Aaron M. Renn

All Things Aaron

Indiana’s Bridge Deal Boondoggle, Part 2: Hoosiers to Pay Even More With Tolling

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In part one of this series I examined how Indiana managed to give away $1.7 billion to the state of Kentucky in renegotiating the project cost split for the Ohio River Bridges Project at Louisville. Despite a series of scope changes that reduced total cost by $1.5 billion, Indiana's share of the cost actually went up by nearly $200 million. Some might object that the project cost split is essentially meaningless because the project will be funded via tolling in a public-private partnership like the Toll Road deal. Unfortunately, this is not … [Read more...]

Indiana’s Bridge Deal Boondoggle, Part 1: A Financial Fiasco

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- Indiana gives away $1.7 billion to Kentucky - - Indiana's costs up by $200 million while total project costs decline by $1.5 billion - - $432 million diverted from other projects to close funding gap recreated by Indiana's botched negotiators - - Tolling likely to mean Indiana pays well over half the project - - Indiana potentially exposed to major risk by agreeing to build a tunnel in Kentucky through Louisville's most affluent suburb that the state has no expertise to construct -I've noted before how the Indiana Toll Road lease was a … [Read more...]

Review: Urbanized – A Film by Gary Hustwit

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Urbanized is the third entry in Gary Hustwit's so-called "Design Trilogy," the first of which was Helvetica (which I saw and enjoyed greatly) and Objectified (which I have not yet seen). Because I liked Helvetica so much and because of the hype surrounding this film in the urbanist community, I was really looking forward to seeing it. Alas, Urbanized turned out to be a disappointment. This is a weak film that did not in my view measure up to Helvetica. Here are a few reasons why. 1. No narrative or thematic coherence. Urbanized consists of a … [Read more...]

Cities as Software

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[ For those of you who haven't heard the story or checked it out, I highly encourage you to check out Renew Newcastle, which is a great urban success story out of Newcastle, Australia. There are a lot of lessons here to be learned, particularly for places that struggle with a lack of financial resources. Hopefully this article can give you some ideas and some hope - Aaron. ] This article was written for the latest edition of the Dutch architecture/ design journal Volume… Let me put a scenario to you. Say you live in an aging, fading … [Read more...]

The Gated City

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Update: Ryan posted a reply to some of the points I raise here. It's definitely worth reading. The Gated City is a mini-ebook by Ryan Avent that makes the case for removing restrictions on densification in cities. In addition to being a left-leaning economist, Avent is also a journalist who is an editor at the Economist magazine and a principal contributor to its Free Exchange blog. Avent's journalism skills make him one of the more articulate and easy to read economists out there. This book brings Avent's signature readability to the … [Read more...]

The Cost of Congestion, The Value of Transit

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Last week the Texas Transportation Institute released the 2011 edition of its benchmark Urban Mobility Report. It is packed full of useful statistics about roadway networks, congestion, and public transit, though is not without its critics (see below). I'd like to highlight some of the more interesting findings out of this. The Value of Transit One of the values TTI estimates is the number of additional hours of delay each peak hour commuter would incur annual if public transportation were discontinued. In effect, this is one key benefit to … [Read more...]

Globalization and the Airport

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I had originally planned to position this as a day late and dollar short review of Greg Lindsay's book Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next. Yet I think in a way the title misleads. The word "aerotropolis" conjures up dull visions of depressing airport development, security lines, and power points at conferences. But what Lindsay has done with this book is really something much bigger: He has told the story of globalization as seen through the lens of the airport. Because of that, the book isn't entirely convincing. Air travel and shipping … [Read more...]

Planning and Free Market Density

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I read articles out on the net with the general theme of claiming that a cabal of planners is conspiring to force us all to move back into overcrowded tenements in order to recognize their dream of reurbanizing America. There's no doubt that plenty of progressives write about how people ought to more or less be forced back into the city and would gladly do it if they had the power. And I'm sure in some places there are planning rules designed to achieve this effect, like urban growth boundaries. But if you ask me, the practical reality in most … [Read more...]

Building Suburbs That Last #6 – Limit Restrictive Covenants

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This is another in my occasional series on creating suburbs that will remain successful over the long haul. To recap, I consider the suburban decay facing inner ring suburbs across America, especially those of the 60’s and 70’s vintage built on a modern suburban pattern, as one of the key challenges facing urban leaders over the coming decades. I outlined a lot of the case in my review of the book “Retrofitting Suburbia”. This series looks at ways to keep this same decay from happening to tomorrow's suburbs. The Market Urbanism blog recently … [Read more...]

Do Cities Need a Creative Director?

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Cities that suffer from various brand stigmas or problems often want to give themselves an image makeover. Even cities that are doing well can fret about how their brand is faring versus the global competition. This had led some cities to ask whether or not they need to appoint a creative director, as in the private sector. For example, see this article about Birmingham, UK. Tyler Brûlé, whom I mentioned yesterday, listed appointing a creative director as one of the five things he would do as mayor of a city. As he put it, "All strong brands … [Read more...]