Building the New America: Report on trends shaping the migration of people and jobs

Report: Building the New America

How do we build a new urban model for America — one that is better aligned with the aspirations of most Americans? This newly released report examines the housing trends that are driving today's migration of people and jobs.
Americans Not Deeply DividedMike Scheid

Americans Are Not As Divided About the Pandemic As It May Seem

by Samuel J. Abrams — Data from the Pew Research Center collected during the epidemic reveals that Americans are indeed polarized around Trump and his behavior but are not deeply divided when it comes to real, concrete safety measures to mitigate the virus and protect Americans.
The "Darth Vader" house in West University

Our Double Black Swan, Density vs. Pandemic, and More

Houston has been reeling from oil-market chaos and a coronavirus shutdown. Houston CFO Chris Brown has taken to calling the city's situation a “double black swan.”
Urban high rise housing in Singapore

A Look At Demographia’s Latest Housing Affordability Survey

by Prakash Loungani — In this interview, Wendell Cox talks about Demographia’s latest housing affordability survey. Wendell Cox is an American urban policy analyst and academic. He is the principal of Demographia (Wendell Cox Consultancy). The survey is co-authored with Hugh Pavletich of Performance Urban Planning.
Farm workers are shown harvesting crops

Who Will Prosper After the Plague?

by Joel Kotkin — Who will prosper after the plague? By disrupting smaller grassroots businesses while expanding the power of technologies used in enforcement, coronavirus could further empower both tech oligarchs and the “expert” class.
New Jersey suburbs of NYC

“Exposure Density” and the Pandemic

by Wendell Cox — My article last week, Early Observations on the Pandemic and Population Density, suggested that the risk of infection is a function of being close to people who are infected. The most fundamental issue is thus, how close people are to one-another in their daily lives.
Closed shops

Working-Class People Hold Society Together: Class and COVID-19

by Sarah Attfield — Working-class people are more likely to suffer as a result of both the coronavirus and the measures put in place to contain its spread.
View of NYC midtown and Queens, a densely populated area

Early Observations on the Pandemic and Population Density

by Wendell Cox — It is still too early to draw precise conclusions on the extent to which the spread of the COVID-19 is related to urban population density. But there are important recurring themes.

Houston is ‘Chaotic Good’ and #2 in Population and Corporate Growth

A fun item to end the week with: Nolan Gray's alignment chart for cities, with Houston perfectly positioned at Chaotic Good due to our lack of zoning.
Corner of Canal and Baxter Streets in NYC

After Coronavirus We Need to Rethink Densely Populated Cities

by Joel Kotkin — For the better part of this millennium, the nation’s urban planning punditry has predicted that the future lay with its densest, largest, and most cosmopolitan cities.
Elderly couple in small town, rural America

Coronavirus, Labor and an Aging World

by Ali Modarres — In the last few months, we have gradually realized the dire nature of this global pandemic, and our response has been? Nothing short of the creation of a new world: hopefully not on the ruins of the last. The novel coronavirus is showing us the downside of accelerated mobility, excessive attention to short-term gains, and structural inequities.