America’s New Manufacturing Boomtowns

Appearing in: Forbes.com Conventional wisdom for a generation has been that manufacturing in America is dying. Yet over the past five years, the country has experienced something of an industrial […]

Housing Market Fringe Movement

Appearing in: Orange County Register A year or two ago, pundits and planners, in California and elsewhere, proclaimed – and largely celebrated – the demise of suburbia. They were particularly […]

The 2013 Best Cities For Job Growth

Appearing in: Forbes.com The 2013 edition of our list shows many things, but perhaps the most important is which cities have momentum in the job creation sweepstakes. Right now the […]

CA vs. The Suburbs: Planners, Smart Growth, and the Manhattan Delusion

In: Reason TV Joel was recently featured in this short video piece about central planning in Los Angeles and its impact on local neighborhoods. Watch the video below.

Megacities And The Density Delusion: Why More People Doesn’t Equal More Wealth

Appearing in: Forbes.com Perhaps no idea is more widely accepted among urban core theorists than the notion that higher population densities lead to more productivity and sustainable economic growth. Yet […]

Class Warfare for Republicans

Appearing in: Orange County Register As a Truman-style Democrat left politically homeless, I am often asked about the future of the Republican Party. Some Republicans want to push racial buttons […]

Fracking Offers Jerry Brown a Watershed Moment

Appearing in: Orange County Register The recent announcement that Jerry Brown is studying "fracking" in California, suggests that our governor may be waking up to the long-term reality facing our […]

The World’s Fastest-Growing Megacities

Appearing in: Forbes.com The modern megacity may have been largely an invention of the West, but it’s increasingly to be found largely in the East. The seven largest megacities (defined […]

Progessives, Preservation & Prosperity

Appearing in: Orange County Register Conservatives often fret that Barack Obama is leading the nation toward socialism. In my mind, that’s an insult to socialism, which, in theory, at least, […]

Marissa Mayer’s Misstep And The Unstoppable Rise Of Telecommuting

Appearing in: Forbes.com Marissa Mayer’s pronunciamento banning home-based work at Yahoo reflects a great dilemma facing companies and our country over the coming decade. Forget for a minute the amazing […]