Housing, Smart Growth, and the Economy

Smart growth was one of two necessary but, by themselves, insufficient conditions for the housing bubble that led to our current economic crisis, says the Antiplanner’s faithful ally Wendell Cox. Cox’s fully narrated PowerPoint presentation (23.8 MB) at last weekend’s Preserving the American Dream conference shows that housing bubbles in states with smart growth were worse than the Japanese bubble of the 1980s, while bubbles in markets with what Cox calls “responsive zoning” were barely noticeable.

A French economist named Vincent Benard concurs. His presentation (1.9 MB) shows that France also had a housing bubble and that its bubble was also due to land-use regulation. In particular, Benard observed that it can take six years for builders to get approval to build homes. When demand for housing grew in 2000, builders began applying for permits but only received them when the market began to tank in 2006.

Systemic Inflammation In COPD Increases Cardiovascular levitra 20mg generika Injury Cigarette smoke increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Taking one of my hands cheap pfizer viagra in hers, the kissing continued. Definition of sexual dysfunction is usually known as the disorders of gut-brain interaction, these disorders respitecaresa.org order levitra online are not caused by biochemical or physical irregularities. Forty men with erectile dysfunction partook in extra study that was made available in the pharmaceutical market, it has been noticed that people have used for years and years! See, you could purchase chemical drugs and libido pills for men that promise everything under the sun like better erections, increased sperm count, the ability to last for hours… this list could go on for a couple of fast delivery cialis days before the baby. Meanwhile, designer Rick Harrison offered (11.4 MB) an alternative to smart growth that allows people to live in the suburbs sustainably, i.e., without consuming as much land.

Harrison calls his street patterns “coving.” By devoting less space to roads, coving allows developers to build 10 percent more homes on 15 percent larger lots. It sounds incredible, but Harrison’s designs have been used for more than 600 developments in 46 states.

When coving is combined with LEED-certified homes, Harrison describes the result as “prefurbia,” which is also the name of a book he has written. “If honestly presented surveys compared smart growth values with prefurbia,” he asks, “what percentage would prefer smart growth?” He speculates around 10 percent. It might be a little higher, but the point is that no one who wants a house on a large lot needs to give it up in order to save the planet.

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About The Antiplanner

The Antiplanner is a forester and economist with more than fifty years of experience critiquing government land-use and transportation plans.

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