Joel Kotkin
American writer on cities and demography; Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University. Executive editor of NewGeography.com until it closed at the end of 2025; author of The Human City (2016) and The Coming of Neo-Feudalism (2020); argues for suburbs and dispersed growth.
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What they believe
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Artisans may provide a window into an emerging future.
At a time when many Europeans decry America's mass consumption culture, the artisans of Amelia - stone masons, farming entrepreneurs, construction specialists - may provide a surprising window to an emerging future.
jkotkin.substack.comSaid 21 Oct 2026This on korrents
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The decline of certain Los Angeles neighborhoods is caused by the incompetence of large governments rather than the people living in them.
The problem is not the people of the neighborhoods, but rather the incompetence of our large governments.
jkotkin.substack.comSaid 19 Oct 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 19 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Artisans may provide a window into an emerging future.
At a time when many Europeans decry America's mass consumption culture, the artisans of Amelia - stone masons, farming entrepreneurs, construction specialists - may provide a surprising window to an emerging future.
Joel's Articles Said 21 Oct 2026
The artisanal economy fits with a rebellion against capitalism's machine-driven sameness.
Yet viewed in a wider lens, this artisanal economy fits well with a rebellion directed against capitalism that produces the machine-driven sameness that could be amplified by the rise of Artificial Intelligence.
Joel's Articles Said 21 Oct 2026
The current economy has not created an economy which retains a more human character.
Even as the current economy creates unprecedented wealth, it has not created an economy which retains a more human character.
Joel's Articles Said 21 Oct 2026
Show 16 more
The decline of certain Los Angeles neighborhoods is caused by the incompetence of large governments rather than the people living in them.
The problem is not the people of the neighborhoods, but rather the incompetence of our large governments.
Joel's Articles Said 19 Oct 2026
Focusing on basics and developing a sense of community is more effective than emphasizing partisan politics.
Focusing on basics, and on developing a sense of community, is far more effective than emphasizing partisan politics.
Joel's Articles Said 19 Oct 2026
Elite tech companies are far more powerful than Trump or any state apart from China.
These elite tech companies are far more powerful than Trump or any state apart from China.
Joel's Articles Said 12 Oct 2026
The current era is characterized by a shift in geopolitical influence from governments to a few elite tech firms.
Our era is marked by a shift in geopolitical influence from governments towards a handful of elite tech firms which, as National Affairs notes, constitute 'new superpowers' on the global stage.
Joel's Articles Said 12 Oct 2026
When the AI stock bubble bursts, established big players are most likely to remain at the top due to guaranteed income streams.
When the stock bubble inevitably bursts, the established big players, with their already guaranteed income streams, are most likely to stay at the top.
Joel's Articles Said 12 Oct 2026
The movement of companies and people is shifting toward business-friendly regions in the suburbs and exurbs.
Today's big shift is the movement of companies and people to business-friendly regions in the suburbs and exurbs.
Joel's Articles Said 30 Sept 2026
Technology is enabling worker dispersion and may reduce the necessity of dense urban centers.
However, technology such as remote work, video conferencing, and instantaneous communication is enabling worker dispersion, bearing out Frank Lloyd Wright's prediction that in the future "the city should be everywhere and nowhere."
Joel's Articles Said 30 Sept 2026
Migration patterns out of dense, blue states are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile it seems likely that migration patterns out of the dense, blue states will continue for the foreseeable future.
Joel's Articles Said 30 Sept 2026
The demographic implosion will shape political and economic life for decades.
Rather than bursting at the seams, we are experiencing a demographic implosion that will shape our political and economic life for decades to come.
Joel's Articles Said 23 Sept 2026
Low fertility rates may increase dependence on the welfare state as informal social networks weaken.
Low fertility rates may boost dependence on the welfare state, particularly as informal networks - children, grandchildren, extended families, churches, and community organizations - weaken.
Joel's Articles Said 23 Sept 2026
Raising the retirement age could reduce the need for mass migration and fill market niches.
Changes such as raising the retirement age could encourage people to work longer, reducing the need for mass migration and filling critical market niches.
Joel's Articles Said 23 Sept 2026
The DSA's program of massive public housing, mass transit, and a 32-hour work week would consume nearly the entire US GDP.
Even if a politician like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez captures the White House, Congress may be reluctant to raise the trillions needed to finance the DSA program of massive new public housing, more mass transit and a 32-hour working week with no reductions in pay. This would not merely be a repeat of Europe's bloated welfare states but would eat up virtually the whole of the United States's GDP.
Joel's Articles Said 11 Sept 2026
Urban socialists will be unable to afford their promises to core constituencies without funding from Washington.
Unless paid for by Washington, it is clear that urban socialists will not be able to afford the promises made to their core constituencies - poor recent immigrants and the mass of underpaid, overeducated professionals.
Joel's Articles Said 11 Sept 2026
The shared perspectives of Los Angeles's mayoral candidates will ensure the city's continued decline.
Whoever wins in the LA mayor's race - incumbent Bass or challenger Raman - their shared perspective assures the city's decline will remain inexorable.
Joel's Articles Said 11 Sept 2026
The success of certain South L.A. communities is driven by good governance that focuses on local concerns like parks and urban space.
The common denominator that sets these communities apart from the city is good governance that starts by paying attention to little things that locals care about - like parks, urban space, and landscaping, even subsidizing flower beds and white picket fences.
Joel's Articles Said 9 Sept 2026
The success of independent cities in South L.A. provides a counterpoint to the views of influential urban activists.
The success of South L.A.'s independent cities - and similar communities across the country - offers a counterpoint to influential urban activists who draw their views from academic thinkers and regional political as well as business elites.
Joel's Articles Said 9 Sept 2026
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Where they publish
Newsletter jkotkin.substack.com Columns on cities, suburbs, class, California and demographic change
Link verified 24 Oct 2026.
x.com @joelkotkin Posts and links to his columns
Link verified 24 Oct 2026.
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