Free Cities
Blog
The good, bad and ugly: Lessons from India’s private city
The good, bad and ugly: Lessons from India’s private city Gurgaon, the large satellite city outside New Delhi, shows the tremendous upside, and a few pitfalls, of privatization. by Scott Beyer | July 24, 2024 Urban privatization – via “startup cities,” “competitive governance” and the like – has risen these ...
Blog
Why Dallas permits more housing than all of California
In April, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area permitted more housing than all of California, meaning that on a per-capita basis, DFW permitted five times as much housing as the Golden State. Given that interest rates are the same nationwide, how is one metro area permitting more new housing than the largest state in the ...
Blog
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions Matthew Fleming | July 18, 2024 History of SF’s myriad commissions The first 21 commissions were founded in 1898 with the city and county charter, but the list has ballooned to 115 today for the city of around ...
Blog
Transit agencies put lofty EV goals above riders’ needs
Perhaps few professional environmentalists read reports issued by the King County Auditor’s Office, but they ought to pay attention to one released last month. Called “Zero Emissions: Metro Transit Working to Mitigate Risks to County’s Ambitious 2035 Goal,” the report documented a phenomenon that climate warriors can no longer ignore: the “many ...
Blog
Big victory in U.S. Supreme Court:
Big victory in U.S. Supreme Court: Grants Pass ruling gives cities tools to clean up homeless camps By Kerry Jackson | July 12, 2024 The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 28 Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling set off a round of celebrations and grumbling that typically occur when any court opinion ...
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
Read about latest push for rent control
Even as rents fall, progressives push local rent controls
These local measures usually come with a tough cap on rent increases, as well as the creation of a new board of bureaucrats to monitor rents while diverting millions of dollars from other core city services. While local measures have fared better at the ballot box than the statewide efforts ...
California
Read about PRI’s big victory in the Supreme Court
PRI Wins Big Victory in Supreme Court in Key Homelessness Case
PRI filed an amicus curiae brief in the case, which you can read by clicking here. The case involves efforts by the city of Grants Pass, Oregon to discourage sleeping and camping in public spaces. Homeless advocates sued the city, arguing that its methods were cruel and unusual punishment. The ...
Agriculture
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Cities can end ‘food deserts’ by ending ‘crime oases’
But why is that? With urban crime out of control, nobody wants to open a store where unprosecuted theft drives unsustainable losses and random acts of violence are bottomless liabilities. To end urban “food deserts,” cities must end crime oases keeping businesses away from residents most in need. The U.S. ...
Blog
Flawed Project Homekey now immersed in scandal
My Pacific Research Institute colleague Kerry Jackson and I have written extensively about the inherent flaws of Project Homekey. As a refresher, Project Homekey is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s main program for addressing the state’s homelessness problem. It attempts to leverage the current hotel and motel infrastructure to move people from ...
The good, bad and ugly: Lessons from India’s private city
The good, bad and ugly: Lessons from India’s private city Gurgaon, the large satellite city outside New Delhi, shows the tremendous upside, and a few pitfalls, of privatization. by Scott Beyer | July 24, 2024 Urban privatization – via “startup cities,” “competitive governance” and the like – has risen these ...
Why Dallas permits more housing than all of California
In April, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area permitted more housing than all of California, meaning that on a per-capita basis, DFW permitted five times as much housing as the Golden State. Given that interest rates are the same nationwide, how is one metro area permitting more new housing than the largest state in the ...
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions Matthew Fleming | July 18, 2024 History of SF’s myriad commissions The first 21 commissions were founded in 1898 with the city and county charter, but the list has ballooned to 115 today for the city of around ...
Transit agencies put lofty EV goals above riders’ needs
Perhaps few professional environmentalists read reports issued by the King County Auditor’s Office, but they ought to pay attention to one released last month. Called “Zero Emissions: Metro Transit Working to Mitigate Risks to County’s Ambitious 2035 Goal,” the report documented a phenomenon that climate warriors can no longer ignore: the “many ...
Big victory in U.S. Supreme Court:
Big victory in U.S. Supreme Court: Grants Pass ruling gives cities tools to clean up homeless camps By Kerry Jackson | July 12, 2024 The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 28 Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling set off a round of celebrations and grumbling that typically occur when any court opinion ...
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 ...
Read about latest push for rent control
Even as rents fall, progressives push local rent controls
These local measures usually come with a tough cap on rent increases, as well as the creation of a new board of bureaucrats to monitor rents while diverting millions of dollars from other core city services. While local measures have fared better at the ballot box than the statewide efforts ...
Read about PRI’s big victory in the Supreme Court
PRI Wins Big Victory in Supreme Court in Key Homelessness Case
PRI filed an amicus curiae brief in the case, which you can read by clicking here. The case involves efforts by the city of Grants Pass, Oregon to discourage sleeping and camping in public spaces. Homeless advocates sued the city, arguing that its methods were cruel and unusual punishment. The ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Cities can end ‘food deserts’ by ending ‘crime oases’
But why is that? With urban crime out of control, nobody wants to open a store where unprosecuted theft drives unsustainable losses and random acts of violence are bottomless liabilities. To end urban “food deserts,” cities must end crime oases keeping businesses away from residents most in need. The U.S. ...
Flawed Project Homekey now immersed in scandal
My Pacific Research Institute colleague Kerry Jackson and I have written extensively about the inherent flaws of Project Homekey. As a refresher, Project Homekey is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s main program for addressing the state’s homelessness problem. It attempts to leverage the current hotel and motel infrastructure to move people from ...
