Anarchitecture

ana030: The ABC’s of Market Urbanism | Scott Beyer Interview

2020-06-26

"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...

"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

Market Urbanism Report
- What is Market Urbanism?
- Podcast
- Facebook Page
- Facebook Group
- Scott Beyer on Facebook
- Twitter (@sbcrosscountry)
- Instagram
MarketUrbanism.com
Free Private Cities Architecture Symposium 2020 featuring Scott Beyer, Patrik Schumacher, and Titus Gebel
Euclid v. Amber (Wikipedia)
The Fifth Column Podcast Episode 188 "On Anti-Racism (Part II)
- Coleman Hughes discusses gentrification starting at 1:22:50
- Coleman Hughes: Why do Progressives Hate Gentrification? (Quillette)
- The Effects of Gentrification on the Well-Being and Opportunity of Original Resident Adults and Children (PDF) working paper by Quentin Brummet and Davin Reed
Coase Theorem (Wikipedia)
Alain Bertaud - Order Without Design (Amazon)
Congress for a New Urbanism
Strong Towns
The YIMBY movement (Wikipedia)