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New Kunstler has a new essay out
[link|http://kunstler.com/mags_lumpenleisure.html|The Twilight of Mechanized Lumpenleisure]
Among the many wonders and marvels of American life in the twentieth century, especially after World War Two, when our country ruled much of the world economically, was the astounding rise in standards of living among social classes who had hardly known leisure or had a dollar to spare on the accoutrements of it from time immemorial. The subject of class itself in America has been so sore, that we can barely acknowledge its existence as a fact of life, despite the workings of whole industries devoted to exploiting the envy of the lower orders. The very term I have just used \ufffd lower orders \ufffd would be considered grounds for sacking if I had the misfortune of teaching at a college, and will certainly be seized on by critics of this book as evidence of my intellectual unfittedness. In short, any discourse on class consciousness is regarded in America these days as an obscenity, far worse than yelling "fuck" onstage in a Broadway theater, or stealing $100 million from the shareholders of a telecom corporation.
Good essay, though the last paragraph makes it a little too easy IMO to paint him as a Luddite.
===

Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
New I wouldn't call him a Luddite
I'd call him a wanna-be aristocrat whose great disappointment in life is that the lower classes don't understand their place, and who is gloating prematurely about their upcoming comeuppance.

He's also none too happy with the noveau riche who don't belong in charge of the peasantry, and don't know how to comport themselves now that they are. But they aren't the main target of his ire.

Cheers,
Ben
a very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything but not enough to do nothing. -- Warren Buffett
New Good read, but
Houston by the year 2000 was not a city in the traditional sense of being composed of neighborhoods and districts; rather it was an assemblage of single-use-zoning wastelands
we don't have zoning. [link|http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/04/10/editorial1.html|The only major U.S. city without zoning]
Zoning looked like a shoo-in as the November 1993 election approached. The mayor, most city council members and influential business leaders all endorsed the notion that Houston's zoning time had finally come.
...
When the sun went down on election day, the prognosticators were in a state of shock. Houston was still, glory be, "The only major U.S. city without zoning!"

Zoning went down in flames by a vote of 47 percent for, and 53 percent against.

Post-mortem analysis turned up an interesting phenomenon. A large number of voters with moderate incomes and diverse ethnic backgrounds had the quaint notion that property owners are more capable of controlling their real estate destinies than a panel of bureaucrats with the proper political connections.
(emphasis added)
Darrell Spice, Jr.            Trendy yet complex\nPeople seek me out - though they're not sure why\n[link|http://spiceware.org/gallery/ArtisticOverpass|Artistic Overpass]                      [link|http://www.spiceware.org/|SpiceWare]
New But what does it actually look like?
I'm not arguing in support of his position. I'm asking, because I really don't know. Is Houston, despite not having zoning, actually divided into residential, industrial and retail areas just like places that actually do have zoning? If the politicos are trying to get zoning passed, that means they're trying to control things. If they're trying, they can do it without zoning, it just takes more work.
===

Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
New Zoning is no guarantee, of course.
E.g. go to 38deg, 53min 36.23sec N; 77deg, 04min 28.74sec W with Google Earth and enable the 3D view of buildings. Adjust the tilt so the "Eye Altitude" is about 750 feet. People living in those 2-3 story apartment buildings probably wonder what zoning in Arlington is.

IIRC, there's some spot on Wilson Boulevard that had a very nice, large, ~ 1850s home right next to a 30 story office building. I wasn't able to find it though.

Arlington does have [link|http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/CPHD/planning/zoning/CPHDPlanningZoningOrdinance.aspx|zoning], but the land is so valuable and the economy has been so strong there for so long that residential areas near the business districts are under a lot of stress.

Cheers,
Scott.
New Yep
though there is some overlap. Some of my favorite restaurants are in old homes.

[link|http://www.libertyhaven.com/personalfreedomissues/freespeechorcivilliberties/houstonzoning.html|Houston Says No to Zoning]
Within Houston are two small, independent cities, Bellaire and West University, with zoning. Between 1970 and 1980 home prices in Bellaire and West University climbed more slowly than in many Houston communities, including those lacking private neighborhood restrictions against businesses and apartments.4 In fact, between 1990 and 1993, average annual home sale prices actually fell in the two zoned cities while sprinting up in a number of Houston neighborhoods, restricted and unrestricted.5 The financial risks to homes unshielded by zoning are, at best, greatly overstated.
...
In Houston land uses tend to segregate themselves as investors respond to market incentives. Under the Houston system, heavy industry voluntarily locates on large tracts near rail lines or highways; apartments and stores seek thoroughfares; gas stations vie for busy intersections.9

With the market at work there's no need for government-imposed districting. Businesses that open inside quiet residential neighborhoods will compete poorly with establishments that enjoy the visibility and traffic count of a heavily traveled street. Businesses that thrive amidst homes often serve strong local demand.
...
That's the Houston advantage: private property rights. True, Houston has many strict ordinances, but without zoning, citizens in Houston maintain over their property much of the control that other cities give to local government. Zoning dramatically increases the opportunity for public officials to manipulate private property for maximum political benefit and "impose costs on others at no cost to themselves,"15 writes economist Thomas Sowell. Under zoning, local goods and services reflect regulatory costs Houstonians avoid.

One such good is housing. Without zoning, Houston ranks consistently as the leader among major American cities for housing affordability. "It's more affordable here than any other large city in the nation," said University of Houston economist Barton Smith.16 According to Smith, one reason for this affordability is Houston's lack of zoning.17 And a federal report in 1991 cited zoning as a leading cause for the shortage of affordable housing in America.18 How does zoning push up the cost of housing?
Darrell Spice, Jr.            Trendy yet complex\nPeople seek me out - though they're not sure why\n[link|http://spiceware.org/gallery/ArtisticOverpass|Artistic Overpass]                      [link|http://www.spiceware.org/|SpiceWare]
New How's that work?
Between 1970 and 1980 home prices in Bellaire and West University climbed more slowly than in many Houston communities, including those lacking private neighborhood restrictions against businesses and apartments.4 In fact, between 1990 and 1993, average annual home sale prices actually fell in the two zoned cities while sprinting up in a number of Houston neighborhoods, restricted and unrestricted.5 The financial risks to homes unshielded by zoning are, at best, greatly overstated.
So rising home prices are good, and zoning prevents that.
Without zoning, Houston ranks consistently as the leader among major American cities for housing affordability. "It's more affordable here than any other large city in the nation," said University of Houston economist Barton Smith.16 According to Smith, one reason for this affordability is Houston's lack of zoning.17 And a federal report in 1991 cited zoning as a leading cause for the shortage of affordable housing in America.18 How does zoning push up the cost of housing?
So low home prices are good, and zoning prevents that.

Huh?
===

Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
New it does seem odd
Basically people have voted with their wallet and said the unzoned areas are worth more to them.

At the same time, because the majority of the area is unzoned, the prices for the metro area as a whole has risen less than zoned cities where shortages of a specific type(residential, commercial, industrial) are created by the political division of land use.
Darrell Spice, Jr.            Trendy yet complex\nPeople seek me out - though they're not sure why\n[link|http://spiceware.org/gallery/ArtisticOverpass|Artistic Overpass]                      [link|http://www.spiceware.org/|SpiceWare]
Expand Edited by SpiceWare July 13, 2006, 11:26:36 AM EDT
New Very simple
Thanks to a lack of zoning, construction proceeds at about cost. Existing houses go up in price, new homes are cheap, everyone is happy.

To see an extreme of the opposite situation, consider Boston. Boston has many big houses whose owners could make a lot of money if they tore the house down, built several on the lot, and sold them separately. However this won't happen due to zoning restrictions. The result is that there are fewer homes available, and lots of houses are worth less than they otherwise would be.

Cheers,
Ben
a very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything but not enough to do nothing. -- Warren Buffett
     Kunstler has a new essay out - (drewk) - (8)
         I wouldn't call him a Luddite - (ben_tilly)
         Good read, but - (SpiceWare) - (6)
             But what does it actually look like? - (drewk) - (5)
                 Zoning is no guarantee, of course. - (Another Scott)
                 Yep - (SpiceWare) - (3)
                     How's that work? - (drewk) - (2)
                         it does seem odd - (SpiceWare)
                         Very simple - (ben_tilly)

Drink and the Devil have done for the rest!
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