New and Old #121
Friday roundup and commentary
New York’s Congestion Pricing Plan Is Bad Economics, Washington Post, Tyler Cowen, July 8, 2023
I’ve heard conflicting descriptions of and opinions about New York’s new congestion pricing plan, but I’m not terribly familiar with it myself. The urbanists I follow are overwhelmingly for it; the conservatives I know back in New Jersey are overwhelmingly against it.
Cowen, who’s libertarian-ish and friendly to a free-market approach to urbanism, writes this:
When should an economist modify his or her general principles in light of special situations? That is the question I face while pondering the recent plans of New York to impose congestion tolls on drivers moving south of 60th Street into the city’s central business district. I’ve been a long-time advocate of congestion pricing for major cities and highways, but I am not ready to buy into this scheme.
This is one of his arguments:
Arguably, Manhattan should be more crowded, at least if we consider everyone’s interest. That militates against congestion tolls, even though such charges are usually a good idea.
And:
The composition of the residents matters, and the composition of the visitors matters too. Manhattan might do better to avoid complete gentrification and to keep some marks of its artistic and working-class backgrounds. But if expensive tolls mean that mainly wealthier visitors come, that will help the fancy jewelers and retailers and other high-price sellers, which in turn will nudge Manhattan more in a wealthy, gentrified direction.
And:
Do we really wish to encourage New York to evolve into having a bifurcated zone with a stiff entry fee and an all-too-obvious demarcation line and border?
This might all be correct. But the other element of this debate is that only a small fraction of people actually drive in New York City at all—at least Manhattan, which is where the congestion pricing applies. Roughly 20 percent of commuters to New York City drive, and even fewer drive directly to their offices right in the core of Manhattan. Most residents and commuters alike would not be impacted by congestion pricing; the cars of a minority of people just take up that much space. So the counterargument to Cowen’s is that few of the people for whom the congestion toll would matter are even in a car to begin with.
Another argument against the toll, but opposite from Cowen’s, is that it will chase away rich people. Some also argue that it leaves commuters with no option at all, since the subway is so dangerous. The actual data show that most people take it anyway.
All of these things can’t be true at once, but I’m not which ones are.
When wife-and-wife team Julie Veratti and Emily Bruno set out to start a brewery in Silver Spring, MD, in 2013, the laws didn’t allow them to open as a taproom/production space. Instead, they would have had to operate as a brew pub.
That wasn’t what Veratti and Bruno wanted to do.
And, if they wanted to distribute beer, they would have had to sell it to Montgomery County first, and the county would sell it to other licensees.
That didn’t jive well with the duo, either.
So they decided they’d try to change the laws.
I’ve read some variety of “craft brewery challenges beer laws” more than once, and I always just shake my head at how arbitrary these laws are. In Flemington, New Jersey, our local craft brewery flashed a laminated card about beermaking at all patrons, to fulfill the requirement that beer only be served following a tour of the facility. Flying Dog, in Maryland, is famous for its libertarian-spirited management.
This is, then, a frustrating but fun read.
This DC Bar Is Serving Drinks in an Actual Subway Car, Food & Wine, Jelisa Castrodale, July 11, 2023
I’ve been to this place, Metrobar, before. They have a subway railcar on the property, but it has never been open to customers. Here’s one of my pictures of it:
But now, it is!
According to the @MetrobarDC Instagram account, the bar can seat 38 people at its two-top and four-top walnut tables, and there are also 26 repurposed (and reupholstered) actual Metro seats. The facade of the ultra-mod bar has an inset metal Metro map, and the space has been kitted out with a new A/V system, upgraded lighting, and decorative elements that reference the Metro system and its design era.
This is “new and old” embodied; new things with an old sense of place and continuity. I love it. And hey, maybe I could use a drink.
In This Place, Richmond Magazine, Melissa Scott Sinclair, October 9, 2016
There’s a lot of left-environmentalist weirdness here, but there’s also the heartwarming story of restoring a decrepit farmhouse and making it a home again. I know the appeal and allure of a place like that, and it’s always wonderful to see these old places saved, whoever is doing it.
Related Reading:
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As usual, Tyler Cowen is completely at sea with anything urbanism related. This not only sounds like he thinks that it's a charge on everyone going south of 60th St, not just cars, but he thinks that most people drive in NYC. If that were the case, no one could drive in and out. There simply would not be enough room. But I guess this is what we should expect from the man who wrote that LA is a very walkable city . . . because you can drive to a park and go for a walk.
Was a bit bummed the AEI piece on kids being harmed by not getting drivers' licenses didn't make the roundup, would love to hear your thoughts on it :) I can't *not* read it in the "Am I out of touch...no it is the children who are wrong" guy's voice.
More seriously, seems like an excellent place to start pondering "If this decision has a social cost that we're concerned about, maybe we should consider what that implies about *our decision to intentionally make it much more costly in the first place*"
https://www.aei.org/society-and-culture/parents-get-you-kids-behind-the-wheel/