In a week where urban policy often feels stuck in abstract debates, Joe Cortright delivers a sharp, data-driven reality check on why our cities are failing to house people and move them efficiently. He doesn't just list problems; he connects the resignation of a top transportation official in Oregon to a global pattern of housing mandates backfiring, and then pivots to a new, machine-learning-powered map that finally shows us just how much land we've wasted on cars. This is essential listening for anyone tired of the usual political noise and ready to see the structural rot beneath the pavement.
The Cost of Megaprojects
Cortright opens with the resignation of Kris Strickler, the director of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), framing it not as a personnel change but as a symptom of a broken system. "ODOT has been a deeply troubled agency, with massive cost overruns, financial mismanagement, and a failure to delivery major projects," he writes. The argument here is that the departure of the agency's leader since 2019 is less about one person's career and more about the collapse of a specific philosophy: the belief that building bigger freeways solves climate change. Cortright suggests that Strickler's exit might finally "shake things up" and force lawmakers to stop chasing "freeway expansion mega-projects as a solution to climate change."
This framing is effective because it isolates the policy failure from the political personality. The core of the issue, as Cortright notes, is the "bottomless pit of taxpayer dollars going to consulting firms who benefit from making projects as expensive, expansive, and extensive as possible." The evidence of this dysfunction is stark: the agency has seen an "exodus" of top managers, including the heads of its two largest projects, the Interstate Bridge Replacement and the I-5 Rose Quarter widening. Critics might argue that leadership turnover is common in large bureaucracies and doesn't necessarily prove a systemic flaw, but the simultaneous collapse of multiple high-profile initiatives suggests something deeper is wrong.
"Maybe Strickler's departure is just the latest, and highest ranking, of an 'exodus' of top managers from ODOT."
The Housing Mandate Trap
Shifting to housing, Cortright turns his attention to Barcelona, using international data to challenge a popular domestic policy: inclusionary zoning. He highlights a report from the local newspaper La Vanguardia showing that a mandate requiring 30% of new construction to be affordable has yielded almost nothing. "Eight years later, the city should have nearly 2,000 apartments built under that regulation. The reality, however, is far less promising: as of August 2025, only 31 have been built," he observes. This is a devastating indictment of well-intentioned policy that ignores market incentives.
Cortright argues that these mandates function as a "tax on new housing construction, deterring investment." He points out that even local advocates admit the law isn't working, yet political inertia prevents reform. The argument lands hard because it uses a concrete, real-world example to debunk the idea that you can mandate affordability without addressing supply. A counterargument worth considering is that the timeline in Barcelona might be too short to see full effects, or that other factors like construction costs played a role, but the disparity between the target of 2,000 units and the reality of 31 is difficult to dismiss as mere bad timing.
The Wage-Rent Divergence
Amidst the gloom, Cortright identifies a rare bright spot: wages are finally outpacing rents. Citing a LinkedIn commentary by Jay Parsons, he notes that "average wage increases have outpaced rent increases for 31 straight months." This suggests the post-pandemic rent spike is abating, largely due to a surge in apartment construction. However, Cortright is careful not to declare victory. He warns that "whether wages continue to outpace rents is another question," citing fears of a recession and a drying up of the new apartment pipeline. This nuance is crucial; it acknowledges progress while reminding listeners that the underlying affordability crisis is far from solved.
Mapping the Car's Empire
Finally, Cortright introduces a fascinating new study by Shirin Qiam and Lewis Lehe that uses satellite imagery and machine learning to map surface parking lots. For decades, we've known parking eats up space, but we lacked precise data. "Their results show considerable variation among cities," Cortright writes, noting that while Boston dedicates just 2.3% of its central business district to surface parking, Tulsa devotes more than 30%. This visual data is powerful because it transforms an abstract planning concept into a tangible reality.
He leans on the work of Don Shoup to argue that "urban land devoted to parking makes cities less efficient and accessible, particularly to people not traveling by car." The study's maps allow us to "visually compare different cities" and see how planning practice has been "dominated by metrics that emphasize optimizing automobile speeds, to the detriment of almost everything else." This is a compelling call to action: if we can see the problem so clearly, we can finally start planning for a world that isn't so car-dominated. The only gap here is the lack of specific policy solutions for these high-parking cities, but the diagnostic power of the new data is undeniable.
"Metrics—and maps—that show how vividly cities have given over vast amounts of space to cars can help us plan for a world that isn't so car-dominated."
Bottom Line
Cortright's strongest move is connecting disparate failures—from Oregon's freeway obsession to Barcelona's housing mandates—under a single theme: policies that ignore market realities and prioritize political symbolism are failing the public. His biggest vulnerability is the lack of a clear roadmap for what comes next, particularly in the face of potential economic recession. Readers should watch for whether the new parking data can actually shift the political calculus away from car-centric planning, or if it will remain just another interesting map on a shelf.