Florida State University
Director of Urban Growth Policy at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think-tank, and Managing Director of the DeVoe L. Moore Center at Florida State University in Tallahassee; co-author of The Road More Traveled: Why the Congestion Crisis Matters More Than You Think and What We Can Do About It and Mobility First: A New Vision for Transportation in a 21st Century Global Economy
The Decline of Suburbia For more than 50 years, Americans were drawn to the suburbs, with their sylvan promises of easy living. Owning your own home with a car in the driveway and piece of lawn was seen as central to the American dream. But the latest census numbers show a reverse migration into the cities. Real estate is more valuable there, and even big box retailers are setting up shop downtown. Is this just a Sex and the City trend or is it really goodbye for good to Ozzie and Harriet?
Detroit: End of the American Dream or Hope of the Future? Detroit is a shrinking city, with just 700,000 residents in a place designed for two million. Many who still live there want to leave. But instead of trying to restore the Silicon Valley of the Jazz Age to its time of industrial greatness, civic leaders have another idea. The Detroit Future City report is hugely ambitious: showing a greener, healthier and more prosperous city — at Detroit's present size. Can the symbol of post-industrial ruin become a model for re-inventing not only Detroit but other failing cities in the Rust Belt, Florida and California?
Los Angeles, the Automobile and the Rest of the World For weeks, drivers in LA have been warned on freeway signs, televised news conferences and by celebrity Tweeters about possible chaos beginning at midnight tonight. The capital of car culture will be without a major artery for 53 hours when the 405 freeway shuts down between the Westside and the San Fernando Valley. What's come to be called " Carmageddon " might be a warning to other cities in a world now clogged with more than two billion automobiles. Should the romance with the automobile be turned into tough love in order to ease congestion, protect public health and counteract climate change?
Redefining the Urban Landscape A new movement for grappling with dying cities has emerged in recent years. Instead of just coping with the wreckage of decline, it focuses on intentionally shrinking cityscapes. Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors, has seen its population shrink from 200,000 in 1965 to just 110,000 people. Now it's taking charge of the urban landscape before it falls into ruins. It's created a land bank that allows government officials to act quickly on abandoned properties and to turn some of the land over to Mother Nature. What lessons can be learned from Flint? Can urban decline be turned into a new kind of urban renewal? Instead of planned shrinkage, should cities be planning for new kinds of growth?
Homeownership and the American Dream Six years ago, George W. Bush declared that, “owing a home lies at the heart of the American dream.” Yesterday, President Barack Obama said that home foreclosure means losing a “foothold in the American Dream,” an idea that dates back to the Great Depression. But there’s a downside, and it’s come to a head in the current recession as millions of homeowners are losing their homes to foreclosure. Why should tens of billions of taxpayer dollars help people get back into housing they can’t afford? What’s wrong with renting?
What's Wrong with Renting? Six years ago, George W. Bush declared that, "owing a home lies at the heart of the American dream." Yesterday, President Barack Obama said that home foreclosure means losing a "foothold in the American Dream," an idea that dates back to the Great Depression. Politicians virtually equate homeownership with patriotism, and government subsidies include the mortgage-interest exemption. But there's a downside, and it's come to a head in the current recession. Millions of homeowners are in big trouble. Why should tens of billions of taxpayer dollars help people get back into housing they can't afford? As the author of Don't Get Caught with Your Skirt Down : A Practical Girl's Recession Guide asks, what's wrong with renting?
Rising Oil Prices, Changing Lifestyles and Consumer Choices The spiraling cost of gas is hitting hard everywhere. Truckers and fishermen in Europe are protesting prices that have reached $10 a gallon. As hearings were held in the US Senate today about whether oil prices are being manipulated by speculators, General Motors announced that it is closing four SUV and pick-up plants, along with plans to roll out more fuel efficient vehicles. What kind of long-term changes are in store? Have Americans reached the tipping point in terms of their consumer lifestyle? Will suburbs be forced to transform into small towns?
DOING ‘BIG’ BETTER When it comes to getting big things done in California, the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland offers important lessons about what not to do.
Very legal? Very cool? President Trump says it was very legal and very cool to run his business and campaign simultaneously, but was it?
