In the US, it's common for local governments to focus on tax revenue produced by a property, without considering the costs it adds to the city's budget. This is like measuring how far a car can drive without considering how much gas it uses to get there. Different properties create different long-term cost burdens for the city. One of the biggest contributors to that variance is the amount of…
One thing I like about Georgist land taxes is they reflect a deep-seated intuition many people have that land should be owned by the community, while still employing markets to ensure efficient use of this limited resource. People feel that land is special and should serve the collective good and reflect community interests. This intuition manifests in behaviors like NIMBYism, where residents…
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal . One of the biggest questions I had when I first learned about this proposal was whether it is resilient to climate. We were in a neverending drought during my childhood in California, and my…
I’ve now done two egg retrieval cycles. Given that I had a zillion questions before I started, I thought I’d share my notes for others who might have similar questions. Things I would’ve loved to know beforehand Overall the process was way easier and less intense than I expected. It was mostly annoying, because I had to go to tons of doctor’s appointments and get my blood drawn multiple times a…
I've discovered a group trip format that I really love, and I wanted to share it with others because (a) you might find it fun to host or join something like this in the future and (b) selfishly, I would like more people to organize trips like this so that I can join them! The basic idea simple: live in an interesting new place for a few days or weeks with friends in walking distance, as if we…
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal . Up until recently, the new city’s potential impact on Travis Air Force Base had been a source of questions about the project. California Forever’s holdings extend to land that borders Travis,…
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal . California Forever’s proposal includes 10 Voter Guarantees that go far beyond what typical developers offer. These are structured as legal l y binding commitments – written into the ballot…
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal . As an urbanism nerd, the aspect of California Forever’s plan that I was most eager to hear about was land use and urban planning for the new city. From reading the ballot initiative and…
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal . One of the most essential parts of California Forever’s proposal to build a new city is the idea of clustered development, which is the #1 most impactful strategy we can adopt for…
A new city has been proposed in California, and I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This post is part of a series I’m writing about this bold proposal . California Forever was founded by Jan Sramek in 2017 as a way to create the missing economic engine for Solano County while helping to solve the region’s growing housing crisis in a scalable,…
A new city has been proposed in California, and the plan is going to a vote in Solano County’s November election. The proposed location is in Solano County, about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento, and the group behind the proposal is named California Forever . As a native Californian, I’ve never been more captivated by a vision for the future of my home state in my lifetime. This new…
Most roads are paved with asphalt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with asphalt. Bricks, cobblestones, and pavers are often much better options, because: 1. Asphalt degrades fast, so once you account for maintenance, it's more expensive it first appears Asphalt ages and falls apart quickly. It needs to be replaced after 10-15 years and starts looking pretty crummy well before then. It…
It's been frustrating to see the US coverage of Milei, Argentina's new president . The American press seems to deeply misunderstand what's going on. It seems the US reporters can only understand Argentine politics through the lens of the US, when really it's just a totally different situation. For one thing, the American press loves to call Milei a " populist ", which couldn't be more incorrect.…
If you're wondering how the heck a hardline libertarian just won the Argentinian presidential election, here's some background. First, a key fact is that the government is printing money at an accelerating rate, resulting in 143% annual inflation as of the most recent count. The economy is deteriorating rapidly , the poverty rate has spiked to more than 40% , and the daily indignities of…
As a real estate developer, one of the big decisions you need to make is whether you will rent or sell the buildings you've built. Income from rentals flows in steadily over years, while income from sales hits all at once. This essential difference is simple but has many implications for your risk profile, upside potential, capital requirements, and business model. The following post is a writeup…
by Jason Benn & Devon Zuegel So, you’ve been invited to an unconference! Maybe you’re not entirely sure what that means (did the organizers misspell "conference"?), or maybe you’ve been to dozens of these before and you’re looking for some ideas for how to run an awesome session. This blog post will be a quick primer on what an unconference is, and then we’ll share some tips on how to make a…
The saga of Israeli water management is one of the most inspiring stories of the last 75 years. Israel went from having a serious water problem to being a net water exporter to neighboring countries. Meanwhile, the population grew from ~1 million to well over 9 million. With its land mass 60% desert, the region was originally thought to support a max population of just 2 million people. But with…
America hasn't built many walkable places in the last few decades, but there are a few exceptions. While collecting a list of these special places , I was shocked to discover that most are in the Southeast. My mental image of contemporary southern development did not include an appreciation of urbanism, walkability, and public spaces. On the contrary, it conjured images of massive highways and…
A question that's puzzled me for a while is why home buyers focus on price/sqft so much more than renters. I asked around for what other people thought and got some interesting answers , so I decided to write up my takeaways. I. Investments demand legibility Homeownership is an investment and consumption good, while renting is just a consumption good. As a result, buyers are forced to think of it…
Whenever I think about physical places, I find myself coming back to a few types of numbers again and again. I've collected these into spreadsheets so that I can reference them more easily, and I figured they might be useful to others too: Urban densities – Population density in various cities around the world Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index 2018 – How restrictive is land use policy…
In Argentina, your money is worth double if you skip the airport currency exchange and instead go to one of the many black market exchanges hidden throughout Buenos Aires. These illegal exchanges are called "cuevas" (the word for "cave" in Spanish), and they are a crucial part of Argentina's financial infrastructure. Argentinians are constantly exchanging their pesos (ARS) for other currencies,…
Pirate crews developed a surprisingly similar approach to compensation in the 17th century. Just like many startups, they also balanced equity incentives with other mechanisms that would be familiar to a startup employee today, such as bonuses. These surprising similarities offer an interesting frame through which we can reflect on why startup equity and bonuses are structured the way they are. We…
I wrote a Buenos Aires guide with recommendations and tips for a group of friends I was traveling with in December 2021, and I figured it might be useful to other people too. I adore Buenos Aires and spend about a month each year there, so I'm always thrilled to hear when friends are going to spend time in the city, and I love sharing what I know about the place with newcomers. Buenos Aires is an…
I just spent a week in Panamá City, and figured I'd share my observations in case they're useful to anyone else interested in similar questions. The purpose of the trip was to research locations for a gene therapy/stem cell clinic that my friend is planning to start. I also explored a few of Panamá's Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as part of my ongoing research about startup cities , as well as to…
Inflation hits some parts of the economy harder and faster than others. It's obvious once you say it, and yet the way pundits and academics talk about inflation glosses over this reality. As a result, most people who haven't had direct experience with high inflation have a flawed view of how it affects daily life. Popular use of the term "inflation" makes it sound like the inflation rate is a…
I've long wanted a notes app with an optional chat style interface for append-only notes. The idea is that I'll use the simpler append-only interface while on the go, and then use full-featured interface to review, edit, and organize those notes when I'm back at my computer. I realized recently that a combination of Telegram + Logseq will do exactly what I want! I jot down notes in a Telegram…
Remote work is creating a new economic niche, and countries that put in the work to fill it will finally be able to compete with the US to attract talent. This is the once-in-a-generation opportunity for small, stable countries to grow, diversify, and up-skill their economy. The United States has been the #1 target destination for immigrants for generations. It has a mythical reputation as the…
We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: sprawling development that doesn't match what people actually want from their communities. People aim to maximize access and space when deciding where to live. All things equal, most people like living in places with easy access to their day-to-day life. It's nice to be able to walk your kids to kindergarten, and it's…
I recently visited Próspera, a Honduran startup city. I had a ton of questions and figured others might too, so I wrote an FAQ to share what I learned: Próspera FAQ This FAQ is intended as a reference, covering the basic facts and current status of the project. My hope is that this document will help startup city builders learn from the path Próspera is carving. It covers a range of topics:…
I haven't done a great job of tracking these, so this list is non-comprehensive: The future of cities & community (June 2024) – Possible podcast with Reid Hoffman Building a People-First Town From Scratch with Esmeralda & Rethinking How We Live (April 2024) – The Building Culture Podcast with Austin Tunnell How to Build a City (March 2024) – Pirate Wires with Mike Solana Urbanism and the Future of…
Alain was interviewed by our friend Anthony for a Brazilian urbanism blog called Caos Planejado, and we thought it would be fun to cross-post it here. They discussed Brazilian cities, municipal financing, what it was like to live in NYC in the time of Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses, how urban planners' thinking has evolved over the course of Alain's long career, and lots more. RSS · Apple Podcasts ·…
While the startup cities industry is still small, it is already quite heterogeneous. Each project has its own distinct set of goals, motivations, and scope. However, this diversity isn’t fully captured by the vocabulary we use right now. To help myself create a mental map of the industry, I’ve grouped these motivations into 5 categories. I’ve also included examples of places that personify each…
Update 5-Dec-2021: Read the updated version of these notes here. These field notes are a bit different from previous cities I've explored , because unlike those, Miami is my home! So this post partially serves as a life update—I moved to Miami Beach from California a few months ago, and I'm excited to share my explorations with you. What makes Miami special – A few things that stand out to me…
Mobility is central to living in every city . In this episode, we discussed how different communities tackle the question of transportation, and how culture shapes how different transport technologies get adopted. RSS · Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Overcast Mobility is central to living in every city. In this episode, we discussed how different communities tackle the question of transportation, and…
Michael Kaminsky recently emailed me an interesting post he wrote about bounties in open source, and I took the opportunity to write up some thoughts that had been swirling in my head for a while. You can find the (lightly edited) response I sent to him below. ~ Bounties are great for well-scoped, low-context work. For example, bounties work can quite well for things like penetration testing,…
Nadia Eghbal’s new book, Working In Public: the Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software , may not have been on your short list of books to read this year. It’s admittedly a nerdy topic: it’s about open source projects, roles and responsibilities; the rise of GitHub as a developer platform; and how developer culture is evolving around the new power of creator platforms. I recommend you get…
Natan Gesher sent me the following email after reading my post about why flaking is so widespread in San Francisco , and I thought you all might find it interesting too: I saw your blog posts about flaking and wanted to share something I've observed from moving around a bit (four years in Manhattan for university, then two years in Jerusalem, five years in Tel Aviv, two years in San Francisco,…
Every place has some dirty secrets, even Disney World. We all have to get rid of waste somehow! In this episode, the Bertauds and I discuss methods of sanitation and waste management from around the world, and how these hidden systems shape our cities. RSS · Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Overcast Every place has some dirty secrets, even Disney World. We all have to get rid of waste somehow! So in…
I want to tell you about the place I spent summers growing up. It's called Chautauqua Institution , and it's one of the most special places in the world — and not just because I spent my childhood there. Chautauqua is special because it is an idea embedded in a place. The place is a small town in western New York, on the edge of the Great Lakes. Chautauqua's human-scale streets are lined with…
Alain and Marie-Agnes raised three children while living their nomadic lifestyle. So in this episode, we dug into how their role as parents shaped how they experience cities. Join us as we roam Bangkok, Guadalajara, Sana'a, Paris, Port-au-Prince, NYC and beyond! RSS · Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Overcast Here's the full transcript. You can also find it with synced audio here . If you'd like to…
Imagine you're at a dinner party, and you're getting into a heated argument. As you start yelling, the other people quickly hush their voices and start glaring at you. None of the onlookers have to take further action—it's clear from their facial expressions that you're being a jerk. In digital conversations, giving feedback requires more conscious effort. Silence is the default. Participants only…
I'm starting a podcast with my friends, Marie-Agnes and Alain Bertaud, who also happen to be the most interesting couple I know. Over the course of this first conversation, we traveled all around the globe for a whirlwind tour of the adventurous life they've led together. Audio · Photos · Transcript RSS · Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Overcast As I mentioned in my recent post , I'm starting a podcast…
The purpose of this writeup was to summarize something interesting I learned recently, to make sure I understood it. I figured others might find it interesting, too. ~ ~ ~ Digital signal processing corrects for errors better than its analog counterpart. This is one of the reasons why modern electronics are always digital. Concretely, let's say you have a digital component that expects either 0V or…
I'm starting a new podcast called Order Without Design with the most interesting couple I know: Alain & Marie-Agnes Bertaud. This project is an extension of their book, Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities . With its focus on economic theory, you might not realize that this book is the product of the adventurous life these two have shared together. This podcast series is my excuse to…
Written by Clay Shirky First published March 30, 2004 on the "Networks, Economics, and Culture" mailing list. Subscribe to the mailing list. I teach at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), where the student population is about evenly divided between technologists who care about aesthetics and artists who aren't afraid of machines, which makes it a pretty good place to see the…
The book that etched the deepest grooves in my mind last year was Against the Grain by James C. Scott. It explores how the unique characteristics of grain-based agriculture shaped the early history of states. While I did learn many interesting historical facts and trends from the book, what stood out to me most was Scott's emphasis on epistemics. When he pointed to the archaeological record, he…
Here are some notes and quotes that particularly stood out to me from each chapter of Against the Grain . This isn't a summary of the book. It's mostly for my future self to refer back to (and thus probably missing a lot for someone who hasn't read it), but the tidbits are so interesting that I figured I'd share it nonetheless in case it's remotely helpful to someone else. You can read my more…
Language skills are highly multi-dimensional * , so while learning a language, it's important to come at it from lots of different directions. Here are some of the tricks I've used to practice Spanish that I haven't heard so many other people use. (They're likely useful for other languages too, of course.) (1) Translate past writing you've already published in English One fun exercise is to take…
Back in 2015, I wrote a blog post called Dropbox: the First Dead Decacorn . At the time, it was the most widely shared take I’d ever written. I learned several things from writing this piece, and none of them had to do with Dropbox: I learned, for instance, that a great way to get people to click on your blog post is to make them mad. I also learned about a company called Social Capital, after my…
Music enthusiasts will tell you there's nothing quite like "tube sound", the warm, rich sound quality that old vacuum tube amplifiers bring to the music played through them. And they'll pay top dollar for it! Once considered obsolete, vintage vacuum tube amps now sell at a premium, because audiophiles want to reproduce the harmonic distortions this old tech is so famous for. This now-beloved…