This post is a follow up to the post about Henry George vs. Jane Jacobs (and to Wyn’s excellent comment). I want to make sure that we all understand that a LOT of Jacobs’ work and ideas meshes very well with George’s.
In Jacobs’ ”The Death and Life of Great American Cities” she argues (convincingly) that diversity is the key to (more…)
Well, actually, David Greusel wrote it, and two years ago. I found out about it through the AMAZING blog “Raise the Hammer” about Hamilton (hometown!). The document is a ‘manifesto’ on ChangeThis. Here’s the link to his Legalize Neighborhoods Again! manifesto. To my credit I must say that I was thinking those exact things back then. But he wrote it, and wrote it well. He points out the two big evils of the past half century of city building (zoning and traffic planning). (more…)
I want to post something I’ve been thinking about since reading Progress and Poverty. Wyn from Wealth and Want has been in touch with me, and has graciously offered to put this blog on a listserve for Georgists. So I thought I should add a bit more on Henry George. (more…)
As usual, the Onion has hit this nail on the head. A hilarious parody of the travails of a would-be gentrifier. Read this
“I mean, I don’t want the people here to leave. I just want them to stay inside more. Especially if they’re not going to do anything to bring this community to life. But they’re always out on their stoops, just playing dominoes or talking. I like talking, but I do it inside, where it was meant to be done. It makes me uncomfortable to have people watching me all the time. Not that I think they’d do anything, but I just like to be a little more private. “
Who likes the Globe and Mail? I do for one, and have a subscription, and generally enjoy reading it and am usually satisfied with their reporting. However I have one complaint about the Globe – that their “Globe Toronto” section is garbage. The pieces are usually about fluff, crime, not about Toronto at all, and maybe a couple of good ones (usually by J. Barber). (more…)
Conventional economic wisdom cites such factors as infrastructure, education, crime rates, labour mobility and lack of corruption being determinants of economic success. By these criteria, all medium sized Canadian cities would score very high, in fact much higher than large cities. Yet, these cities are not growing… (more…)
I’m not sure where I first heard of Henry George. Probably browsing some urban related website. He’s usually introduced as the best-selling economist of all time (not counting Marx – forcing someone to get a book does not count). His most famous work is “Progress and Poverty” of 1879, where he examines why despite enormous economic progress in the west, the number of destitute and poor increased as time went on. (more…)
Everyone hates urban sprawl; this consensus has lead to many earnest efforts to stop it. These efforts include “smart growth” initiatives, greenbelts around cities, and proposals for intensification.In spite of (or because of?) these efforts, sprawl continues unabated. Huh? (more…)
Well, it’s Saturday, and every Saturday the Globe inserts an entire Globe Toronto section (section M). This could be the Globe’s chance to redeem themselves after a week of garbage. Lets see what how they did. [more]
VS. 
