Sunday reading 19 March 2017
Welcome back to Sunday reading.
This week, I want to highlight a really important article by Joe Cortright (City Observatory): “Going faster doesn’t make you happier; you just drive farther“:
We’ve long assumed that one of the goals of our transportation system is to enable us to move as quickly as possible when we travel, so it stands to reason that the people who live in “faster” cities ought to be happier with their transportation systems…
The following chart shows happiness with the regional transportation system on the vertical axis, and average speed on the horizontal axis. …
18 Comments Since I’ve been in Auckland…
I moved to Auckland to take up a full-time job in early 2012. Prior to that, I’d spent a few years working in Wellington, a year getting a master’s degree at University of Auckland, and a few months travelling around between jobs.…
Quit whining, Millennials, and save for a home!
The other week, BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander put out a statement chastising young people for not saving harder to buy a home. As I pointed out, his argument was based on a pile of untrue assertions and misleading data. Others also expressed similar views.…
Car-dependency is a bad deal
Is it a good idea to have a transport system oriented primarily around the car? Cars are useful for a lot of things, but is it a good idea for most people to use them for most trips?
This is a practical question rather than a philosophical one.…
No, Boomers, it’s not like it was back in the day
Last week BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander was in the paper with some stern words for young people trying to find somewhere to live in a city that doesn’t have enough housing to go around. As reported by Susan Edmunds:
Think your parents got an unfairly great deal when they bought their house for $40,000 – or thereabouts – 30 or 40 years ago?…
Sunday reading 5 March 2017
Welcome back to Sunday reading. As you may have noticed, I haven’t been writing many blog posts lately – I’ve been a bit too busy with work! Normal service should resume shortly.
One of the most provocative and interesting articles I read this week was on the astoundingly high costs of infrastructure in the US, and what could be done differently.…
Sunday reading 19 February 2017
Welcome back to Sunday Reading. This week I want to start off with three articles about inclusion. The Project for Public Spaces argues that equity and inclusion lie at “the heart of placemaking”:
Placemaking, a collaborative process by which we (residents, architects, activists, community leaders and planners alike) shape our public realm together, is fundamentally about inclusion and shared community ownership.…
Exports, prosperity, and cities
What does New Zealand do to pay its way, in the global context? And what could it do differently?
These are an important questions because New Zealand is a small, trade-exposed country. We produce some of the things that we need locally, but many other things must be imported, which means that we need to export something in return.…
Do economists think we should build more infrastructure?
Should we spend more money on infrastructure?
That’s a good question. Recent posts on Transportblog have looked at the case for a greater focus on providing better transport choices in Auckland, the need to start discussing rapid transit provision in smaller but growing cities, and the need for better connections between New Zealand’s cities and towns.…
Are regional towns and cities too small?
Last week, I took a look at the question of whether Auckland is too big. (Answer: Probably not.) However, there’s also another, related question that I didn’t discuss: Are other New Zealand towns and cities too small?
“Too small” is obviously a subjective concept – what’s just right for one person will be painful for another.…
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