Sal Rodriguez
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Seattle’s ‘social housing’ plan struggles to get off the ground
Two years ago, voters approved Initiative 135, which created the Seattle Social Housing Developer. Supporters of Initiative 135 argued the Seattle Social Housing Developer would be “a new, powerful tool to counter” the city’s housing crisis by empowering a governmental entity to develop and acquire properties for housing. Explained the ...
Blog
Congestion pricing: Bold experiment or a money grab?
Congestion pricing: Bold experiment or a money grab? By Sal Rodriguez | February 6, 2025 Is New York City’s congestion pricing plan a bold experiment or just a money grab? After many years of debate, many thousands of pages of reports and no shortage of lawsuits, New York City on ...
Blog
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan By Sal Rodriguez | January 24, 2025 California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a knack for putting forth “big hairy, audacious goals.” From his vow to end homelessness in San Francisco in 10 years, to deliver single-payer health care in California or ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Los Angeles’ rezoning plan is too little, too late
The Citywide Housing Incentive Program mainly eases regulations in high-density residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors. According to City News Service, “The ordinance is aimed at encouraging developers to build more affordable housing units in exchange for certain breaks on their projects, such as heights and parking regulations.” It provides further ...
Blog
Would sales tax increase make Denver more "affordable"?
Legalizing housing will do more for Denver than a tax hike
Like many cities across the country, Denver has experienced soaring housing prices. While wages in the Denver area have increased 55% over the last decade, the median home sale price has surged 180%. A majority of renters are burdened by high rents eating up 30% or more of their incomes, ...
Blog
Read the latest about overregulation holding up new housing construction
White House rightly calls out onerous local permit hurdles
The post, published by the Biden administration’s Council of Economic Advisers, correctly points out that discretionary permitting processes by their nature throw barriers before housing developments. This can slow or outright deter housing from being built. “With discretionary permitting, the proposal is subject to the approval of a public body, ...
Blog
Free cities in Honduras under attack by left-wing regime
The ruling, issued September 20, caps off a years-long campaign by the Central American country’s leftist President Xiomara Castro to outlaw the ZEDEs. “Justice for the Honduran people means not selling off our territory piecemeal or privatizing our sovereignty,” she wrote on X after the ruling. Since 2013, Honduras has ...
Blog
LA mayor slowly dismantles her successful housing plan
LA mayor slowly dismantles her successful housing plan Sal Rodriguez | August 8, 2024 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continues to walk back her most successful initiative to bring much needed housing on the market. On July 1, Bass issued her third revision to Executive Directive 1, which she notes ...
Blog
Read latest about Seattle's housing woes
Seattle’s revised housing plan is still too restrictive
Harrell describes the plan as “bold” and says it takes a “deliberate and tailored approach – bringing a greater diversity of housing types to every neighborhood, uplifting the voices of neighbors and vulnerable communities, and building a city where teachers, baristas and working families can afford to live.” To its ...
Blog
LA shouldn’t abuse ‘historic’ zones to stop new housing
LA shouldn’t abuse ‘historic’ zones to stop new housing by Sal Rodriguez | May 31, 2024 Land-use restrictions and NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard-ism) come in many forms. One of the more creative is the invoking of “history” as a means of regulating or prohibiting housing some people ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Seattle’s ‘social housing’ plan struggles to get off the ground
Two years ago, voters approved Initiative 135, which created the Seattle Social Housing Developer. Supporters of Initiative 135 argued the Seattle Social Housing Developer would be “a new, powerful tool to counter” the city’s housing crisis by empowering a governmental entity to develop and acquire properties for housing. Explained the ...
Congestion pricing: Bold experiment or a money grab?
Congestion pricing: Bold experiment or a money grab? By Sal Rodriguez | February 6, 2025 Is New York City’s congestion pricing plan a bold experiment or just a money grab? After many years of debate, many thousands of pages of reports and no shortage of lawsuits, New York City on ...
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan By Sal Rodriguez | January 24, 2025 California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a knack for putting forth “big hairy, audacious goals.” From his vow to end homelessness in San Francisco in 10 years, to deliver single-payer health care in California or ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Los Angeles’ rezoning plan is too little, too late
The Citywide Housing Incentive Program mainly eases regulations in high-density residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors. According to City News Service, “The ordinance is aimed at encouraging developers to build more affordable housing units in exchange for certain breaks on their projects, such as heights and parking regulations.” It provides further ...
Would sales tax increase make Denver more "affordable"?
Legalizing housing will do more for Denver than a tax hike
Like many cities across the country, Denver has experienced soaring housing prices. While wages in the Denver area have increased 55% over the last decade, the median home sale price has surged 180%. A majority of renters are burdened by high rents eating up 30% or more of their incomes, ...
Read the latest about overregulation holding up new housing construction
White House rightly calls out onerous local permit hurdles
The post, published by the Biden administration’s Council of Economic Advisers, correctly points out that discretionary permitting processes by their nature throw barriers before housing developments. This can slow or outright deter housing from being built. “With discretionary permitting, the proposal is subject to the approval of a public body, ...
Free cities in Honduras under attack by left-wing regime
The ruling, issued September 20, caps off a years-long campaign by the Central American country’s leftist President Xiomara Castro to outlaw the ZEDEs. “Justice for the Honduran people means not selling off our territory piecemeal or privatizing our sovereignty,” she wrote on X after the ruling. Since 2013, Honduras has ...
LA mayor slowly dismantles her successful housing plan
LA mayor slowly dismantles her successful housing plan Sal Rodriguez | August 8, 2024 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continues to walk back her most successful initiative to bring much needed housing on the market. On July 1, Bass issued her third revision to Executive Directive 1, which she notes ...
Read latest about Seattle's housing woes
Seattle’s revised housing plan is still too restrictive
Harrell describes the plan as “bold” and says it takes a “deliberate and tailored approach – bringing a greater diversity of housing types to every neighborhood, uplifting the voices of neighbors and vulnerable communities, and building a city where teachers, baristas and working families can afford to live.” To its ...
LA shouldn’t abuse ‘historic’ zones to stop new housing
LA shouldn’t abuse ‘historic’ zones to stop new housing by Sal Rodriguez | May 31, 2024 Land-use restrictions and NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard-ism) come in many forms. One of the more creative is the invoking of “history” as a means of regulating or prohibiting housing some people ...
