Why Do Cities Require Parking Spaces?

Yglesias asks:

Cars are very useful, and if you want to own one, you need someplace to put it. A parking space is valuable, and so reasonable real-estate developers will typically want to feature parking spaces as part of a new development. But parking spaces are a building amenity like any other—granite countertops or spacious bathtubs or a fitness center or a roof deck—and so they’re something the real-estate market is capable of generating in the quantity that people demand. The current rules, mandating that all new construction come with more parking spaces than the market supports, create costly distortions throughout the city.

Michael Manville of UCLA studied a liberalization of parking regulations in one section of Los Angeles and found that deregulation leads to the construction of more housing units and fewer parking spaces. Conversely, tighter regulation leads to a lack of affordable housing and a surplus of parking spaces. That might make sense if parking spaces were a public good, like clean air. But they’re closer to being a public bad. When Chicago mandates the creation of ahigh number of parking spaces per square foot of downtown office building, it reduces the price of parking, but it has a number of negative consequences. Cheaper parking means more traffic congestion on the streets. It also means lower ridership for Chicago mass transit. Perversely, cheaper parking offers a subsidy to commuters from outside the city limits at the expense of Chicago residents living within walking or biking distance of the central business district. And, of course, it leads to dirtier air, not cleaner.

Hathos Alert

Kimber Streams digs up a gem:

In this clip from “Lost Without a Compass,” a promotional video by The 700 Club (part of the Christian Broadcasting Network) from 1993, the group cautions against the evil and dangerous occult practices of Dungeons & Dragons players. The full two-hour broadcast is also available to view, and the Dungeons & Dragons clip begins around 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

Update from a reader:

Boy, that clip sure brought me back. In the late 1980s I was a nerdy D&D-er. My single mom (a smart, progressive Charismatic Catholic) and other parents in our church had the bejesus scared out of them by a D&D smear-and-fear piece produced by pre-scandal Jim Bakker, then of the 700 Club.

Our church was a pretty loose place: we had an informal folk group, a brother everyone called Bro’ Chuck (who later left the church, moved to San Francisco and came out – I kid you not), and met in a small convention hall. To their great credit, they didn’t ban D&D or buy into the fundies’ garbage. Instead, they organized a meeting of parents and priests at which I and a fellow D&Der explained the game, the rules, the details of play, and – most importantly – responded to Bakker’s specific allegations. After about two hours, parents and priests alike concluded that Jim Bakker was full of shit, we were good kids who knew right from wrong and good from evil, and the fundies were liars.

It was a powerful lesson for a couple of teenagers – and our parents and priests – that the fundies were more concerned with keep people scared and donating than anything else. Thanks for the memory!

Now We Should Add FA To LGBT? Ctd

A reader writes:

Obesity may not compare to sexual orientation, but that doesn’t mean it’s equivalent to short stature, ugly noses, acne, etc.  Our society doesn’t blame people for being short, having an ugly nose or acne.  In contrast, conventional wisdom is that obesity can be remedied and that tolerating it in oneself is a character defect.

Scientists are investigating the interaction between genetics and the environment (e.g., whether endocrine disrupters or something else in the chemical soup we live in causes obesity in genetically susceptible individuals).  If this research pans out, it may explain why obesity has dramatically increased in recent decades in some countries and not others. Those who believe the issue is primarily calories taken in versus calories burned should check out these articles from the NYTimes here and here.  The origins of obesity are complex, and it may be impossible for even the most motivated, conscientious people to maintain a normal weight.

Another reader:

There is a lot of overlap between the queer/feminist community and the fat acceptance community, and I think there are good reasons for that. I think that embracing being fat as a woman can be empowering in how it can be an act of willfully denying societal expectations of attractiveness and therefore gaining a profound sense of ownership over one’s body.  I have a pet theory that lesbians and fat women are offensive to some people for the same reasons – neither group is showing much care for the sexual impulses of straight men.

As an on-and-off-again fat chick with diabetic, obese parents, I am sympathetic to the FA message that basically equates with “Our Bodies, Ourselves”- though for myself I don’t think that I can be “healthy at any size”. But I have some real issues with how this all gets mixed up with sexuality.  A male friend who’s “out” once talked wistfully about how he wished his straight-sized girlfriend had a bigger ass, and I frankly don’t see how that’s any different than the more typical straight dude who probably wishes his girlfriend were skinnier; it’s still a man imprinting his sexual desires onto a woman’s body.  A couple things that make me particularly skeptical about this FAG-BLT suggestion:

1) The FA movement as a sexual orientation seems to be mostly centered on straight men liking fat women.  Even that first post from Anna Mollow specifically calls out the fat lovers as male.  Sure, there must be women who prefer fat – certainly of women who love fat woman – but who’s really out there saying that fat men are sexy, too?  This really seems to be an aspect of male sexuality, and like most things straight, the personification of sex is the naked woman.  The one-sidedness of the movement makes it suspect, in my eyes.

2) Someone can ask or prefer their lover to lose weight (we like what we like, right?).  This is unremarkable, because society tells us that slender bodies are more attractive.  FA guys might ask or prefer their lover to gain weight (and feederism seems active in this community).  What is the functional difference between preferring one over the other?  It’s really hard for some people to lose weight; it’s really hard for others to gain it; but let’s ignore for a moment what it’s possible for the individual to achieve – no one could ever ask someone to change their gender!

Another:

While I agree that fatness is a result of both genetics and ongoing lifestyle choices, whether you become fat and stay fatcan depend in part on socioeconomic status as well (a point which Anna Mollow’s piece addresses briefly but was not emphasized in your posts). Not everyone has access to the same kinds of lifestyle choices as middle- to upper-class fatpeople do. Personally, I find that reader advice that fat people just need to “work harder” and “do what you have to do” might be very applicable to someone like me–i.e., a slightly overweight upper-middle-class woman with time and money to go running in the park, pay for a personal trainer, cook healthy dinners and buy quinoa or kale salads for lunch, if I want to–but a shade too glib when you consider the circumstances of the overweight in lower-income communities. Not everyone is lucky enough to work only one job, and not everyone has the time to run 20 miles a week.

The limited sphere of choices for the lower-income overweight looks even worse when you consider that a good number of urban, low-income areas are stacked with fast-food restaurants. (I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the New York-run hospitals with McDonald’s on the premises are all located in high-immigrant, high-minority areas.) When I graduated from college in Manhattan six years ago, I moved in an almost perfectly horizontal line across the island, from the Upper West Side to East Harlem. In the span of ten avenues, my food choices changed dramatically–I went from having access to vegetarian restaurants, organic grocery stores, salad bars and weekly farmer’s markets to being surrounded by McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts as my nearest options. I got a gym membership to offset the effects of “2 Big Macs for $3” Tuesdays and “Buy One Get One Free” deals at Baskin Robbins, but my location definitely affected my eating habits and opened my eyes to the correlation between weight and class. The fast food was just so (1) cheap, (2) high in caloric content, which gives you a good amount of energy for the low price you’re paying, and (3) conveniently located all over the neighborhood.

Of course, I don’t agree with Mollow’s stance that we should celebrate fat people of all colors instead of trying to reduce obesity in lower-income minority communities. Again, it’s all about finding the happy medium between that extreme and the equally simplistic view that fat people who stay fat just don’t want it enough. Your readers aren’t wrong to point out that there are things you can do to not be as fat, but we also need to acknowledge that it’s harder for some populations to make the meaningful and long-lasting lifestyle choices they advocate. Maybe we should have a little more empathy in addition to providing support, encouragement and education for the overweight.

Previous parts of this discussion thread here, here, and here.

The Best Of The Dish Today

pueblo-mexico-12pm

Whence the scrotum, we asked? And for various reasons, this photograph was more objectionable in offices than this one. But at least one reader laughed out loud. There was another completely innocent prisoner who killed himself in GTMO (I couldn’t blame him) as Obama picked an enabler of torture to be the head of the FBI. True to form, Bill Kristol switched sides on immigration reform (he was fine with it when there was a Republican president), as Rubio’s ratings began to sink among the white GOP base. Prospects for any legislation on anything sank in the House.

And the neocons went into full smear mode of another Paul. Like you didn’t see that one coming.

The most popular post of the day was The Badass Flight Attendants of Asiana 214, followed by my thoughts on the widening global split between those at peace with modernity and those at war with it (updated with reader comments here).

Germany beat out Australia as our fourth largest source of readers (as if I could post a picture of a scrotum and not get a Germanic response). Fark and Reddit keep climbing the ranks of the Dish’s top referrers. The window view (above) was from Pueblo, Mexico, at 10 am.

See you in the morning.

Ask Michael Hanna Anything: Morsi’s Failure To Govern

In our second video from Egypt expert, he explains how Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood neglected to pursue reform and reconciliation following the 2011 revolution, and thus have only themselves to blame for their downfall:

https://vimeo.com/70048624

Earlier this week, Hanna further detailed these failures, including how Morsi screwed up his response to the June 30 protests:

An honorable exit for Morsy would have been a recognition of reality. A crippled executive with a tenuous grip on authority who could not govern effectively — even at the peak of his popularity — was no longer in a position to fulfill his role. A negotiated safe exit would have also preserved the Muslim Brotherhood’s political gains and ensured its participation in the design of the transitional stage and upcoming elections. Such an exit would have also reversed its disastrous decision to renege on previous pledges and contest the presidential election, thereby relieving the organization of the enormous strain of governing Egypt during this tumultuous period.

Such a decision would have required Morsy to undertake a thorough assessment of his errors and an objective appraisal of the country’s current dynamics. As difficult as such steps would have been, they were Egypt’s only way out. Instead, the country has chosen one poison over the other.

But in the end, no functional political order can emerge, let alone a democratic transition, without the free, fair, and full participation by the Muslim Brotherhood. With Morsy now incommunicado and presumably filled with rightful indignation at his fate, he can still help bring Egypt back from the brink. To do so, however, will require him to be a real leader and make a painful concession — placing his country’s future first.

Michael Wahid Hanna is a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, where he works on issues of international security, international law, and US foreign policy in the broader Middle East and South Asia. He appears regularly on NPR, BBC, and al-Jazeera. Additionally, his Twitter feed is a must-read for anyone interested in Egyptian politics. Our full coverage of the current events in Egypt is here. Our Ask Anything archive is here.

Capturing The Best Moment Of Your Life

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/354458394750488577

Two days ago, Richard Deitsch wondered aloud how many of his Twitter followers have photos of their happiest moment ever. Megan Garber observes that the outpouring of responses is a testament “not only to Twitter’s power as a platform for sharing, but also to cameras’ increasing ubiquity in our lives”:

We may plan to take pictures at weddings, or during proposals, or after the births of babies; many of life’s happiest moments, however, are unexpected and random and weird. The fact that more of us are regularly carrying cameras around with us means that we are newly able to capture those moments–to make the ephemeral newly permanent. And, then, shareable with Sports Illustrated writers.

Many more excellent pictures sent to Deitsch are below:

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/354456303965446146

A Silver Lining For Copper

In a largely grim dispatch on the copper industry, Tim Heffernan finds some reason for cheer: Developing countries are collectively in a better bargaining position than they were two decades ago. The Internet deserves some credit for this shift:

The Internet, [World Bank economist Michael Stanley] says, has been a key factor in changing the way mine development is negotiated, because it has given formerly weak third parties–local communities, native peoples with traditional rights to mining lands, environmental groups–a voice in the negotiations and a sympathetic audience in the wider world. “A small group in any rural country can, with a Google search and the ability to speak some English, access that whole global experience. And they are. In 1985, it was very difficult for somebody in Mongolia to understand what was going on in mine development. Now you can push information to the community on their cell phones.”

In a follow-up, Heffernan discusses the secondary metals produced by copper mining operations. One example:

The turbines of jet engines are made out of so-called superalloys, and the key element in superalloys is an exceedingly rare metal called rhenium. To get one pound of rhenium out of the Earth’s crust, you would have to sift through a billion pounds of other stuff. As a standalone business, this would be madness. Luckily, rhenium tags along with molybdenum, which of course tags along with copper, and big copper mines like Bingham Canyon have billion-pound-a-day copper-ore-snorting habits.

Treating Celibacy

A short documentary covers the debate over sexual surrogates for disabled people:

James Hamblin sides with the disabled seeking sexual contact:

Near the end many of us will pay for people to help us walk, put food in our mouths, change our diapers. We’ll lose our relationships that afford close physical contact. Once a neuromuscular disease leaves someone incontinent, we as physicians can offer little to restore their abilities. The same is true when a stroke leaves a patient unable to chew his own food. We often can’t restore these basic, humanizing parts of people. There is value in seriously considering every human element that can be preserved. Surrogacy does not replace a loving relationship, and it shouldn’t be expected to. We don’t refuse the help of a physical therapist because it won’t be as good as having never gotten hit by a bus to begin with. When real love is on the table, take it. When the table is missing, or someone’s axed the legs, then there are surrogates.

A fallacy of modern medicine is that anything less than perfect health or complete recovery is failure, or at least concession. Another is that accepting help and treatment admits weakness. As doctors we spend a lot of our time managing expectations. With chronic illness and old age, the job is most often about making the best of imperfect circumstances. Is sexual surrogacy necessarily so removed from invoking the help of any health professional? The grey areas are expansive, but so is the potential.

Putting The Black Market Out Of Business

Keith Humphreys wonders how states with legal cannabis will deal with illegal cannabis operations:

Law enforcement officials in Colorado and Washington will soon be grappling with the question of how to police illicit sales and production of cannabis after the legal cannabis market is in place. The logical approach would be to prioritize illicit market enforcement immediately after legalization takes effect. The enforcement and resultant busts would be coupled with press releases full of head-shaking quotes along the lines of “I can’t understand why people keep engaging in crime now that recreational marijuana is legally available”. Such tactics would help undermine the black market by driving people into the legal cannabis market.

Alison Holcomb, author of Washington state’s legalization law, responds in the comments section

1. Washington’s new marijuana law dedicates $5 million annually off the top of the new marijuana excise tax for administration and enforcement by the state’s primary regulatory agency;

2. As with the repeal of alcohol Prohibition, consumer demand will shift and likely have a greater impact on the black market than policing; and

3. Before the passage of Washington’s new marijuana law, the overwhelming majority of state marijuana law enforcement — 90% of marijuana arrests — was for simple possession, not manufacture or delivery. Now that simple possession is legal for adults 21 and older, significant policing hours have been freed up and could, should local jurisdictions so desire, be refocused to enforcement against unlicensed marijuana producers and distributors.

Face Of The Day

AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-BOMBINGS

An injured Afghan child is treated at a hospital after a roadside bomb in the Obe district of Herat province on July 9, 2013. The bomb killed 12 women, four children and one man travelling in a three-wheel minivan, officials said, adding that at least seven other passengers were wounded. By Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images.