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Home > Anarchitecture > ana030: The ABC's of Market Urbanism | Scott Beyer Interview
Podcast: Anarchitecture
Episode:

ana030: The ABC's of Market Urbanism | Scott Beyer Interview
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 01:22:27
Publish Date: 2020-06-26 06:33:45
Description:

 

"Market Urbanism is the intersection of urban issues and free market philosophy."

 

We interview Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism Report to introduce the ideas of Market Urbanism and discuss a broad sweep of issues in housing, transportation, and governance.

 

Use hashtag #ana030 to reference this episode in a tweet, post, or comment

 

View full show notes at http://anarchitecturepodcast.com/ana030.

 

Intro

 

  • Contrition
  • Joe's urbanism crash course
  • Tim met some OG Market Urbanists
  • Scott Beyer and the Market Urbanism Report
  • Demystifying urbanist jargon
  • Market Urbanists are down in the trenches
  • We are explicitly ideological, Scott is more pragmatic
  • Urban issues have a natural affinity for libertarian solutions - becuase they work
  • Three broad categories - Housing, Transportation, and Governance
  • The Anarchitecture Podcast All-Star Game (details in links below)

 

Discussion

 

  • What is Market Urbanism?
    • Cross between free-market policy and urban issues
    • Theory - how would decentralized private cities work?
    • Practical set of policy reforms
    • Market oriented reforms
  • How did Scott get interested in these ideas?
    • Living in cities, interested in urban issues
    • Why are projects hard to get approved?
    • Why do downtowns empty out at 5PM?
    • Research led to more libertarian understanding
    • Influential writers
      • MarketUrbanism.com
      • Jane Jacobs
      • Ed Glaeser
  • We see urbanism as a conduit to bring libertarian / free market ideas to a broader audience
    • People think of cities as complex infrastructure managed by big government
    • A more granular look is more libertarian - the "Street Ballet" of voluntary exchange
    • "When cities follow that libertarian impulse, they do really well."
    • Nobody has planned the allocation of specific businesses and residences
  • Housing
    • Market Urbanism approach - a free-flowing, unregulated, market-oriented process
    • Theory - How would cities develop under a free market?
    • Practical - specific problems and policies in cities
    • Restrictive Zoning
      • Single Family Zoning in hot markets
      • San Francisco - around 75% zoned for single family or duplex
      • "The city cannot change."
      • Setback Requirements
      • Lot Coverage Requirements
      • Parking Minimums
      • Density Requirements
      • Minimum Lot Size - an historic 6-unit building restricted to 2 units
    • Counterintuitive zoning - do the planning boards even understand these impacts?
      • The empty husk - 8-story building limited to 12 units means the units will be large and unaffordable
      • No, they don't understand
    • What has motivated zoning requirements?
      • Early 20th century; cities grew using a combination of private deed restrictions and municipal zoning
      • Racism and classism - "they thought that was a good thing!"
      • Separating industry from housing
      • Euclid v. Amber - "Euclidean Zoning"
      • Late 20th century; more subjective and aesthetic, more complex
    • Do cities have a responsibility to preserve property values?
      • No - zoning should not be a protection for special interests
      • The irony - absent the regulations, property values would increase
      • MUH CHARACTER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
      • If a potential buyer can subdivide my lot, that increases my property value - capturing the location value twice
    • Policy success - "by-right" incremental development allowed in some states
    • ADU - Accessory Dwelling Unit; an additional unit on a single family property
      • Attached: basement apartment
      • Detached: backyard cottage, granny flat
      • "We won't build proper housing for the Millenials, but we'll put them in the basement."
      • ADU - a fiction created by zoning ordinances - the state taketh, then giveth back but a mere morsel
      • It's better than nothing, but we need new housing
    • Filtering
      • The more new houses you build, the cheaper old houses become (in elastic markets)
    • Gentrification
      • Less than 10% of people get displaced, and relocate to a similar quality neighborhood (see links below)
      • Existing owners tend to benefit from positive externalities
      • Middle ground - allow the new developments, give housing vouchers
      • You can't prevent neighborhoods from changing
    • Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) - "Rent Control 2.0"
      • Allow developers to build to a certain level if they allocate a percentage of "Affordable" units
      • IZ tends to reduce the overall supply of housing by making projects less feasible
  • Transportation
    • Theory - Can a market provide sufficient transit efficiency?
    • Examples of privatizated transport
      • Mexico City - Paseros - "The Uber of Driving!"
      • Uber - The Paseros of America
    • "Who will build the roads?"
      • Alain Bertaud - Order Without Design - Does the government need to build key infrastructure?
      • Right-of-ways in developed places
      • Brightline High Speed Rail (HSR) - Miami to Fort Lauderdale
      • Proposed bullet trains hitting right of way issues
      • Acela train - slows down through every Connecticut NIMBY town
      • Trade-offs between nuisances and benefits
      • Direct negotiations vs. government mediated negotiations
      • Coase Theorem - if you want to obstruct development, you need to pay for that right
      • Pigouvian tax
      • Mitigation rather than obstruction
      • If you live in NYC, you should expect tall buildings around you
      • High speed rail can increase property values - sell it for a windfall and move away from the nuisance
    • Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
      • Value capture - train companies own and develop surrounding land plots to fund the rail
      • In USA, regulatory hurdles prevent TOD
      • For state owned transit agencies, there is no profit motive to develop
    • How do you manage a complex street grid?
      • Pricing different uses; NO FREE PARKING
      • Bus operators could out-bid cars for street space
      • Privatizing public space
      • Market pricing for street space could entice further investment
    • Pricing sidewalks and curb space
      • Buses and bike share could carve out their spaces
      • Scattered scooters - tragedy of the commons
      • Prohibition and monopoly contracts for scooters
    • There is no free parking
      • No market incentive to build a small commercial garage
      • Charge market rates for on-street parking
      • Balancing the interest of local business owners - "We'll see how valuable it is to him"
      • In urban contexts, most customers aren't driving to your store
      • Increasing the cost of parking makes other transit options more attractive
      • "Drivers in Boston are jerks, but drivers in Manhattan are just insane"
      • The less space you allocate to parking, the more space you have for street beautification
    • Car-free streets
      • Social distancing promotes outdoor seating
      • "Let the market work; let the consumer decide"
  • City Governance
    • City services shouldn't be government-run
    • Charter Schools
    • Privatizing (or "divesting", or "DESTATALIZING") public space
    • Value Capture
    • Land Value Tax - recoup value of improvements for reinvestment
    • Government provision - no pricing feedback loops
    • User Fees - direct market feedback
    • Tax Increment Financing (TIF) - tax on incremental value of a specific amenity
    • What about people who can't afford fees?
      • Guaranteed minimum income
      • Voucher model - rather than funding an MTA, give people transit vouchers and let the market determine transit modalities
      • Let wealth redistribution be a separate, more efficient system
      • Neoliberalism - "Fund People, not Beauraucracy"
      • Obstacles are political - vested interests, patronage mills
  • What impact is Market Urbanism having?
    • It's more in the "ideas" stage
    • YIMBY movement pushing similar message
    • Strong Towns movement
    • Congress for New Urbanism (CNU)
    • Anarchitecture
    • State level bills to make housing legal by-right
    • We've seen a good response among libertarians

 

Links/Resources

 

 

Episodes Mentioned

 

 
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