Greg Shill
@gregshill.com
Professor, Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law • Student of firms, cities & transportation (and Seinfeld) • Papers: ssrn.com/author=887547 • Newsletter: gregshill.substack.com • Co-host of Densely Speaking podcast • gregshill.com
Pinned
Greg Shill
@gregshill.com
· Aug 7
🚨 Transportation for the Abundant Society 🚨
New draft paper (w/ Jonathan Levine) now up.
"Abundance" needs to grapple with transportation beyond megaprojects and institutions beyond zoning. We propose anchoring planning metrics in *access*, not speed of travel. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
New draft paper (w/ Jonathan Levine) now up.
"Abundance" needs to grapple with transportation beyond megaprojects and institutions beyond zoning. We propose anchoring planning metrics in *access*, not speed of travel. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Some interesting taxi experiences in DC in early/mid '00s:
1) One night my housemates and I threw a party and it snowed. Everyone slept over because no cabs. The companies' phones rang off the hook.
2) I once "hailed" a rando to drive me closer to home. No cabs & Metro had stopped. Uber is better.
1) One night my housemates and I threw a party and it snowed. Everyone slept over because no cabs. The companies' phones rang off the hook.
2) I once "hailed" a rando to drive me closer to home. No cabs & Metro had stopped. Uber is better.
Anyone in ATL in the late 90s/early 2000s who waited on a taxi to arrive will understand the productivity benefits, even if tangentially related, that ride share and Waymo have provided. Had a friend who would call a wrecker instead of a taxi b/c it was faster, cheaper, and you had your car in AM. 😂
November 26, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Some interesting taxi experiences in DC in early/mid '00s:
1) One night my housemates and I threw a party and it snowed. Everyone slept over because no cabs. The companies' phones rang off the hook.
2) I once "hailed" a rando to drive me closer to home. No cabs & Metro had stopped. Uber is better.
1) One night my housemates and I threw a party and it snowed. Everyone slept over because no cabs. The companies' phones rang off the hook.
2) I once "hailed" a rando to drive me closer to home. No cabs & Metro had stopped. Uber is better.
Reposted by Greg Shill
Road trip!
I just called one of those “how’s my driving” phone numbers. Told them that their driver seemed to be doing a good job.
I just called one of those “how’s my driving” phone numbers. Told them that their driver seemed to be doing a good job.
November 26, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Road trip!
I just called one of those “how’s my driving” phone numbers. Told them that their driver seemed to be doing a good job.
I just called one of those “how’s my driving” phone numbers. Told them that their driver seemed to be doing a good job.
Reposted by Greg Shill
This isn't a foreign psy-op, and it's not the product of social media bots. It's a homegrown menace, and it's getting worse. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
November 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
This isn't a foreign psy-op, and it's not the product of social media bots. It's a homegrown menace, and it's getting worse. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
My hottest take is that O'Hare is good, actually
(the most domestic flights and #5 for international, good food, hub for two legacy carriers, well-connected to city center by transit)
www.chicagobusiness.com/airlines-air...
(the most domestic flights and #5 for international, good food, hub for two legacy carriers, well-connected to city center by transit)
www.chicagobusiness.com/airlines-air...
O'Hare clears a big hurdle as traffic tops pre-COVID levels — and heads to a record
O’Hare has finally surpassed its pre-COVID passenger numbers, marking a major milestone in the airport’s recovery and putting it on pace for a record year.
www.chicagobusiness.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
My hottest take is that O'Hare is good, actually
(the most domestic flights and #5 for international, good food, hub for two legacy carriers, well-connected to city center by transit)
www.chicagobusiness.com/airlines-air...
(the most domestic flights and #5 for international, good food, hub for two legacy carriers, well-connected to city center by transit)
www.chicagobusiness.com/airlines-air...
Reposted by Greg Shill
They would… just leave.
If the state of Delaware prohibited companies incorporated there from spending on elections in any way, Citizens United would be dead in the water.
Delaware incorporates more companies than any other state.
It’s a blue state. Let’s get cracking on moving Delaware lawmakers on this!
Delaware incorporates more companies than any other state.
It’s a blue state. Let’s get cracking on moving Delaware lawmakers on this!
November 26, 2025 at 2:17 PM
They would… just leave.
Bring back the silver oar!
ALL HANDS ON DECK. The Fifth Circuit has issued another maritime pun.
November 25, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Bring back the silver oar!
Reposted by Greg Shill
tax bill of this vacant lot in downtown Chicago
2023: $292,593.15
2024: $70,386.00
change: $222,207.15 decrease is a 76% drop
the property owner lost every recent appeal at the Board of Review (the last one was 2020) so this is likely because property values have dropped a lot
2023: $292,593.15
2024: $70,386.00
change: $222,207.15 decrease is a 76% drop
the property owner lost every recent appeal at the Board of Review (the last one was 2020) so this is likely because property values have dropped a lot
November 25, 2025 at 8:20 PM
tax bill of this vacant lot in downtown Chicago
2023: $292,593.15
2024: $70,386.00
change: $222,207.15 decrease is a 76% drop
the property owner lost every recent appeal at the Board of Review (the last one was 2020) so this is likely because property values have dropped a lot
2023: $292,593.15
2024: $70,386.00
change: $222,207.15 decrease is a 76% drop
the property owner lost every recent appeal at the Board of Review (the last one was 2020) so this is likely because property values have dropped a lot
As everyday advice, “listen to mom”—take care of yourself, get enough sleep—continues to be undefeated.
University students who were provided with a free gym card (in a randomized experiment) exercised more and had a significant improvement in academic performance. The treated students were also less likely to drop out of classes
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 24, 2025 at 9:52 PM
As everyday advice, “listen to mom”—take care of yourself, get enough sleep—continues to be undefeated.
Love this.
Walter Payton uses a paper transfer to ride public transit on the 1979 RTA commercial.
November 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Love this.
Menswear Guy on an algorithm that increases the trade deficit.
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Menswear Guy on an algorithm that increases the trade deficit.
Each week, a game of “what basic foodstuff can’t I get at the grocery store now because the president had a fresh tantrum.”
This week, pasta.
This week, pasta.
November 21, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Each week, a game of “what basic foodstuff can’t I get at the grocery store now because the president had a fresh tantrum.”
This week, pasta.
This week, pasta.
Very cool project:
“The Roman Empire’s road system was critical for structuring the movement of people, goods & ideas [yet] remains incompletely mapped… We present Itiner-e, the most detailed and comprehensive open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“The Roman Empire’s road system was critical for structuring the movement of people, goods & ideas [yet] remains incompletely mapped… We present Itiner-e, the most detailed and comprehensive open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Itiner-e: A high-resolution dataset of roads of the Roman Empire - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - Itiner-e: A high-resolution dataset of roads of the Roman Empire
www.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Very cool project:
“The Roman Empire’s road system was critical for structuring the movement of people, goods & ideas [yet] remains incompletely mapped… We present Itiner-e, the most detailed and comprehensive open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“The Roman Empire’s road system was critical for structuring the movement of people, goods & ideas [yet] remains incompletely mapped… We present Itiner-e, the most detailed and comprehensive open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Orwell said it better.
November 19, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Orwell said it better.
Reposted by Greg Shill
There's discourse about remedial math at UCSD and I will reiterate that in education, it is expensive to have and enforce standards while it is very cheap to have no standards. There are orders of magnitude more work involved to give a student a D than to give that person an A.
November 19, 2025 at 5:59 PM
There's discourse about remedial math at UCSD and I will reiterate that in education, it is expensive to have and enforce standards while it is very cheap to have no standards. There are orders of magnitude more work involved to give a student a D than to give that person an A.
This looks amazing. Grateful as always for libraries (where I just requested a copy via interlibrary loan).
The City and the Railway in the World, is the first book to give us a good English description of Japanese Private railway development in English since Cervero's classic. I recommend it.
www.routledge.com/The-City-and...
www.routledge.com/The-City-and...
The City and the Railway in the World from the Nineteenth Century to the Present
This volume explores the relationship between cities and railways over three centuries. Despite their nearly 200-year existence, The City and the Railway in the World shows that urban railways are sti...
www.routledge.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
This looks amazing. Grateful as always for libraries (where I just requested a copy via interlibrary loan).
A post I wrote a few months ago on what it means for urban policy that housing is largely homothetic (inspired by an @arpitrage.bsky.social tweet, which became the Substack preview of the post): gregshill.substack.com/p/mistaking-...
November 19, 2025 at 5:43 PM
A post I wrote a few months ago on what it means for urban policy that housing is largely homothetic (inspired by an @arpitrage.bsky.social tweet, which became the Substack preview of the post): gregshill.substack.com/p/mistaking-...
Free buses can make a lot of sense in areas where system revenue isn’t especially fare sensitive but riders are.
"The transit system is one of the greatest tools communities have to combat climate change and reduce emissions. “You can make a pretty immediate impact.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Free buses can make a lot of sense in areas where system revenue isn’t especially fare sensitive but riders are.
Getting a lot of questions about my “principled leftism” armband already answered by my armband
Jimmy Dore supports Candace Owens saying America is a "Zionist Occupied Government" and "ZOG".
Jimmy Dore: "You know why? Because our government is occupied by Zionists. That's not antisemitic. That's anti-Zionist. Those are two totally different things."
Jimmy Dore: "You know why? Because our government is occupied by Zionists. That's not antisemitic. That's anti-Zionist. Those are two totally different things."
November 19, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Getting a lot of questions about my “principled leftism” armband already answered by my armband
Not going to link to the threads—it's a common take, and I'm not interested in singling out any one person voicing it—but:
Why do folks who follow tech keep assuming that Google is cannibalizing its search revenue with Gemini?
Alphabet keeps reporting that search revenue keeps climbing:
Why do folks who follow tech keep assuming that Google is cannibalizing its search revenue with Gemini?
Alphabet keeps reporting that search revenue keeps climbing:
November 18, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Not going to link to the threads—it's a common take, and I'm not interested in singling out any one person voicing it—but:
Why do folks who follow tech keep assuming that Google is cannibalizing its search revenue with Gemini?
Alphabet keeps reporting that search revenue keeps climbing:
Why do folks who follow tech keep assuming that Google is cannibalizing its search revenue with Gemini?
Alphabet keeps reporting that search revenue keeps climbing:
I'm not sure I can justify allocating time to 14a-8 in my business associations class. I've always gone deep, eg, assigning corp fin memos SLB I, L & M. But even before this latest change, proposals just didn't seem to earn their place among shareholder tools. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news...
The SEC Opposes Shareholder Proposals
Also the Fannie/Freddie trade, the least rational investors, meme-stock numbers and Birkin warehouse receipts.
www.bloomberg.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I'm not sure I can justify allocating time to 14a-8 in my business associations class. I've always gone deep, eg, assigning corp fin memos SLB I, L & M. But even before this latest change, proposals just didn't seem to earn their place among shareholder tools. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news...
The CHI mayor's guide to taxes
Step 1: promise no further residential property tax hikes (the recent hike was precipitated by the drop in commercial values due to WFH)
Step 2: impose a head tax on the companies that rent the highest-value commercial property (lowering values further)
Step 3: ?
Step 1: promise no further residential property tax hikes (the recent hike was precipitated by the drop in commercial values due to WFH)
Step 2: impose a head tax on the companies that rent the highest-value commercial property (lowering values further)
Step 3: ?
November 18, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The CHI mayor's guide to taxes
Step 1: promise no further residential property tax hikes (the recent hike was precipitated by the drop in commercial values due to WFH)
Step 2: impose a head tax on the companies that rent the highest-value commercial property (lowering values further)
Step 3: ?
Step 1: promise no further residential property tax hikes (the recent hike was precipitated by the drop in commercial values due to WFH)
Step 2: impose a head tax on the companies that rent the highest-value commercial property (lowering values further)
Step 3: ?
Reposted by Greg Shill
"You can't understand a city without using its public transportation system"
November 18, 2025 at 1:32 AM
"You can't understand a city without using its public transportation system"
Bring a Trailer, but for houses
Zillow should have a comment section imho
November 17, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Bring a Trailer, but for houses
The NYT ran a WSJ-style article, a story told by the comments section. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/b...
They Rushed to Buy Homes During the Pandemic. Now, Some Feel Trapped.
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:20 PM
The NYT ran a WSJ-style article, a story told by the comments section. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/b...