The more that I work in this industry, the more interested I am in the effects of urban and housing policy on cities - particularly in metrics of livability and affordability, having moved to a major city center and working on projects at a large international scale.
Anyone have any resources/books to take a deeper dive on this? So far I've gone through Moore's Slow Burn City, Minton's Big Capital, Desmond's Evicted, and am planning to take a stab at Pickety's Capital in the 21st Century as a long-term endeavor.
I suspect my interest in this is a coping mechanism to avoid thinking about the fact that so many of my generation will likely have zero chance of ever attaining any type of home-ownership level of personal capital.
Ben, this is a great topic... one worthy of several pints of Guinness and some good fountain pen sketches on the back of moist coasters.
What example of housing policies are you referring too?
p.s. I'm adding some of those books to my reading list for the next education credit cycle.
Dec 19, 17 10:41 am ·
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Bench
But is there ever a time when discussions over Guinness is inappropriate?
Dec 20, 17 4:50 am ·
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Bench
Hmm - for some reason the rest of my response never came through here.
Dec 21, 17 4:41 am ·
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Bench
Mainly to this point I've been focused on the effects of the UK's Right-to-Buy policy from the Thatcher years. On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but the long-term effects have been wildly detrimental and are one of the biggest reasons for London housing crisis. Milton and Moore do a really good job explaining the failings of this type of policy. With Toronto and Vancouver apparently going in a similar direction I've been interested if there is going to be a similar situation over the coming decade or so.
MM - as always, great suggestions. I've read Ta-Nehisi Coates previously but the others are new to me. I'm especially intrigued by Toni Griffin, as the angle I want to explore is the role of the architect in shaping the urban environment as a place for the many, or the few, by way of housing attainability. Has she written anything as well?
Form Follows Finance by Carol Willis is terrific on the interplay between capital, policy, and design. It's a comparative study of the NYC and Chicago skylines, and very fun to read.
Magnetic Los Angeles by Greg Hise does similar work but at the larger scale of neighborhood planning and development. Denser, but accessible and fascinating.
And From Tenements to the Taylor Homes (ed. Bauman, et al) is a great anthology of essays tracing US federal and urban housing policy and capital flows through case studies of different well-known types (tenements, wartime housing, public housing, suburban houses, garden apartments, etcetera) we assume we already know everything about. But we don't, and this book fills in a lot of detail.
All of these are historical (my wheelhouse), and excellent reads.
Policy
The more that I work in this industry, the more interested I am in the effects of urban and housing policy on cities - particularly in metrics of livability and affordability, having moved to a major city center and working on projects at a large international scale.
Anyone have any resources/books to take a deeper dive on this? So far I've gone through Moore's Slow Burn City, Minton's Big Capital, Desmond's Evicted, and am planning to take a stab at Pickety's Capital in the 21st Century as a long-term endeavor.
I suspect my interest in this is a coping mechanism to avoid thinking about the fact that so many of my generation will likely have zero chance of ever attaining any type of home-ownership level of personal capital.
Merry Christmas!
Ben, this is a great topic... one worthy of several pints of Guinness and some good fountain pen sketches on the back of moist coasters.
What example of housing policies are you referring too?
p.s. I'm adding some of those books to my reading list for the next education credit cycle.
But is there ever a time when discussions over Guinness is inappropriate?
Hmm - for some reason the rest of my response never came through here.
Mainly to this point I've been focused on the effects of the UK's Right-to-Buy policy from the Thatcher years. On the surface it sounds like a great idea, but the long-term effects have been wildly detrimental and are one of the biggest reasons for London housing crisis. Milton and Moore do a really good job explaining the failings of this type of policy. With Toronto and Vancouver apparently going in a similar direction I've been interested if there is going to be a similar situation over the coming decade or so.
if you understand pickety you are much smarter than me!
also, home ownership is overrated unless you very rarely move. transaction costs are ridiculous
You should check out Real Estates: Life without debt by Jack Self, very interesting read!
Excellent - read the synopsis and ordered it immediately.
I'd suggest:
Mark Fried
Ta Nehisi Coates
Don Mitchell
Walter D Greason
Toni Griffin
MM - as always, great suggestions. I've read Ta-Nehisi Coates previously but the others are new to me. I'm especially intrigued by Toni Griffin, as the angle I want to explore is the role of the architect in shaping the urban environment as a place for the many, or the few, by way of housing attainability. Has she written anything as well?
I'd say mostly essays, but she done a lot of applied research.
Bench,one more for you. I haven't had the opportunity to look at it thoroughly, but the bits and snippets I have seen look interesting.
Defensible Space by Oscar Newman. Old book but on point about the failure of large scale public housing design.
Form Follows Finance by Carol Willis is terrific on the interplay between capital, policy, and design. It's a comparative study of the NYC and Chicago skylines, and very fun to read.
Magnetic Los Angeles by Greg Hise does similar work but at the larger scale of neighborhood planning and development. Denser, but accessible and fascinating.
And From Tenements to the Taylor Homes (ed. Bauman, et al) is a great anthology of essays tracing US federal and urban housing policy and capital flows through case studies of different well-known types (tenements, wartime housing, public housing, suburban houses, garden apartments, etcetera) we assume we already know everything about. But we don't, and this book fills in a lot of detail.
All of these are historical (my wheelhouse), and excellent reads.
“high cost of free parking” by Donald Shoup.(very very important book
“Origins of the urban crisis” (great book on what happened to Post war Detroit)
“The color of law” is a decent overview of policies that reinforce racial and economic segregation
Dolores Hayden has several great books on the history of suburbia.
Forgot about the Color of Law...
Is anyone aware of any city that has had success in easing the pressure of high housing costs primarily via policy changes?
Or otherwise, by any alternative means (policy or not) ?
Just read that Arlington Va intends to create Housing Conservation Districts, but don’t know of any success stories.
Just read that Arlington Va intends to create Housing Conservation Districts, but don’t know of any success stories.
https://housing.arlingtonva.us/affordable-housing/housing-conservation-district/
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