Free Cities
Blog
Despite fast-track promises, LA rebuilding is mired in red tape
More than 18,000 structures were burned in Los Angeles County in January. The greatest losses were in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. While updating the recovery “progress” more than three months ago, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass vowed that she was “committed to rebuilding” this community at “lightning speed.” “I just ...
Kerry Jackson
June 28, 2025
Blog
Regulation bottlenecks impede state’s infrastructure grants
Regulation bottlenecks impede state’s infrastructure grants by Sarah Downey | June 26, 2025 Editor’s Note: While the Free Cities Center advocates for regulations that encourage market-rate construction rather than affordable-housing subsidies, it’s useful to look at the status of the myriad grant programs that the state government is offering—and the ...
Sarah Downey
June 26, 2025
Blog
Getting it all wrong about the other city by the bay
To be charitable, miners brave enough to go digging can discover occasional nuggets of value in Madrigal’s ponderous, and entirely predictable, jeremiad. For example: Oakland had its own version of the urban-renewal thuggery that would eventually lead to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London. In ...
D. Dowd Muska
June 20, 2025
Blog
Irony alert: California Dems tackle ‘cost of living’
Irony alert: California Dems tackle ‘cost of living’ Don’t expect high-priced California cities to become more affordable any time soon. By Steven Greenhut | June 13, 2025 The latest news about the California Legislature’s efforts to tackle the state’s preposterously high cost of living should cause Californians to snigger. “California ...
Steven Greenhut
June 13, 2025
Blog
California cities may now dodge bullet train destruction
In his May budget revision for fiscal year 2025-26, which began on July 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom earmarked $1 billion a year for the next 20 years from the state’s cap-and-trade system toward the rail project. Like the wounded Black Knight in the “Tis but a scratch scene” in “Monty ...
John Seiler
June 12, 2025
Blog
San Diego’s ADU program so successful it’s drawing a backlash
San Diego’s ADU program so successful it’s drawing a backlash by Sal Rodriguez | June 6, 2025 Over the past decade, California lawmakers have enacted several laws legalizing and facilitating the development of accessory dwelling units. Also known as granny flats or casitas, ADUs are typically small units built on ...
Sal Rodriguez
June 6, 2025
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Dwelling on it: ADUs advance on the coasts and inland
Comedian George Carlin believed that the word “bipartisan” means a “larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.” But the comedian’s legendary cynicism might dissolve, at least a bit, if confronted by the across-the aisle progress underway with a key affordable-housing tool. Neighbor Blog’s Grant Ongstad defines an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ...
D. Dowd Muska
June 5, 2025
Blog
Months after election, is crime still a potent urban issue?
Months after election, is crime still a potent urban issue? Passed by 68% of voters last November 5, Proposition 36 increased penalties for certain drug offenses and for thefts under $950. On the same day, Nathan Hochman defeated Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, 65% to 35%. Gascón was a ...
John Seiler
May 30, 2025
Blog
Radar love: Do automated speed cameras make cities safer?
Radar love: Do automated speed cameras make cities safer? By D. Dowd Muska | May 23, 2025 Earlier this year, San Francisco garnered national headlines when it activated California’s first “speed safety cameras.” The city-county’s ticketing tech, however, wasn’t the focus of the spotlight. Under the state law authorizing the new system, “drivers with low ...
D. Dowd Muska
May 23, 2025
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Immigration crackdowns may sabotage L.A.’s rebuilding efforts
Despite some efforts by the state government to cut red tape and accelerate the rebuilding, Angelenos are facing another obstacle: the federal government’s “mass deportations” agenda which will negatively impact the already dire shortage of construction workers. Immigrants make up 41% of the construction workforce in California, according to the ...
Agustina Vergara Cid
May 22, 2025
Despite fast-track promises, LA rebuilding is mired in red tape
More than 18,000 structures were burned in Los Angeles County in January. The greatest losses were in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. While updating the recovery “progress” more than three months ago, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass vowed that she was “committed to rebuilding” this community at “lightning speed.” “I just ...
Regulation bottlenecks impede state’s infrastructure grants
Regulation bottlenecks impede state’s infrastructure grants by Sarah Downey | June 26, 2025 Editor’s Note: While the Free Cities Center advocates for regulations that encourage market-rate construction rather than affordable-housing subsidies, it’s useful to look at the status of the myriad grant programs that the state government is offering—and the ...
Getting it all wrong about the other city by the bay
To be charitable, miners brave enough to go digging can discover occasional nuggets of value in Madrigal’s ponderous, and entirely predictable, jeremiad. For example: Oakland had its own version of the urban-renewal thuggery that would eventually lead to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London. In ...
Irony alert: California Dems tackle ‘cost of living’
Irony alert: California Dems tackle ‘cost of living’ Don’t expect high-priced California cities to become more affordable any time soon. By Steven Greenhut | June 13, 2025 The latest news about the California Legislature’s efforts to tackle the state’s preposterously high cost of living should cause Californians to snigger. “California ...
California cities may now dodge bullet train destruction
In his May budget revision for fiscal year 2025-26, which began on July 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom earmarked $1 billion a year for the next 20 years from the state’s cap-and-trade system toward the rail project. Like the wounded Black Knight in the “Tis but a scratch scene” in “Monty ...
San Diego’s ADU program so successful it’s drawing a backlash
San Diego’s ADU program so successful it’s drawing a backlash by Sal Rodriguez | June 6, 2025 Over the past decade, California lawmakers have enacted several laws legalizing and facilitating the development of accessory dwelling units. Also known as granny flats or casitas, ADUs are typically small units built on ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Dwelling on it: ADUs advance on the coasts and inland
Comedian George Carlin believed that the word “bipartisan” means a “larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.” But the comedian’s legendary cynicism might dissolve, at least a bit, if confronted by the across-the aisle progress underway with a key affordable-housing tool. Neighbor Blog’s Grant Ongstad defines an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ...
Months after election, is crime still a potent urban issue?
Months after election, is crime still a potent urban issue? Passed by 68% of voters last November 5, Proposition 36 increased penalties for certain drug offenses and for thefts under $950. On the same day, Nathan Hochman defeated Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, 65% to 35%. Gascón was a ...
Radar love: Do automated speed cameras make cities safer?
Radar love: Do automated speed cameras make cities safer? By D. Dowd Muska | May 23, 2025 Earlier this year, San Francisco garnered national headlines when it activated California’s first “speed safety cameras.” The city-county’s ticketing tech, however, wasn’t the focus of the spotlight. Under the state law authorizing the new system, “drivers with low ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Immigration crackdowns may sabotage L.A.’s rebuilding efforts
Despite some efforts by the state government to cut red tape and accelerate the rebuilding, Angelenos are facing another obstacle: the federal government’s “mass deportations” agenda which will negatively impact the already dire shortage of construction workers. Immigrants make up 41% of the construction workforce in California, according to the ...