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Scott Markley

@snmarkley.bsky.social
944 followers 271 following 132 posts

Studying racially uneven sub/urban development with GIS, maps, #rstats, #rspatial scottnmarkley.github.io

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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My chapter on "data slop" with Diana Drogaris is out today in this excellent, open access collection! Check it out here: bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/edcollchap-o... Hats off to the Data Stories team for putting this timely and important book together!
bristoluniversitypressdigital.com
9: Zoning and municipal data brokers: towards a political economy of ‘data slop’
A budding crop of PropTech entrepreneurs purporting to offer ‘AI-driven zoning analysis’, ‘model-based algorithms’ and ‘real estate intelligence platforms’ to provide standardised zoning data has surf...
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Rob Kitchin @robkitchin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Publication day. The Data Politics of Housing, Property and Planning, edited by Danielle Hynes, Rob Kitchin and Samuel Mutter. Published by Policy Press. Open access download at: policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-data-pol...
policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
The Data Politics of Housing, Property and Planning
The Data Politics of Housing, Property and Planning; This pioneering book critically examines how governments, industry and civil society use housing, property and planning data, offering a vital refl...
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Stop using the Wharton Index. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
It's time to Retire the Wharton Index
Empirical research on land use regulation has a credibility problem. For two decades, studies linking regulation to housing costs, residential segregation, and
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Love to see this. One of my biggest frustrations with the Wharton Index over the years--and one motivation for taking on this project--is that it was restricting my ability to see what was plainly in front of me. Once you dispense with it, all sorts of things start to make more sense!
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 02/09/2026
This finding from NZA ⏬ on issues with some national zoning indices is useful; it helps explain my findings earlier this summer (free pre-print: www.urban.org/research/pub...), which show that infill housing supply growth has been faster in liberal places—the opposite of what Wharton would predict.
tandfonline.com
The Paradox of Housing Supply Growth: Conservative Sprawl and Liberal Infill in the 21st-Century United States
Housing affordability is declining in the United States. To explain this phenomenon, many scholars and policymakers point to slowing construction, which they argue is particularly troublesome in co...
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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 02/09/2026
The National Zoning Atlas team is out with a blockbuster paper identifying major flaws with the Wharton Index, which has historically been the tool used by economists to make claims about zoning (e.g. Glaeser & Gyourko's 2002 paper on zoning & affordability, with >1200 citations, is based on it...)
papers.ssrn.com
It's time to retire the Wharton Index
Empirical research on land use regulation has a credibility problem. For two decades, studies linking regulation to housing costs, residential segregation, and
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Dan Immergluck @danimmergluck.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
So many papers I have reviewed rely on the Wharton Land Use Regulatory Index as a measure of #zoning restrictiveness. I saw @snmarkley.bsky.social present this paper at the Urban Affairs Association this spring. It is certainly damning (of the index). It’s time to stop using it.
papers.ssrn.com
It's time to retire the Wharton Index
Empirical research on land use regulation has a credibility problem. For two decades, studies linking regulation to housing costs, residential segregation, and
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Tony Damiano @tonydamiano.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Newly published housing research! We find that the effects of new construction on rents varies by the quality of the existing housing. In the first 5 years rents went up 4.4% near low quality buildings and went down 1.7% near high quality buildings (1/x) 🧵 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Build baby build? Housing submarkets and the effects of new
construction on existing rents

Anthony Damiano and Chris Frenier
aUniversity of Minnesota; bHealth Care Cost Institute
ABSTRACT
There is vigorous debate among scholars, and activists about the role that new market-rate apartments play in alleviating housing affordability issues at the neighborhood level. This study evaluates how new large (>50 units)
market-rate apartment buildings affect rents in nearby buildings. In contrast to other recent work, we posit that the effects of new construction may vary by the quality of existing housing. We test this hypothesis by using a panel of building-level rents from Minneapolis, Minnesota, observed between 2000
and 2018. While we find no effect of new high-end housing on the market overall, we find countervailing effects of new construction on different parts of the rental market when broken out separately. We find that lower-priced rental housing close to new construction had rents 4.4% higher than those in
other low-quality buildings farther away in the first 5 years after new construction. In contrast, we find that new construction had the opposite effect on higher-priced housing: rents were 1.7% lower near new construction. This study reiterates the importance of housing submarket theory and how focusing solely on average effects of housing interventions may miss important and nuanced effects across different parts of the market.
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
This man is from St Simons and is talking about “we.” They couldn’t find anyone within 200 miles to put their name on this
Buddy Carter oped in AJC asking for more ICE agents in Atlanta
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Isaac Chotiner @ichotiner.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
New Interview: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
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Out of Context Simpsons Couch Gags @ooccouchgags.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Happy New Year's!
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Glad to see the last remaining chapter of my dissertation officially out now in *Urban Geography*! 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Race and value in space and time: a critical narrative cartography of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation's Area Descriptions
The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation’s (HOLC) Residential Security maps were created in the late 1930s to capture the ostensible investment risk posed by urban neighborhood characteristics. To generat...
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Rob Kitchin @robkitchin.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Authoritarianism in the digital age by @kylzjarrett.bsky.social, @robkitchin.bsky.social, Jing Hiah and @steelecat717.bsky.social in @dialoguesdigsoc.bsky.social. Intro to special issue with 48 papers on the topic. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Authoritarianism in the digital age - Kylie Jarrett, Rob Kitchin, Jing Hiah, Catherine Knight Steele, 2025
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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
A new study shows rents for low-wage Atlanta tenants are rising *9 times* faster than for wealthy renters. The affordability crisis is everywhere: housing, healthcare, food, electricity, survival itself. And the party that won big on "affordability" last week just turned around and surrendered it.
ajc.com
Study: Rents for low-wage Atlantans rose 9 times faster than for high earners
Rents for suburban workforce housing in the metro Atlanta region increased by almost 20%, while rents for luxury units increased by 2%, a study said.
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Everyone hates Georgia Power so much lol
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Mike Glass @m-r-glass.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Today is the official publication day for CRACKED FOUNDATIONS!! 🏠🥳🎉 For the next month, Penn is offering a discount of 40% off using the code UHA25. Which brings the price down to $20.97. A screaming deal! www.pennpress.org/978151282822...
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Glad to see this new piece on quantification, counter-data, "evidence," and what we call "authoritarian counting" out now in @dialoguesdigsoc.bsky.social with @itspangler.bsky.social, @emtl.bsky.social, and @marxist.af! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Fantastic new historical mapping resource on the FHA's Section 608 multifamily rental housing program from @brentcebul.bsky.social, Mike Glass, and their team. Complete with downloadable data! Incredible work buildinginequality.us
buildinginequality.us
Building Inequality
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Brent Cebul @brentcebul.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Mike Glass and I argue for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social that we’ve tried the #abundance incentive-based approach to housing crises before. But lack of oversight + incentives produced fraud, profiteering, and inflated rents -- and the Trump family fortune. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/add...
phenomenalworld.org
Adding Value | Phenomenal World
Mortgage insurance has traditionally been the method the federal government has used to induce investment in owner-occupied housing. But for multifamily rentals, the history of mortgage-insurance prog...
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Sam Miller @sammillerbb.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
this one
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Leventhal Map & Education Center @bplmaps.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
An update on the future of the Allmaps project: Sadly, on April 17, 2025, we learned that the federal government terminated many NEH grants, including ours. The notification stated that our grant’s termination was “necessary to safeguard the interests of the federal government.”
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Why are all these people named Brian Johnson
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Voters: can you pay 50 cents more in taxes to pay for vegetables for children and agree not to defraud the elderly on their electrical bills Wall Street Guy: OH LIKE THE KILLING FIELDS?!?! LIKE THE KHMER ROUGE?!?!
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jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 25/06/2025
crying, screaming, throwing up
"Hearing that real estate and business leaders in New York City are convening a 2 pm call to discuss The Zohran Situation"
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
he's right and he's right to say it
screenshot of a Facebook post by Corey Robin, which says: "By the way, did you all notice how Zohran made affordability a central issue of his campaign without selling out trans kids or shitting on immigrants? Might be some lessons there. Just a thought."
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
📣 The last article from my dissertation is out! In this piece, coauthor Anne Bonds and I dive deep into the contents of HOLC’s Area Description sheets. 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
HOLC Area Description for neighborhood D5 in Milwaukee, WisconsinHOLC map for Milwaukee, WisconsinHOLC map for Atlanta, Georgia
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
theonion.com/this-war-wil...
This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
The complete eradication of Rafah - a city with a quarter of a million residents - should and will be remembered as a crime against humanity, amongst the worst modern urbicides
Rafah, 5 June 2025. Haaretz
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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
rubber bullets fly by my face. tear gas fills my lungs. a line of federal troops is marching toward me. i fire off an email to my focus group asking what i should do as a baton lands cleanly on my skull.
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Taylor Shelton @jtsphd.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Atlanta is the most surveilled city in the United States. But because the Atlanta Police Department claims that releasing the locations of these 60,000+ cameras will lead to terrorism, we’ve not been able to map their locations... Until now. Read more 👇👇
mappingatlanta.org
City of Cameras
Atlanta is the most surveilled city in the United States. With 124.14 surveillance cameras per 1,000 people, we not only lead the country, we have more than twice as many cameras per capita as 2nd …
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Urban Studies Journal @urbanstudiesjournal.com · 01/06/2025
New research study estimates the incidence of manufactured home parks #evictions across the state of #Florida from 2012 through 2022, accounting for both individual evictions and mass #displacements buff.ly/7tdeQd4
Article information including DOI, title, authors, abstract and keywords.
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Enjoying the “Abundance” book everyone is talking about
Mapping Abundance for a Planetary Future by Candace Fujikane
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Reed DeAngelis @reeddeangelis.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
My new article will be out in the next issue of Journal of Health and Social Behavior. I'll be sure to post it here when it's out. In the meantime, here's a short thread and open-access link to a policy brief (tinyurl.com/yc7zxj98) 🧵 (1/8)
tinyurl.com
Racial Capitalism and Black-White Health Inequities in the United States: The Case of the 2008 Financial Crisis - Reed T. DeAngelis, 2025
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David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
This is mostly about processing some stuff I truly hate about the current political moment, and the extent to which it is unfair to Anthony Santander and Luis Severino is, I would say, both real and incidental to the bigger issue. defector.com/a-dumb-new-w...
defector.com
A Dumb New Way To Think About The Dismantling Of The Federal Government | Defector
At some level, reading some sort of purpose over or onto the ongoing vandalism of the American state is doing a favor to the vandals. Picture a parent holding a screaming toddler on a crowded bus, loo...
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Metro level stats provide an average, but as @jtsphd.bsky.social shows in his work, it is the intra-metro geography here that is key. Institutional investor owned single-family rentals are over 80-90% in some Metro Atlanta neighborhoods atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/02/26/g...
atlantaciviccircle.org
Are state lawmakers warming to a crackdown on Wall Street homeownership?
“There are over 300 metro Atlanta areas where big companies own over 50% of the single-family rental market.”
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Ben Teresa @benfteresa.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
No. If you're interested in the question of market power then regional shares are not relevant because market power is exercised in relatively small geographies where these companies absolutely hold meaningfully large shares of housing...
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Dan Immergluck @danimmergluck.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
New from me on scholarship by @cbswope.bsky.social et al. "As the Trump Administration attempts to eviscerate fair housing...regulations...we need to recognize the persistence and resilience of racial-capitalist exploitation and dispossession, and not view it only as some relic of an earlier era."
dans-newsletter-cfccf2.beehiiv.com
What if the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) Redlining Maps Were Not Actually the Root Cause of So Much Modern Health (and Other) Inequality?
Seeking more complete—but still highly racialized—explanations of urban spatial inequities.
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Dan Immergluck @danimmergluck.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
🧵A much-needed corrective to the “HOLC redlining was the primary/root cause of everything bad” literature that has exploded since the HOLC maps were digitized. A more complicated, but still heavily racialized story. Lots of other private and public discriminatory policies & practices involved.
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Glad to see this piece out! In it, we trace the explosion of HOLC redlining studies in public health research over recent years and propose that scholars widen their focus to include some of the myriad other discriminatory processes that have generated racial health inequities.
Articles About Redlining by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), by Discipline: United States, 2001–2023. Output increases substantially post-2016, especially in the public health literature.Table showing select other racialized processes affecting neighborhoods that scholars could focus on in addition to HOLC "redlining"How and Why Does Redlining Matter for Present-Day Health? Critical Perspectives on Causality, Cartography, and Capitalism

Abstract:
 Recent years have seen an explosion of public health research on associations between historical redlining maps created by a US government agency, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), and present-day outcomes. Yet precisely how and why HOLC’s surveys help us understand the underpinnings of present-day racial inequities remains unclear.

We apply an interdisciplinary perspective to assess the contributions and limitations of this literature, particularly with regard to causal mechanisms and theoretical explanations. While research often frames HOLC redlining as a measure of structural racism that directly shapes present-day outcomes, we look instead to racial capitalism to understand how and why racialized housing policies are implemented.

We argue that the HOLC maps represent symptoms, not causes, of systematic disinvestment in Black communities, that redlining was not produced by the federal government in isolation but was shaped by public‒private collaboration and infused with capitalist logics, and that redlining interacted with many other forms of racialized housing dispossession to shape present-day riskscapes. We conclude by offering conceptual and methodological recommendations for public health researchers, including suggestions for data sources other than HOLC maps.
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Dan Immergluck @danimmergluck.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
. @jtsphd.bsky.social on institutional investors owning a large share of single family rental properties in metro Atlanta. [Why Atlanta? 1) lots of foreclosures back in 2012+; 2) economies of regional scale; and 3) very weak tenant protections.]
gpb.org
Metro Atlanta has highest rate of corporate home ownership, says Georgia State researcher
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff gave updates on an investigation into corporate home ownership rates across Georgia — a practice experts say has made it harder for individuals to buy affordable housing.
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Carolyn Swope @cbswope.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Belatedly introducing a new piece on racial capitalism, redlining, causality, and public health that I was lucky enough to work on with coauthors @snmarkley.bsky.social, Shannon Whittaker, and Amy Hillier! ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/... 1/
ajph.aphapublications.org
How and Why Does Redlining Matter for Present-Day Health? Critical Perspectives on Causality, Cartography, and Capitalism | AJPH | Vol. 115 Issue 5
Recent years have seen an explosion of public health research on associations between historical redlining maps created by a US government agency, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), and present...
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Kyle Walker @kylewalker.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
I won an NSF grant in 2017. It funded public software tools like tidycensus that have been downloaded millions of times, saving people countless hours of work and producing considerable ROI. Behind each canceled grant lies a potential, but unrealized, story like that. www.npr.org/2025/05/02/n...
npr.org
Scientists reel as turmoil roils National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation, a major government funder of basic science research, is being shaken up, with over 1,000 grants already terminated and the White House looking to halve its budget.
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
“Abolish all borders” -Jimmy Buffett
Margaritaville Resort entrance. Sign reads “No passport required”
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
🚨New preprint out!🚨 In this forthcoming chapter, Diana Drogaris and I develop the concept of “data slop” to describe the rise of low-quality, AI-generated planning and property data provided by third-party data brokers. 🔗 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Zoning and Municipal Data Brokers: Toward a Political Economy of Data Slop
A budding crop of proptech entrepreneurs purporting to offer "AI-driven zoning analysis," "model-based algorithms," and "real estate in
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National Zoning Atlas @zoningatlas.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
The HHUUD10 dataset, developed by NZA research director @snmarkley.bsky.social in 2022, reveals that Tesla stores are overrepresented in inner-suburban neighborhoods and underrepresented in urban, exurban, and rural areas (as defined by the dataset). Explore it here: www.arcgis.com/apps/instant...
arcgis.com
Interactive Legend
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Scott Markley @snmarkley.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Pleased to announce that my article with Steve Holloway, "Underestimating Racism? Decoupling Race and Redlining," in the Annals of the American Association of Geographers has received the IPUMS Spatial Research Award. 🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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John Stehlin @jstehlin.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Excited to share new work with Lemir Teron at Howard on highway removal/reconfiguration politics in NY. We examine the variegated role of state government in both hindering and facilitating such projects, increasingly crucial to understand as USDOT abandons the more progressive elements of IIJA/IRA.
tandfonline.com
States of repair: The role(s) of state government in shaping urban highway removal in New York state
Cities across the U.S. are now reconfiguring and/or removing urban highways to enhance quality of life, promote economic development, and address the severe racial and economic disparities and envi...
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