Five articles curated by the Wagner Planner staff: Here’s what the Wagner Planner staff is reading. This week: tech billionaires’ plans for a new city, the Adams administration’s request to suspend the right to shelter is paused, and a potential land value tax in Detroit.
“New” Cities? An Old Idea Corner Side Yard “Americans are drawn to the newest places and will happily ditch the old places they came from. And honestly, I view this as a flaw. More people are identifying as urbanists today because walkability, mixed use and transit accessibility have been rediscovered after nearly a century of suburban sprawl. Suburbs are struggling to adapt because they haven’t adapted to the changing lifestyles, work environments and household types that characterize modern living. Americans prefer to shed the old and embrace the new. But in my mind, places aren’t disposable. There’s something to be learned from every type of place, something that’s worth saving – and building on – nearly every place ever built. I’d much rather see more people working on making existing places better than creating more new ones.”
NYC Mayor’s Latest Bid to Suspend Adult Shelter Rights Cools in Court (City Limits) “Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is not proceeding with a formal request to suspend the right to a shelter bed for single adults in New York City—at least for now. In a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, following 90 minutes of closed-door discussions, New York State Supreme Court Judge Gerald Lebovits said attorneys for the city, state and homeless advocates will instead continue meeting in private, with an eye toward a possible settlement.”
Detroit could be the largest U.S. city with land value tax, if the state legislature allows it (Niskanen Center) “Passing this law would make Detroit the largest American city to enact a split-rate land value tax – a type of property tax where the tax rate for land and structures are different, often with the tax on structures lower than the one on land. Still, it hit a roadblock in the Michigan state legislature recently as legislators moved to delay the resolution before final passage.”
How 100,000 Apartments in New York City Disappeared (NYTimes)
“The trend, which has continued since then, is among the reasons some neighborhoods have so little new housing — a troubling outcome when city officials have spoken in dire terms about the need to add housing to improve affordability and fight segregation. For example, while 3,000 units of new housing were added in the community district that includes the Upper East Side between 2010 and 2021, about 2,000 units were lost through the consolidation of apartments, according to the research. Another 1,000 or so were lost in demolition.”
Hochul veto throws Long Island offshore wind project in doubt (Gothamist) “The veto drew recrimination from clean energy supporters who have long been waiting for New York’s offshore wind projects to get underway. The downstate region’s energy sector has become increasingly reliant on natural gas and other fossil fuels in recent years to power one of the world’s most densely populated regions.”