Stanford on CA vs TX, the rationality of cars, Dallas now #2 in finance, both parties are NIMBYs
A few smaller items this week:
- Stanford paper: A tale of two states: Contrasting economic policy in California and Texas. Hat tip to George.
Key Takeaways
- California’s state and local government revenues and spending are 60 percent higher than Texas on a per-resident basis.
- On economic performance — both have much to celebrate. Population and employment surged in Texas while California’s per-capita income and GDP have soared in recent years.
- But both have plenty of room to improve. California stands out for its high rate of homelessness and low air quality. Texas has a larger share of residents without health insurance than any other state.
- Crime rates and renewable energy production are similar in the two states despite very different policies. And while K-12 spending per student is much higher in California, student outcomes are if anything better in Texas. (point that out next time someone says the solution to Texas' education issues is more money)
- Reason: Why Cars Are So Popular in America, based on an MIT paper. Key points:
“This finding runs counter to the narrative that people are behaving irrationally by owning a car because they underestimate the true cost. Instead, we find that people value owning the car high enough to make the private cost worthwhile. Indeed, 58% of this value is in owning the car, compared with 42% in using it, suggesting that the value of the car goes well beyond the trips that it provides.”
This paper sheds some useful light on the failure of decades-long efforts to “get people out of their cars and onto transit” and more recent attempts to greatly increase urban density in the quest for a “15-minute city.”
- Real estate development unites enemies - Democrats and Republicans are both NIMBYs. Hat tip to Jay.
- Bloomberg: Wall Street’s Seismic Shift Propels Dallas Past Chicago, LA (no paywall link)
- Three big Wall Street banks began new Dallas campuses in 2023
- Post-pandemic relocations have been a boon for Texas city
"Now the country’s fourth-largest metro, Dallas-Fort Worth surpassed Chicago and Los Angeles during the pandemic to become the No. 2 city for finance jobs. It’s home to more than 380,000 who work in the industry, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares with 323,000 in Chicago, the home of CME Group Inc., Cboe and other derivatives firms that form the backbone of that city’s finance industry. New York is still No. 1, with 809,000 people employed in that sector."
Labels: economy, education, governance, growth, transit
posted by Tory Gattis @ 8:45 PM
7 Comments:
Texas needs to ban formation of new municipalities.
Agreed! I really question the value of city government and its evil friend zoning/preservation in general. Cities seem to be more about harvesting more taxes and stopping progress (preserving our way) than anything else. I'm watching NIMBYism play out in Fredericksburg, where a group of 8 people are blocking the HWY 290 bypass of the city.
I also wonder how it is a city of 7 million people and a city of 2 million (Houston / Austin) ended up with no direct interstate or freeway route between them.....
My biggest lament in all of this. Is I want to build a better brighter future in our urban landscapes, but cities seem to be all about citizens collaborating to stopping the future, or at least protecting a certain class of individuals...
SH-71 needs to be expanded to full freeway.
They are slowly doing it over time, especially in more populated areas like Austin thru Bastrop. But between Bastrop and I-10 it's really not that necessary - very rural, and those landowners prefer direct access to the road, which is not an option with a freeway where feeder roads and entrance/exit ramps would be required. Upgrading to a freeway would be very expensive (new feeder roads, ramps, grade separations) without adding much speed or value.
Definitely, the real option would be 290 tollway in Elgin.
Sorry for hijacking. You could make the argument no freeway is needed between Houston and college station as 290->hwy 6 is great. But yet the 249 freeway/toll way is on its way. Even Del Rio (under 30K population) is getting an interstate route to Colorado I-27 expansion). My point being significantly less populated/traveled routes are getting high speed highways for economic progress, and yet two of the biggest cities can't get it done. It would be like saying nope, Miami doesn't need an interstate to Orlando.
From Austin to Bastrop HWY 71 is still full of traffic lights and low speed, and south of Bastrop you can bypass the farms with a new route. Yes there has been progress (Bastrop was terrible, the airport area in Austin was terrible), but as traffic volumes and development increase no improvement in overall trip times. I supposed the standard for progress today is that trip times haven't gotten worse over the last 25 years. Thats the real problem I have with a lot of things is it should have been better by now.
Miami doesn't need an interstate to Orlando, they got the turnpike.
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