Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Economics

The Greening of the Times

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Today’s New York Times has an entire section on "The Business of Being Green" (Times Select), which includes articles on economies of scale in alternative energy, carbon-offset shopping, the possibly endangered practice of truck idling, Danish wind farms, and environmental litigation. The left-leaning Guardian of London has long made green stories a staple of its […]

There’s No Such Thing as “Free Parking”

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Free parking, it turns out, isn’t free. A new study by transportation guru Bruce Schaller finds that free parking in Manhattan’s Central Business district is responsible for a significant amount of New York City’s staggering traffic congestion. Schaller’s new study, Congested Streets: The Skewed Economic Incentives to Drive Into Manhattan (PDF), finds that free parking […]

Green Collar Jobs for Urban America

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In Oakland, California, the pathway out of poverty is the new green wave. Yes Magazine reports on a new movement for urban renewal: A "green-collar job" involves environment-friendly products or services. Construction work on a green building, organic farming, solar panel manufacturing, bicycle repair: all are "green jobs." The green-collar economy is big money, and […]

No Parking Slope

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The B67 bus veers around a double-parked van blocking a car parked in front of a fire hydrant as a Bugaboo-pushing nanny strolls by Councilmember David Yassky and Transportation Alternatives director Paul Steely White calling for more sensible parking policy this afternoon in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Every drivers knows that it can be nearly impossible […]

Sustainable Transportation for NYC: How to Make it Happen

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Today on Gotham Gazette, Bruce Schaller outlines how transportation policy could fit in to Mayor Bloomberg’s sustainability initiative for 2030. The piece merits a full read, but Schaller frames his argument in terms of three big ideas: [F]ix the skewed economic incentives to drive, implement targeted transit improvements throughout the city, and make more efficient […]

Streetfilms: “A City Is a Means to a Way of Life”

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Manhattan on the Move ConferenceEdited by Nick Whitaker Running time: 6 minutes 52 seconds At last October’s Manhattan Transportation Policy Conference, convened by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, people from every neighborhood in Manhattan gathered to discuss a vision for the future of transportation in New York. In his keynote address, Enrique Peñalosa, the former […]