All Topics
How cities can drive opportunity for the bulk of their citizens
Support The Center for Opportunity Urbanism as we promote people-oriented urbanism.
CONNECT WITH US
Join in the conversation at Facebook and Twitter.
Visit our YouTube channel to see the latest media.
OUR LOCATION
Urban Reform Institute
3900 Essex Lane, Suite 1200
Houston, Texas 77027
Urban Reform Institute is a 501c3 Non-Profit organization
that exists to promote approaches that enable cities to
drive opportunity for the bulk of their citizens.
U.S. ECONOMY NEEDS HARDHATS NOT NERDS
in Demographics, Economics, Planning, Urban Issues/by Mike Newby Joel Kotkin 01/25/2015 The blue team may have lost the political battle last year, but with the rapid fall of oil and commodity prices, they have temporarily gained the upper hand economically. Simultaneously, conditions have become more problematical for those interior states, notably Texas and North Dakota, that have benefited from the fossil fuel […]
ROADMAP TO SURPRISES OF THE RUSTBELT
in Demographics, Economics, Housing, Planning, Small Cities, Urban Issues/by Mike Newby Matthew Stevenson 01/23/2015 Back in New York, no one quite believed my accounts of urban renewal across the Midwest, through a piece of the Rustbelt, and then back — that St. Louis is the Brooklyn of the heartland, or that even downtown Buffalo has charms. I tended to be on safer ground when I […]
What’s so smart about unaffordable housing?
in Economics, Education, Housing/by Mike Newby KONRAD YAKABUSKI Of all the lofty attributes Canada’s world-class cities have touted in recent years, making a home unaffordable for average folks is perhaps the least enviable. It was also avoidable. But self-proclaimed “smart growth” policies have proven the opposite of smart, contributing to an affordability crisis with little to show in the way […]
BICYCLES AND RACE IN PORTLAND
in Demographics, Economics, Housing, Planning, Urban Issues/by Mike Newby Sean Benesh 01/22/2015 The flashpoint for the gentrification conversation along Portland’s North Williams revolves around the bicycle. The cultural appetite for what the creative class likes and enjoys is in stark contrast to that of the African-American community. “North Williams Avenue wasn’t hip back in the late 1970s. There was no Tasty n Sons. […]
LOOKING BACK: THE IDEAL COMMUNIST CITY
in Demographics, Economics, Education, Housing, Suburbs/by Mike Newby Alicia Kurimska Over time, suburbs have had many enemies, but perhaps none were more able to impose their version than the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In its bid to remake a Russia of backward villages and provincial towns, the Soviets favored big cities – the bigger the better – and policies that […]
Cities Where African-Americans Do Best Economically
in Demographics, Economics, Education, Housing, Urban Issues/by Mike Newby Joel Kotkin 01/16/2015 The U.S. may have its first black president, but these have not been the best of times for African-Americans. Recent shootings of unarmed black teenagers and the murder of two New York City police officers have inflamed racial tensions. A Bloomberg poll in December found that 53% of respondents believed that […]
THE INEVITABILITY OF TRADEOFFS, OR UNDERSTANDING NEW ENGLAND’S SKY HIGH ENERGY COSTS
in Economics, Education, Planning/by Mike Newby Aaron M. Renn 01/15/2015 People advance two main sorts of arguments in favor of things for which they advocate: the moral argument (it’s the right thing to do) and the utilitarian one (it will make us better off). As it happens, in practice most people tend to implicitly suggest there’s a 100% overlap between […]
AN ECONOMIC WIN-WIN FOR CALIFORNIA – LOWER THE COST OF LIVING
in Demographics, Economics, Housing, Planning, Suburbs, Urban Issues/by Mike Newby Ed Ring 01/14/2015 A frequent and entirely valid point made by representatives of public sector unions is that their membership, government workers, need to be able to afford to live in the cities and communities they serve. The problem with that argument, however, is that nobody can afford to live
EVEN AFTER THE HOUSING BUST, AMERICANS STILL LOVE THE SUBURBS
in Demographics, Housing, Suburbs, Urban Issues/by Mike Newby Jed Kolko 10/11/2012… For decades, Americans have chosen to live in suburbs rather than in cities. Suburban growth has outpaced urban growth, and many big cities have even lost population. But in recent years, some experts have said it’s time for cities to make a comeback. Why? Urban crime rates have fallen; many baby boomers want […]
AMERICA’S NEWEST HIPSTER HOT SPOT: THE SUBURBS?
in Demographics, Suburbs, Urban Issues/by Mike Newby Joel Kotkin 10/09/2014… It’s an idea echoed everywhere from “Friends” to “Girls”: Young people want to live in cities. And, we’re told, a lot of them (at least the cool ones) do. It’s a common assumption. But it’s also wrong. Between 2010 and 2013, the number of 20- to 29-year-olds in America grew by 4 percent. But the number […]