Housing
Blog
Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Portland overrules bureaucrats and streamlines permitting
Back in March 2021, city auditors issued a blunt assessment of the city’s permitting system. “Getting a building permit in Portland can be a frustratingly slow process,” the auditors concluded, noting the city had for years missed its own timeliness goals. “Delays can affect the economy and motivate property owners ...
Blog
Read about latest housing roadblocks
New Report Latest Evidence of How Red Tape Blocks SF Homebuilding
A report released in October by the California Department of Housing and Community Development makes one wonder why anyone would even try to build housing in San Francisco, which “has the longest timelines in the state for advancing a housing project from submittal to construction.” “It takes an average of ...
Blog
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Modern take on ‘flophouses’ could ease homeless problem
Let’s first look at the current situation. This year’s approved budget for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in Washington is $253.3 million. San Francisco spends at least $1.4 billion a year on the problem. Yet that money doesn’t seem to be making a measurable dent in the problem. We ...
Blog
Free Market Reforms Can Alleviate the Housing Crisis
Cities: Let developers turn zombie malls into bustling housing
For commercial property owners and businesses, it can be a smart way to make better and more optimal use of antiquated properties. And for city leaders, it can be a way of revitalizing neighborhoods while bringing much needed housing online with less NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) backlash than normal. ...
Blog
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Why do politicians hate planned communities?
Planned communities simply are centrally planned, residential communities that are built from scratch and filled with amenities designed specifically for residents. They are usually built by private developers – and tend to be less costly to build than multi-family properties within the urban footprint. Many feature significant amounts of infrastructure ...
Blog
Read latest on state's housing crisis
‘Inclusionary zoning’ will only exacerbate the housing crisis
San Francisco’s inclusionary zoning laws require that when proposing residential developments of 10 or more units, developers must take at least one from a handful of actions to create housing for lower-income families, including setting aside a percentage of units to be sold or rented at below market rate (either ...
California
Read latest homelessness op-ed in CalMatters
Something is clearly off with California’s homelessness spending
California put aside $7.2 billion to address homelessness in the 2021-22 state budget. Last year, there were an estimated 172,000 homeless statewide, which equates to spending nearly $42,000 per homeless person. Spending of this magnitude – which only accounts for state money – is sufficient if it were applied effectively. The worsening ...
Blog
Learn About "15-Minute" Cities
Trendy ‘15-minute cities’ get their 15 minutes of fame
But that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily as charming and practical as their devotees portray them to be. “A 15-minute city,” explains the National League of Cities, “enables residents to access most daily amenities within a 15- to 20-minute walk, bike or other mode of transportation from any point in a ...
California
California Democrats want taxpayer funded housing for all
Should Housing Be a Constitutional Right? One State Might Make It So
One of the obvious problems created when health care is declared a right is the instant increase in demand for services that could not possibly be met. The same would happen if housing is identified as a right, a step that California is considering. “Establishing a right to health care ...
Blog
Read about CA's war on suburbs
To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs
The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Portland overrules bureaucrats and streamlines permitting
Back in March 2021, city auditors issued a blunt assessment of the city’s permitting system. “Getting a building permit in Portland can be a frustratingly slow process,” the auditors concluded, noting the city had for years missed its own timeliness goals. “Delays can affect the economy and motivate property owners ...
Read about latest housing roadblocks
New Report Latest Evidence of How Red Tape Blocks SF Homebuilding
A report released in October by the California Department of Housing and Community Development makes one wonder why anyone would even try to build housing in San Francisco, which “has the longest timelines in the state for advancing a housing project from submittal to construction.” “It takes an average of ...
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Modern take on ‘flophouses’ could ease homeless problem
Let’s first look at the current situation. This year’s approved budget for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in Washington is $253.3 million. San Francisco spends at least $1.4 billion a year on the problem. Yet that money doesn’t seem to be making a measurable dent in the problem. We ...
Free Market Reforms Can Alleviate the Housing Crisis
Cities: Let developers turn zombie malls into bustling housing
For commercial property owners and businesses, it can be a smart way to make better and more optimal use of antiquated properties. And for city leaders, it can be a way of revitalizing neighborhoods while bringing much needed housing online with less NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) backlash than normal. ...
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Why do politicians hate planned communities?
Planned communities simply are centrally planned, residential communities that are built from scratch and filled with amenities designed specifically for residents. They are usually built by private developers – and tend to be less costly to build than multi-family properties within the urban footprint. Many feature significant amounts of infrastructure ...
Read latest on state's housing crisis
‘Inclusionary zoning’ will only exacerbate the housing crisis
San Francisco’s inclusionary zoning laws require that when proposing residential developments of 10 or more units, developers must take at least one from a handful of actions to create housing for lower-income families, including setting aside a percentage of units to be sold or rented at below market rate (either ...
Read latest homelessness op-ed in CalMatters
Something is clearly off with California’s homelessness spending
California put aside $7.2 billion to address homelessness in the 2021-22 state budget. Last year, there were an estimated 172,000 homeless statewide, which equates to spending nearly $42,000 per homeless person. Spending of this magnitude – which only accounts for state money – is sufficient if it were applied effectively. The worsening ...
Learn About "15-Minute" Cities
Trendy ‘15-minute cities’ get their 15 minutes of fame
But that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily as charming and practical as their devotees portray them to be. “A 15-minute city,” explains the National League of Cities, “enables residents to access most daily amenities within a 15- to 20-minute walk, bike or other mode of transportation from any point in a ...
California Democrats want taxpayer funded housing for all
Should Housing Be a Constitutional Right? One State Might Make It So
One of the obvious problems created when health care is declared a right is the instant increase in demand for services that could not possibly be met. The same would happen if housing is identified as a right, a step that California is considering. “Establishing a right to health care ...
Read about CA's war on suburbs
To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs
The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
