[ECON W4228] Urban Economics

I loved the class. Urban economics, at its best, is engaging, clear, useful, interesting, insightful. The subject matter of this class fit the bill--taking about the economics of crime, race, housing, etc.

Unfortunately, O'Flaherty is simply not a good lecturer. He'd say very interesting things, but he would say it in such a way that no one would be interested. He'd mumble toward the end of every sentence and you couldn't catch what he was saying. I recommend sitting in the front row, although very few people did. He'd make jokes, but few people would laugh, although they would be very funny if he had a decent delivery.

The textbook was good--O'Flaherty wrote it himself, and it's pretty much what you hear in lecture. I'd say you could do one of the two: read the book, or strain to listen to what he's saying and take copious notes. What wasn't good was the questions in the book for the problem sets--they usually had no real answer and/or didn't relate very well to the corresponding chapter. For example, there would be questions at the end of the chapter involving math formulas, when no formulas were given and no math was discussed in the chapter.

The T.A. was a character in himself--trying to steal the show, but he often didn't know what he was talking about. But since he did the grading, it was very useful to have him know your name, and in a positive way.

As for me, for what it's worth, I went to class & listened, didn't read much of the book, didn't do the optional 15-page paper, but still got an A. The grading may be convulted but don't worry. A key was probably constant communication; have an email dialogue going with a professor and you'll likely get the A. Enjoy the class, and good luck.

Dan is great. He tackles difficult real world economic problems and doesn't shy away from exposing the contradictions inherent in the material. He is a great lecturer, and knows his stuff cold. The text for the course, which he wrote, is extrememly helpful and funny at times. Chapter 16 begins, "No one has even been raped by a tree, assaulted by a mushroom or robbed by a sheep." You'll leave this class enlightened about important issues like crime, education and the housing market. Definitely a must take in the otherwise boring Economics department at Columbia.

I'm SO surprised that a bunch of 'economics' majors didn't enjoy Flaherty's class. If all you're interested in is working for Goldman, don't read this review.

For those of you that actually are interested in economics, this class is interesting but with faults. Urban economics is a discipline that's very different from most economic fields; it focuses on the economics of personal incentives, and attempts to build small scale models about interactions inside a city, such as traffic ongestion, land prices, crime, etc. It's an intersting approach to a lot of topics that you will not find anywhere else, and a break from highly developed models in other courses, like macro.
Flaherty himself is entertaining, but can often descend into trivialities that make lectures semi-painful. The textbook is horribly unconcise, written by Flaherty himself, and he needs to learn how to consolidate his thoughts. But his openness creates genuine class discussion even in a lecture, and at no point does he attempt to declare orthodoxy or force truths onto you.

If you have even a mild amount of intellectual curiosity, you will enjoy this and it's not a difficult course.

If you're looking for anything related to economics (or anything containing logic, or thought) then this class is the BIGGEST WASTE OF YOUR TIME. a dash of polisci, a bit of psych, a crapload of unimportant data... and if you try to escape from the deathly boring lectures, there's a surpirse in store: the text is o'flaherty's own ridiculous unfinished work, which is as bumbling and ignorant as lecture. and what kind of class allows you to "make up" any answer to the homework? what is this, second grade? spare me.

I have skipped more of this man's classes than any other professor at Columbia, and the ones Ido attend, i usually need a crossword puzzle or two to keep me conscious. However, If you wanna learn how many cars can fit thru the lincoln tunnel during rush hour, this is the class for you. Other than that, there are a few interesting topics, but mostly obscure ones. Corny sense of humor, enjoys his own jokes, so just humor him.

Not the most profound of lecturers but he knows his shit down cold. If you're interested in what he's teaching, then you'll like the job he does teaching it. He won't inspire you in the least, but he won't ruin things for you either.