Tag: urban density

California Voters Opt for Orderly Urbanism on Election Day

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The biggest housing issue on the California ballot was rent control. Proposition 33 would have repealed all state-level limits on local rent control policies, thus giving cities and counties a free hand to regulate rents however they pleased.
The measure went down in flames on Election Day, with roughly 60 percent of voters casting a “no” ballot.

That result is good news for the availability of rental housing in California, given rent control’s well-documented history of reducing rental housing supply and quality.

It is nevertheless a somewhat surprising result. California has a much higher proportion of renters than most other states and polls consistently find that rent control is supported by a wide majority of respondents. Dozens of cities already have rent control policies on the books.”

…

“Prop. 36 asked California voters if they wanted to increase legal penalties for certain drug and theft crimes. With roughly 70 percent of ballots counted, some 70 percent of voters said yes they do. Prop. 36 has earned majority support in every single county in the state.”

https://reason.com/2024/11/12/california-voters-opt-for-orderly-urbanism-on-election-day/

COVID-19 Could Force City Planners To Rethink Their Priorities

Posted on by Lone Candle

“For years, urban planners have been singing the praises of population density.”

…

“”Density is a factor in this pandemic, as it has been in previous ones,” wrote Richard Florida in the CityLab website. “The very same clustering of people that makes our great cities more innovative and productive also makes them, and us, vulnerable to infectious disease.” Some big cities have handled the crisis better than others. Some rural areas have high infection rates, too. But, as an urban studies professor, he’s distressed at big-city vulnerability.”