Urban insights

Once you get past the Times urban bias, there is much good material here.

From why Detroit should be allowed to die to how zoning drives up prices.

Detroit and the like should be allowed to fail as they no longer have a "purpose" or make business sense. The problem is that housing is persistent, it can take 100yrs to decay. In the meantime, houses sell for less than construction cost – therefore are bargains for the poor.

Home Economics - New York Times:

"Edward L. Glaeser grew up on the East Side of Manhattan, went to school in Princeton, N.J., and Chicago, lived for a time in Cambridge, Mass., and Palo Alto, Calif., and recently moved with his wife and young son to a house on six and a half acres in the affluent suburb of Weston, Mass. To Glaeser, this last move has been a big adjustment. For one thing, he is not a good driver, and the new commute has prompted him to leave his house by 6 a.m. so as not to get ensnared in the morning rush hour. For another, Glaeser and the suburbs are clearly an unholy marriage of sensibilities, especially since his new house is bordered by about 600 acres of conservation land. 'I wake up every day, thinking, My goodness, how many units of housing could you build here?' he says."

His suburban problems aside, it looks like he's a good thinker.
Link should be a permalink - suggest one spends a few min with it.

Conclusion on zoning driving prices up :

Boston, San Francisco and Manhattan are obviously becoming rarefied destinations, mostly for America's elites (Glaeser calls the cities "luxury goods"), with housing floating beyond the reach of the young and the middle class. These cities' economies are in the process of becoming boutique, too, accommodating only the most skilled and privileged. Their desire to limit construction and grow not in buildings and population but in prices has, in effect, begun to shape their destiny. "A healthy city is one that has a healthy mix of demographic groups," Glaeser says. "Shutting out your 25-to-40 year-olds? That feels like a bad strategy for urban innovation."