Category Archives: Housing

A Hypothesis As To Why People Hate Gas Taxes

Posted on April 26, 2013 by

Gallup recently ran a poll with the following result: When you break it down by demography (unfortunately, there are no crosstabs), what struck me is the economic differences: people who make between $25,000 – $59,000 annually are much more opposed … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Housing, Taxes | 4 Comments

It’s Time to ‘Politicize’ Martin Luther King Day

Posted on January 21, 2013 by

For Martin Luther King Day, I usually link to one of his last major addresses–a speech to striking sanitation workers in Memphis. But one thing that has always bothered me about the holiday is that we’ve stripped it of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Housing, Hunger, Racism, Unions | 2 Comments

Implementing Medical Marijuana in Massachusetts

Posted on November 16, 2012 by

In the 2012 election, Massachusetts passed a ballot question calling for the legalization of medical marijuana (and yes, it’s depressing that passed, but an assisted suicide law did not. Priorities…). As I noted the last time a marijuana-related ballot question … Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs, Housing, Massachusetts | 2 Comments

The Wages of Sin: Pretty Good, Actually

Posted on August 14, 2012 by

I’ve refrained from commenting on the whole Jonah Lehrer thing. I had limited interaction with him when I was at ScienceBlogs, so I don’t have any definite impressions of Lehrer. Nonetheless, we note, by way of Alexandra Witze, this 2010 … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Housing | 5 Comments

Urban Density for Humans and the Five Story Rule

Posted on July 10, 2012 by

A while ago, I described how Boston manages to have high residential density without a lot of skyscrapers (boldface added): Here we see that Beacon Hill, parts of Back Bay and the South End, the North End and Bay Village … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, Housing, Urban Planning | 4 Comments

Man Who Buys $4 Million House Urges ‘Self-Restraint’

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

I realize reading David Brooks for anything but the pictures is foolish (and since there are no pictures in his columns, that means you shouldn’t be reading him), but he has recently outdone himself. Arguing that a social safety net … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Fucking Morons, Housing | 3 Comments

When People Buy a House, They’re Buying a Student Body

Posted on April 27, 2012 by

At Business Insider, Gregor MacDonald writes in “The World Has Little Use For A Suburban American Single Family Home Priced Over $250K” (boldface mine): If there’s one asset the world has little use for, it’s an American single family home … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Housing, Transportation

Zoning Out the Poor: The Marin County Edition

Posted on April 20, 2012 by

One of the largely unnoticed but critical causes of poverty in urban areas is the use of zoning codes in surrounding towns and suburbs to essentially make it impossible for low-income people to live outside of urban areas (e.g., preventing … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Housing | 2 Comments

The Rent Is Not Too Damn High: Wages Are Too Damn Low

Posted on March 24, 2012 by

I actually have a copy of Matthew Yglesias’ The Rent Is Too Damn High, but haven’t worked my way through it (I couldn’t pass up such a potentially target-rich environment). From what I’ve read so far, it seems primarily aimed … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | 3 Comments

The Second-Worst Thing About the GOP Becoming the Batshitloonitarian Party: The Carbon Reduction Edition

Posted on March 6, 2012 by

Of course, the worst thing about the GOP becoming the batshitloonitarian party is, as I’ve noted before, they are batshitloonitarians. But one thing it also does is transform merely sane, although not very good, options, into ‘liberal’ policies, when, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Democrats, Energy, Environment, Housing