of low-cost private buses and "jitneys," small vehicles that follow more-or-less Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/and-the-22nd-most-expensive-city-in-the.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/and-the-22nd-most-expensive-city-in-the.html Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:32:23 EST One guess. The only North American city to make the top 50, New York City fell seven spots. ... Read the Crain's New York article here and find out which city is No. 1. Hint: It's also currently the city with the most billionaires. (Hat tip again to JW.) *** Urban planning in the Fillmore District of San Francisco. (Thanks to Peter Gordon for the pointer.) Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/robert-bruegmann-writes-sensibly-about-s.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/robert-bruegmann-writes-sensibly-about-s.html Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:28:33 EST According to Robert Bruegmann, after discovering a paucity of non-polemical literature on the history of urban sprawl, he basically went out and wrote one himself. In his 2005 book, "Sprawl: A Compact History," Mr. Bruegmann aims "to look at this issue from a historic perspective and to examine the way the concept of sprawl was invented and how it has been used over time." He defines "sprawl" simply as "low density, scattered, urban development without systematic large-scale or regional public Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/rent-regulations-advantage-the-well-conn.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/rent-regulations-advantage-the-well-conn.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:03:00 EST Basic economics teaches us, and historical evidence demonstrates time and again, that rent control and rent stabilization — regulating what a landlord can charge for a unit — tend to harm the very people they are supposed to benefit. The Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck once said that "Next to bombing, rent control seems to be the most efficient technique so far known for destroying cities" (quoted in William Tucker's "The Excluded Americans," p. 265). Nevertheless, around 200 American cities Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/ken-ichi-sasaki-on-urban-tactility.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/ken-ichi-sasaki-on-urban-tactility.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:29:16 EST One of the most striking things about the Tokyo skyline, at least for me, is how striking it isn't. Viewed from afar — e.g., from its very-expensive-to-use elevated expressways (Narita Airport is too far from the city center to afford a decent panorama from the air) — the city, with few exceptions (such as Tokyo Tower), looks boxy and visually uninteresting. This may be partly because much of Tokyo's skyline was rebuilt after a terrible earthquake in 1923 and bombing in World War II. Yet the Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/battery-park-city-on-a-weekday-evening.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/battery-park-city-on-a-weekday-evening.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:35:49 EST Among New York's mega-projects-in-progress, I'd thought that Brooklyn Bridge Park on Brooklyn's East River waterfront was doing okay financially. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, all is not so well, according to a Daily News article that appeared recently: But rising costs, bureaucratic delays and ongoing legal battles have caused the price tag to double — sparking fears that not all the amenities will be built. Some 1,200 luxury condo units are still in the works along the park and will Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/william-h-whyte-on-broadway-boulevard.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/william-h-whyte-on-broadway-boulevard.html Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:06:14 EST The pedestrian is a social being; he is also a transportation unit, and a remarkably efficient one. … Most transportation experts, however, scant the pedestrian and his potential; millions are being spent in research on new kinds of people-movers but very little on the oldest and best kind: people themselves. This is from the pioneering urban sociologist William H. Whyte's "New York and Tokyo: A Study in Crowding" published in 1977, one of the essays collected in "The Essential William H. White Sanford Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/spinning-scotus-on-atlantic-yards-and-a.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/spinning-scotus-on-atlantic-yards-and-a.html Sat, 5 Jul 2008 19:45:49 EST The last time I blogged about Atlantic Yards, a group of local residents in the footprint of the project had petitioned the Supreme Court to halt the use of eminent domain to evict them from their property, on the grounds that the proposed complex is not sufficiently oriented toward public rather than private use. Last week the Brooklyn Paper reported, in "Supremes Sing the Blues to Yards Foes," that the High Court denied without comment the 11 property owners' request that the High Court take Sanford Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/learning-from-the-wtc-rebuilding-fiasco.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/07/learning-from-the-wtc-rebuilding-fiasco.html Fri, 4 Jul 2008 01:07:00 EST So the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has finally come clean and publicly confirmed what most of us have suspected: that the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site is distressingly behind schedule and seriously over budget. The Sun reports that the cost overruns will be upwards of $1 billion on the PATH hub alone, in "PATH Hub First Target of WTC Revisions." In addition, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and the proposed Trade Center Towers 2, 3, 4, and 5 (which involve dismantling as Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/olafur-eliassons-water-falls-short.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/olafur-eliassons-water-falls-short.html Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:45:00 EST Olafur Eliasson's "waterfalls" public-art project opened yesterday. After weeks of anticipation we were eager to see this thing running, and proud that the artist saw fit to place half of it in our now-trendy borough of Brooklyn. (Francis Morrone of the Sun writes about it here. His article also includes some photos.) As we approached the waterfall on the edge of Brooklyn Heights and glimpsed the metal scaffolding through the entrance to the Promenade, we felt a surge of disappointment, because Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/a-walk-in-the-park-avenue.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/a-walk-in-the-park-avenue.html Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:10:29 EST Last Monday the Sun reported another attempt by the Mayor to Europeanize NYC — not that there's anything wrong with that. He has proposed closing a 5-mile stretch of road (though the New York Times measures it at 6.9 miles) to cars and trucks, from Centre Street in Lower Manhattan and then along Park Avenue up to 72nd Street, for three Saturdays — August 9, 16, and 23 — from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. for bicyclists and pedestrians. Certain interactive activities, including yoga, could be permitted in Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/fewer-signs-more-minds.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/fewer-signs-more-minds.html Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:02:32 EST Last December I blogged "The Common Sense of Traffic Anarchy," about how the cities in the Netherlands (and other Northern European countries) have begun to successfully address traffic problems by removing traffic regulations and signage. Over at the Atlantic Monthly Web site, Don Staddon argues that American roads have far too many of these. (Thanks to The Austrian Economists for the pointer.) Staddon claims that Attending to a sign competes with attending to the road. The more you look for Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/on-willets-point-buy-outs-and-roadfood.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/on-willets-point-buy-outs-and-roadfood.html Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:22:25 EST Here's an article in Crain's New York Business about the City reaching deals with two landowners at Willets Point. (Hat tip to JW.) As I've blogged before (here, here, and here), there are some 260 business in the area just east of the new Mets ballpark, Citi Field, almost all of whom are resisting Mayor Bloomberg's plans for razing and redevelopment. Eminent domain looms, however. *** The folks over at the blog Roadfood Digest disagree politely (how refreshing on the Internet!) with my Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/earthquake-in-china-ii-the-resilience-of.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/earthquake-in-china-ii-the-resilience-of.html Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:14:00 EST I recently blogged in "Earthquake in China I" about the 7.9 earthquake in Sichuan Province that has left some 5 million persons homeless. Here I'd like to address the resilience of traumatized cities and what role will the government play in the recovery. (BTW, the Web site of MCEER, the Multi-disciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, is a good source for the latest news about this tragic event. And for the latest on the current flooding in the American Midwest, see here.) From Sandy Ikeda http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/the-vertical-city-as-an-unintended.html http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/06/the-vertical-city-as-an-unintended.html Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:10:41 EST In an earlier post on "Elevating Culture," I quoted this from Nick Paumgarten's New Yorker article: "Two things make tall buildings possible: the steel frame and the safety elevator." Now, steel-frame construction solved the engineering problem of how to build skyscrapers within the confines of a street grid by making it possible to build up without having to build out. It transformed weight-bearing walls into decorative facades. The safety elevator solved the economic problem by making the (n