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'''Wendell Cox''' is an American urban policy analyst and proponent of the use of the private car over rail projects. He is the principal and sole owner of Wendell Cox Consultancy/Demographia, based in the [[St. Louis]] metropolitan region and editor of three web sites, ''Demographia'', ''The Public Purpose'' and ''Urban Tours by Rental Car''. Cox is a fellow of numerous [[Republican Party (United States)|conservative]] [[think tank]]s and a frequent op-ed commenter in conservative US and UK newspapers.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Cox generally opposes planning policies aimed at increasing rail service and density, while favoring planning policies that reinforce and serve the existing transportation and building infrastructure. He believes that existing transportation and building infrastructure reflect what people prefer, while his opponents argue that his positions are based more on a belief that road transport and low density are inherently superior and that public transport is a component of liberal city models he disagrees with politically. {{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

==Biography==
Cox was appointed to three terms on the [[Los Angeles County]] Transportation Commission by Mayor [[Tom Bradley (American politician)|Tom Bradley]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-06-30-0006300211-story.html|title=COMPLETED SUBWAY IS NO MATCH FOR L.A.'S SPRAWL, AUTO CULTURE|first=V. Dion Haynes, Tribune Staff|last=Writer|website=chicagotribune.com}}</ref> and during his 1977 to 1985 service, he was the only member of the Commission who was not an elected official. His amendment to the 1980 Proposition A transit tax measure provided all of the local funding for Los Angeles urban rail projects, including the Blue Line light rail and the Red Line subway. Additional local funding was not obtained until a later 1990 referendum. Nonetheless, he often opposes urban rail systems because he claims that they have not reduced traffic congestion, which he claims is the principal justification that has been used for their construction.

He was appointed by former House Speaker [[Newt Gingrich]] to fill the unexpired term of former New Jersey governor [[Christine Todd Whitman]] on the Amtrak Reform Council and served from 1999 until the Council issued its final recommendations in 2002. He is vice president of CODATU, an international organization dedicated to improving urban transport in developing world urban areas.[http://www.codatu.org/ CODATU: Agir pour une mobilité soutenable dans les villes en développement | CODATU est une association de droit français qui anime un réseau international d'expertise sur les transports et la mobilité dans les villes des pays en développement] He was also a member of the steering committee of the International Conference on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport, which held its 10th conference in [[Australia]] in 2007.

Cox is a visiting fellow at [[The Heritage Foundation]], a senior fellow at the [[Heartland Institute]], senior fellow for urban policy at the [[Independence Institute]] (Denver) and holds similar titles in a number of additional conservative [[think tank]]s.

He has an MBA from [[Pepperdine University]] and a BA in Government from [[California State University, Los Angeles]].

==Urban planning==
Cox has also emerged as an opponent of [[smart growth]], especially urban growth boundaries, impact fees, and large lot zoning, claiming they have a tendency to raise housing prices artificially and suppress economic growth.

He has authored studies<ref>[http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/15745816.htm] ''[[Miami Herald]]'' Retrieved November 24, 2006.</ref> for [[conservative]] think tanks such as the [[Cato Institute]], [[Heartland Institute]], [[The Heritage Foundation]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100322150057/http://www.heritage.org/about/staff/c/wendell-cox Wendell Cox : All publications by Wendell Cox]</ref> and the [[Reason Foundation]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reason.org/author/wendell-cox/|title=Policy Study Authors – Wendell Cox|access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref> and for industry groups such as the [[American Highway Users Alliance]], a [[lobbying]] and [[advocacy]] group for automobile-based industries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cfte.org/advocacy|title=Advocacy|publisher=CFTE – Center for Transportation Excellence|access-date=January 16, 2018|archive-date=January 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116135752/https://www.cfte.org/advocacy|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He has also criticized land use policies in the [[Portland, Oregon]] area, noting that the area expanded its [[urban growth boundary]] to its intended 2040 area 38 years early due to political pressure and that housing prices have escalated substantially relative to incomes.

Cox's consultancy firm Demographia publishes the 'Demographia International Housing Affordability Ratings' and Rankings early each year.<ref name=demographiaix>[http://www.demographia.com/dhi-ix.htm Demographia: International Housing Affordabilty: 2010 Issue] Retrieved January 16, 2018.</ref> The survey has been criticised because it focuses on only price and income, without reference to financing, and for making a number of assumptions some critics claim to be unfounded.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10554387&pnum=2|author=Chris Barton|title=Home truths: Buying a home in New Zealand|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=February 2, 2009|access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref> Demographia indicates that its measure, the Median Multiple (median house price divided by median household income) has been recommended by the United Nations and the World Bank.<ref name=demographiaix/> This indicates a continuing issue in housing affordability debates, whether to focus on more permanent structural factors (such as price and income) or whether to include more volatile factors, such as financing costs.

Demographia is also publisher of the a comprehensive listing of urban area (agglomeration) population and densities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf|title=Demographia World Urban Areas|edition=13th Annual|date=April 2017|access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref> The 6th edition published in 2010 includes all agglomerations with 500,000 or more population.

==Urban transport==
Cox believes that the goal of public transportation systems should be to provide mobility to those who do not have access to a car, and not to reduce traffic congestion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heritage.org/report/the-contribution-highways-and-transit-congestion-relief-arealistic-view|author=Wendell Cox|author2=Randal O'Toole|title=The Contribution of Highways and Transit to Congestion Relief: A Realistic View|date=January 27, 2004|access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref> As such he believes that agencies should seek to obtain maximum value for every dollar of taxes and fees expended, using whatever transportation choices maximize ridership. He believes that competitive approaches (principally competitive contracting and competitive tendering) are most effective in this regard.

Cox's transport site "The Public Purpose" claims it is not opposed to urban rail, but many of Cox's opponents strongly disagree. It instead argues that it is opposed to waste. The site claims that it would cost less to lease every new light-rail rider a luxury car than to build light-rail projects themselves{{citation needed|date=January 2010}}; this has entered the planning lexicon as the "[[Jaguar (car)|Jaguar]] Argument."{{citation needed|date=January 2010}} He has suggested a correlation between personal mobility and income. He says public transportation does a "good job of getting people downtown and serving the low-income poor moving around the core, but it can't do any more than that." In response, representatives of the [[Sierra Club]] have called Wendell Cox an "itinerant anti-public transportation gun-for-hire."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://citybeat.com/2003-11-12/news.shtml|title=Preserving the American Dream' conference hits Cincinnati|author=Stephanie Dunlap|website=CityBeat|place=Cincinnati|date=November 12, 2003|access-date=June 20, 2007|archive-date=August 6, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806042049/http://citybeat.com/2003-11-12/news.shtml}}</ref>

His more recent transport activities oppose the claim that road congestion reduction is obtained from improving urban mass transit. Among other things, he claims his aim is to improve urban mobility through performance programs that obtain the greatest reduction in travel-delay hours for the public funding available.{{citation needed|date=June 2007}} Cox claims to be "'pro-choice' with respect to [[urban development]]," and asserts that "people should be allowed to live and work where they like," consistent with the Lone Mountain Compact, of which he was a signatory.{{citation needed|date=January 2010}}

==Professional activities==
Cox has completed projects and made presentations in the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Western Europe]], [[Australia]], and [[New Zealand]]. He has served as a visiting professor at the [[Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers]] in Paris, France. He has lectured in numerous locations, such as the [[University of Sydney]], the [[University of Toronto]], the [[University of Paris]] and the [[Institute of Economic Affairs]] ([[London]]). He participated in a debate on land use and transport with Oregon Congressman [[Earl Blumenauer]] at a national [[RailVolution]] conference in 2001, and debated [[Andres Duany]] on land use policy at the first American Dream Conference in 2002.

His commentaries have appeared in numerous publications, such as the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' (London), the ''[[National Post]]'' (Canada),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://financialpost.com/personal-finance/mortgages-real-estate/vancouver-ranked-third-most-unaffordable-housing-market-in-world-worse-than-new-york-and-london|title=Vancouver ranks third most unaffordable housing market in study, worse than New York and London | National Post|first=Mortgages & Real|last=Estate|date=January 25, 2016}}</ref> the ''[[Washington Post]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2002/12/26/mass-chaos-on-mass-transit/0c58cd2a-9e6e-4085-9a1f-2bc6dc203db0/|title=Mass Chaos on Mass Transit|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-florida-shed-its-8216smart-growth8217-dunce-hathow-florida-shed-its-8216smart-growth8217-dunce-hat-1382128511|title=Wendell Cox: Florida Sheds Its 'Smart Growth' Dunce Hat|first=Wendell|last=Cox|date=October 18, 2013|via=www.wsj.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323949404578314741758153624|title=The Texas Growth Machine|first=Wendell|last=Cox|date=February 20, 2013|via=www.wsj.com}}</ref> the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-23-me-41916-story.html|title=The People's Problem Isn't Rail vs. Buses : Transit: Taxpayers voted for both; what they got was the MTA placing the interests of its employees ahead of the public's.|date=September 23, 1994|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> the ''[[Washington Times]]'',<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/28/cox-hello-smart-growth-goodbye-affordable-housing/|title=COX: Hello smart growth, goodbye affordable housing|newspaper=The Washington Times}}</ref> ''[[La Stampa]]'' (Turin) and the ''[[Australian Financial Review]]''.

The ''[[National Journal]]'' twice honored his Public Purpose website as "one of the Internet's best transport sites".

Cox's consultancy has worked for bus companies<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_00014.htm|work=[[Texas Observer]]|date=March 2, 2001|title=Wendell Cox, Reason Institute Blow "Impartiality" Cover|access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref> as well as for President [[George W. Bush]]'s transition team.<ref>Transfer Extra 2001/01/05 Vol. 7 (1).</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.demographia.com/dwc-sketch.htm Profile at Demographia]
*{{C-SPAN|92030}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Wendell}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American urban planners]]
[[Category:Light rail in the United States]]
[[Category:The Heritage Foundation]]
[[Category:Transportation planning]]

Wendell Cox - Revision history

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