Category: Housing and Commuting

EVs Driving the Stock Market

Article by Ethan Kruteck.   A secondary market for regulatory tax credits is the secret to Tesla’s recent success. In September of 2020, Tesla reported being profitable for the past four consecutive quarters, which can be attributed to the sale of regulatory tax credits to automobile manufacturers who were unable to meet the quota (Higgins,

Predicting Amtrak’s Return to Indio

Indio has earned a national status as the “The City of Festivals”, drawing nearly 1.4 million annually to events such as Coachella and Stagecoach. Moreover, Indio’s City Council unanimously passed a measure in 2016 to raise the attendance cap on both of these festivals by nearly 62,000. These festivals have brought money and business to

Upzoning the Inland Empire

While most of the discussion surrounding the controversial MORE Homes Act (SB50) has focused on the impact on communities in the Bay Area and greater Los Angeles, the bill could have a tangible impact on neighborhoods in the Inland Empire as well.  In response to the ever-present California housing crisis, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)

Is the Parking Meter Price Right?

While policy makers search for a way to cut down traffic in one of the most congested cities in the world, Los Angeles drivers wait. An earlier blog post of the Lowe Down, Is the Commuting Price Right?, explored the per-mile tax idea that policy makers have to cut down on congestion. While this idea

Energy Consumption in California: Why Population Density Matters

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), California ranked 48th in the country in energy consumption per capita in 2016. In fact, the average California households consumed 31% less energy than the national average. Commonly cited reasons for California’s low levels of per capita energy consumption are its raft of of energy efficiency programs as

Hyperloop: The Boring Launch

In typical Elon Musk-style, the launch of the Hyperloop tunnel, which was scheduled for for December 10, was canceled and postponed to December 18, 2018 to a new and unrevealed location. Boring Company product launch on Dec 18. More than a tunnel opening. Will include modded but fully road legal autonomous transport cars & ground

Your Neighborhood’s Impact on Income

How Accessible is the Ladder in Your Neighborhood? In March of 2018, economists from Stanford and Harvard teamed-up with the U.S. Census Bureau to produce a longitudinal study investigating the relationship between race and economic opportunity in the United States. By tying de-identified IRS tax returns to Census Bureau data, the researchers were able to

Costs of Commuting and How Public Transport Might Help

In the Road and Repair Accountability Act  (SB 1), California has pledged to increase its spending on state transportation infrastructure by $54 billion over the next decade for “fix it first” highway and road projects, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and public transit. One aspect in which these investments can translate into public benefits are the