Free Cities
Free Cities
Congestion in 2025: US cities fare well by international standards
Congestion in 2025: US cities fare well by international standards When measured by the amount of hours each commuter wastes in traffic per year, Lima, Peru, was the most congested city in the world in 2025, according to TomTom’s traffic index ranking. This was followed by Dublin, Ireland; Mexico City; and ...
Blog
California’s urban-mobility plan: more of what’s not working
A glaring example of such obtuseness is the report recently issued by the California State Transportation Agency’s Transit Transformation Task Force. Established by “the transit recovery package signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of the 2023-24 state budget,” the panel’s mission was to make “recommendations to grow transit ridership, ...
Blog
Deficits may save cities from democratic socialist pipedreams
Deficits may save cities from democratic socialist pipedreams By Sarah Downey | January 23, 2026 In New York City, the newly elected mayor, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, has pledged to make free or subsidize everything from rent to groceries, straining the city’s deficit to a projected $12 billion in 2027. ...
Blog
Trump and Newsom are odd bedfellows on housing policy
Now that many populist Republicans have largely abandoned free-market conservatism, it’s getting hard to distinguish dopey Democratic policy ideas from dopey Republican ones. Apparently, the Horseshoe Theory — where each end of the political spectrum is separated by the distance between the ends of a horseshoe rather than at the ends ...
Blog
Privatized cities are experiments in freedom, not feudalism
Privatized cities are experiments in freedom, not feudalism by Sal Rodriguez | January 16, 2026 As long as there have been people and organized societies, there have been people who want to break out of existing jurisdictions to form new ones governed by different ideas and different rules. A recent ...
Blog
How are California cities prepping for the World Cup and Olympics?
Things are quite a bit different in California from 1984, when Los Angeles last hosted the Olympics. I was a journalist in Washington, D.C., and enjoyed watching the games on a 19-inch black-and-white TV. Californian Ronald Reagan was president, fellow Republican George Deukmejian was governor, Steve Jobs and Apple had ...
Agriculture
Ag-to-Urban law creates a farmer’s market for Arizona housing
Ag-to-Urban law creates a farmer’s market for Arizona housing By D. Dowd Muska | January 9, 2026 If it unites farmers, developers and environmentalists, it’s probably a sound policy reform. Some observers consider Senate Bill 1611, approved last summer by a GOP-majority Legislature and a Democratic governor, “one of the ...
Blog
Climate warriors should offer more incentives, fewer lectures
The “Week Without Driving” campaign took place nationwide in October to reduce pollution, lower carbon emissions and break Americans’ dependence on automobiles. Cities including Santa Cruz and Alameda, Calif., encouraged residents to give the car-free lifestyle a try and opt for public transportation or bicycles instead. That’s fine enough, but ...
California
Watch PRI’s interview with Rick Caruso – one year after the wildfires
In this special Free Cities Center interview, Rick Caruso – founder and executive chairman of Caruso, longtime civic and philanthropic leader in Los Angeles and former mayor candidate – discusses LA’s rebuilding efforts one year after the wildfires. He shares his thoughts on policy and politician-created impediments to swift rebuilding, ...
Free Cities
Rick Caruso – One Year After the Wildfires, Are We Rebuilding a Stronger LA?
This week, we present a special Free Cities Center interview with Rick Caruso – founder and executive chairman of Caruso, longtime Los Angeles civic and philanthropic leader and former mayoral candidate. Mr. Caruso discusses LA’s rebuilding efforts one year after the wildfires. He also shares his thoughts on policy and ...
Congestion in 2025: US cities fare well by international standards
Congestion in 2025: US cities fare well by international standards When measured by the amount of hours each commuter wastes in traffic per year, Lima, Peru, was the most congested city in the world in 2025, according to TomTom’s traffic index ranking. This was followed by Dublin, Ireland; Mexico City; and ...
California’s urban-mobility plan: more of what’s not working
A glaring example of such obtuseness is the report recently issued by the California State Transportation Agency’s Transit Transformation Task Force. Established by “the transit recovery package signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of the 2023-24 state budget,” the panel’s mission was to make “recommendations to grow transit ridership, ...
Deficits may save cities from democratic socialist pipedreams
Deficits may save cities from democratic socialist pipedreams By Sarah Downey | January 23, 2026 In New York City, the newly elected mayor, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, has pledged to make free or subsidize everything from rent to groceries, straining the city’s deficit to a projected $12 billion in 2027. ...
Trump and Newsom are odd bedfellows on housing policy
Now that many populist Republicans have largely abandoned free-market conservatism, it’s getting hard to distinguish dopey Democratic policy ideas from dopey Republican ones. Apparently, the Horseshoe Theory — where each end of the political spectrum is separated by the distance between the ends of a horseshoe rather than at the ends ...
Privatized cities are experiments in freedom, not feudalism
Privatized cities are experiments in freedom, not feudalism by Sal Rodriguez | January 16, 2026 As long as there have been people and organized societies, there have been people who want to break out of existing jurisdictions to form new ones governed by different ideas and different rules. A recent ...
How are California cities prepping for the World Cup and Olympics?
Things are quite a bit different in California from 1984, when Los Angeles last hosted the Olympics. I was a journalist in Washington, D.C., and enjoyed watching the games on a 19-inch black-and-white TV. Californian Ronald Reagan was president, fellow Republican George Deukmejian was governor, Steve Jobs and Apple had ...
Ag-to-Urban law creates a farmer’s market for Arizona housing
Ag-to-Urban law creates a farmer’s market for Arizona housing By D. Dowd Muska | January 9, 2026 If it unites farmers, developers and environmentalists, it’s probably a sound policy reform. Some observers consider Senate Bill 1611, approved last summer by a GOP-majority Legislature and a Democratic governor, “one of the ...
Climate warriors should offer more incentives, fewer lectures
The “Week Without Driving” campaign took place nationwide in October to reduce pollution, lower carbon emissions and break Americans’ dependence on automobiles. Cities including Santa Cruz and Alameda, Calif., encouraged residents to give the car-free lifestyle a try and opt for public transportation or bicycles instead. That’s fine enough, but ...
Watch PRI’s interview with Rick Caruso – one year after the wildfires
In this special Free Cities Center interview, Rick Caruso – founder and executive chairman of Caruso, longtime civic and philanthropic leader in Los Angeles and former mayor candidate – discusses LA’s rebuilding efforts one year after the wildfires. He shares his thoughts on policy and politician-created impediments to swift rebuilding, ...
Rick Caruso – One Year After the Wildfires, Are We Rebuilding a Stronger LA?
This week, we present a special Free Cities Center interview with Rick Caruso – founder and executive chairman of Caruso, longtime Los Angeles civic and philanthropic leader and former mayoral candidate. Mr. Caruso discusses LA’s rebuilding efforts one year after the wildfires. He also shares his thoughts on policy and ...
