Out of Control

« Not so breaking news: Amtrak sucks | Main | The Spanish-American War is Officially Over »

May 25, 2006

Witold Rybczynski in American Enterprise

The most recent issue of the American Enterprise published by the American Enterprise Institute has an excellent interview with architect and Wharton Business School real estate professor Witold Rybyczynski. The interview covers all sorts of issues, including urban sprawl, New Urbanism, and Wal-Mart, but here are a few snippets that really caught my attention:

TAE: Statistics show that only a small percentage of our national territory has been developed, yet land is becoming expensive. How is that?
RYBCZYNSKI: I've been studying this in Pennsylvania, where it takes about four years to get permits for a project. In Texas it takes about four months. And that's roughly the comparison. Because it's so difficult (if possible at all) to get building permits in places like New Jersey or southeast Pennsylvania, while population and demand are growing, the result is that the few things which are permitted become extremely valuable. So when we say the land is more expensive, it's not because of some sort of physical reason. It's simply that less land is being made available for building, and so what there is costs more. And that's what pushes up the price of housing. It's not the cost of construction; it's not primarily about demand, it's mainly about supply.

....

TAE: How much hope do you have for the revival of New Orleans?

RYBCZYNSKI: It'll be a very different city. It'll be much smaller. I think the tourism and such will revive. If the historic network had not been preserved that would be very different. But eventually the convention center will get rebuilt, and people will still go there. There's nothing quite like New Orleans from the tourist's point of view. On the other hand, I think that they've lost a lot of employment that's not going to come back, because there are safer places than that particular city.

TAE: That's not a very bright prognosis, because tourism is a low-paying business.

RYBCZYNSKI: True. But New Orleans is actually much more like a rust belt city than a sunbelt city. ItÍs a bit like Camden, New Jersey. If Camden burned down, would it be rebuilt? Maybe, but it wouldn't be the old Camden. While cities grow very quickly, they decline slowly. The big reason is real estate; people with all their savings in real estate are stuck there, so you sort of tough it out. But if something comes along that cuts the cord, a decline can leap to the next stage. What should've taken decades suddenly happens in a week. And that's, I think, what really happened in New Orleans. This very gradual decline has been cruelly accelerated. Half the low-income people in New Orleans were tenants--a very high number. The landlords can't afford to rebuild houses for those tenants. If they rebuild, it's going to have to be for somebody with a lot more money, because rebuilding a house costs more than it's worth right now. That's a quandary I don't see any solution to.

Posted by samstaley at May 25, 2006 08:32 AM

Comments

My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.

Comment by: Sten81218 at January 22, 2007 02:47 PM

---

I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.

Comment by: Sten78146 at January 26, 2007 08:26 PM

---

I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.

Comment by: Sten15318 at January 27, 2007 06:41 PM

---

I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.

Comment by: Sten30168 at January 28, 2007 01:28 AM

---

I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.

Comment by: Sten60583 at January 28, 2007 04:40 AM

---

I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.

Comment by: Sten23096 at January 28, 2007 10:52 PM

---

I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.

Comment by: Sten99664 at January 29, 2007 05:50 AM

---

I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.

Comment by: Sten81936 at January 31, 2007 09:48 AM

---

Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.

Comment by: Sten76860 at January 31, 2007 03:44 PM

---

I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.

Comment by: Sten22307 at January 31, 2007 04:19 PM

---

I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.

Comment by: Sten48017 at February 1, 2007 08:22 AM

---

I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.

Comment by: Sten42813 at February 1, 2007 09:45 PM

---

I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.

Comment by: Sten19922 at February 3, 2007 12:31 AM

---

I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.

Comment by: Sten3310 at February 3, 2007 09:38 PM

---

I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.

Comment by: Sten8047 at February 4, 2007 12:23 PM

---

Comment by: Sten69093 at February 6, 2007 08:16 AM

---