Joel Kotkin

Urban Design critic http://www.joelkotkin.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Kotkin

• Kotkin is the author of several books. The New Class Conflict was published in September 2014 by Telos Press Publishing. In this book, Kotkin assesses the changing complexities of class in the United States, which he argues can no longer be understood in terms of traditional political divisions between left and right or conservative and liberal. For Kotkin, the new class order of the twenty-first century is marked by the rise of a high-tech oligarchy, a culturally dominant academic and media (both journalism and entertainment) elite, an expansive government bureaucracy, and a declining middle class.
• Kotkin argues that the model of urban development as exemplified by pre-automobile cities such as New York City and Paris is outdated in many cases. Kotkin believes in a "back to basics" approach which stresses nurturing the middle class and families with primarily single-family suburban development. He states that the current trend of growth of suburbs will be the dominant pattern around the world.[1] As a result, one of his arguments is that rail transit is not always ideal for modern cities and suburbs.

author, The City ISBN:0-679-60336-0 http://www.joelkotkin.com/Books.htm

lives in Los Angeles area, San Fernando Valley

in 2003 co-wrote (with Jonathan Bowles) Engine Failure about the Urban Development challenges facing NYC, esp post-WorldTradeCenter.

Apr'2013: Matthew Yglesias says Kotkin every six months writes some version of this exact same article in which he says media hipsters keep overhyping dense cities and downtowns while population growth evidence shows that most people move to sprawling sunbelt Suburbs. Since he's written this article so many times and so many people have written the rebuttal to it, I'm sure he already knows what the rebuttal is and for some reasons doesn't care. But here goes. If people hate dense urban areas so much, why isn't Manhattan one of the cheapest places in America to buy a house?.. Luxury goods aren't unpopular, they're just expensive.