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Let the market decide the right number of parking spots

Let the market decide the right number of parking spots By Kenneth Schrupp | April 5, 2024 First published in 2005, David Shoup’s “The High Cost of Free Parking” is, after nearly two decades, driving a national reconsideration of parking minimums. But while some cities from Austin to San Jose ...
Blog

Read about problems with government transportation planning

Book Review: ‘Transit’s growth, decline and pending demise’

Who said the following? “The basic objective of our nation’s transportation system must be to assure the availability of the fast, safe, and economical transportation services needed in a growing and changing economy. … This basic objective can and must be achieved primarily by continued reliance on unsubsidized privately owned ...
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Read latest on war on cars

Congestion pricing is mainly about punishing suburbanites

The privilege of working in or visiting Manhattan could soon be higher than the cost of lunch. As U.S. Reps. Mike Lawler and Josh Gottheimer put it in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece, a proposed increase in the tunnel toll is “a greedy and unnecessary cash grab.” It ...
Blog

Read latest about war on cars

Car wars and other progressive fantasies

Thanks to the wonders of social media, it’s easy to find large communities of car-loathing, bicycle-riding, transit-loving urbanists who view cars as “death machines” and insist they are the cause of every woe known to mankind. Many of these progressive scolds would love to ban them, or at least strictly ...
Blog

Read about SF's turn to the right

San Francisco voters turn to the right on crime and schools

The most controversial, Measure E, passed 54% to 46%. It allowed the following: After a public hearing, the chief of police could install surveillance devices without the approval of the Police Commission; Police could use drones to pursue vehicles and for investigations, including facial recognition, without the approval of the ...
Blog

Part 3

Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails

Los Angeles Case Study Part 3 Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails By Thomas Irwin | March 21, 2024 So what lessons can we draw from what Los Angeles has seen with Executive Directive 1, the city’s effort to streamline regulations for affordable-housing projects? First, people passionate about ...
Blog

Part 2

Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails

Los Angeles Case Study Part 2 Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails By Thomas Irwin | March 15, 2024 In the first part of this series, I reviewed the one bright spot in Los Angeles’ efforts to increase housing supply and reduce housing costs – the success of ...
Blog

Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Cities should think twice before embracing ‘fare-free’ transit

On Jan. 1, 2020, the InterCity Transit agency servicing Olympia, Wash., and nearby cities went “zero fare.” From 2020 through 2023, the city of Tucson, Ariz., made its public transit system “free” to ride, with the council declaring “our intention to go fare-free transit.” Activists in Los Angeles have argued ...
Free Cities

WATCH: Learn about the intriguing proposed Solano County city

A proposed new city in rural Solano County has generated significant interest and intrigue. Watch as the Free Cities Center’s Steven Greenhut explores the controversial new city effort with reporter Nick McConnell of the Vacaville Reporter and Free Cities Center contributor Edward Ring.    
Blog

Learn about newly proposed Solano County city

New city’s fate will show if California is serious about housing

Surveys consistently show that owning a home is one of the keys to overall happiness, which no doubt explains why debates about housing prices are so emotional – and so dominant in the Legislature and at city councils. Thanks to low supply and the resulting price surges, many Californians now ...
Blog

Let the market decide the right number of parking spots

Let the market decide the right number of parking spots By Kenneth Schrupp | April 5, 2024 First published in 2005, David Shoup’s “The High Cost of Free Parking” is, after nearly two decades, driving a national reconsideration of parking minimums. But while some cities from Austin to San Jose ...
Blog

Read about problems with government transportation planning

Book Review: ‘Transit’s growth, decline and pending demise’

Who said the following? “The basic objective of our nation’s transportation system must be to assure the availability of the fast, safe, and economical transportation services needed in a growing and changing economy. … This basic objective can and must be achieved primarily by continued reliance on unsubsidized privately owned ...
Blog

Read latest on war on cars

Congestion pricing is mainly about punishing suburbanites

The privilege of working in or visiting Manhattan could soon be higher than the cost of lunch. As U.S. Reps. Mike Lawler and Josh Gottheimer put it in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece, a proposed increase in the tunnel toll is “a greedy and unnecessary cash grab.” It ...
Blog

Read latest about war on cars

Car wars and other progressive fantasies

Thanks to the wonders of social media, it’s easy to find large communities of car-loathing, bicycle-riding, transit-loving urbanists who view cars as “death machines” and insist they are the cause of every woe known to mankind. Many of these progressive scolds would love to ban them, or at least strictly ...
Blog

Read about SF's turn to the right

San Francisco voters turn to the right on crime and schools

The most controversial, Measure E, passed 54% to 46%. It allowed the following: After a public hearing, the chief of police could install surveillance devices without the approval of the Police Commission; Police could use drones to pursue vehicles and for investigations, including facial recognition, without the approval of the ...
Blog

Part 3

Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails

Los Angeles Case Study Part 3 Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails By Thomas Irwin | March 21, 2024 So what lessons can we draw from what Los Angeles has seen with Executive Directive 1, the city’s effort to streamline regulations for affordable-housing projects? First, people passionate about ...
Blog

Part 2

Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails

Los Angeles Case Study Part 2 Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails By Thomas Irwin | March 15, 2024 In the first part of this series, I reviewed the one bright spot in Los Angeles’ efforts to increase housing supply and reduce housing costs – the success of ...
Blog

Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Cities should think twice before embracing ‘fare-free’ transit

On Jan. 1, 2020, the InterCity Transit agency servicing Olympia, Wash., and nearby cities went “zero fare.” From 2020 through 2023, the city of Tucson, Ariz., made its public transit system “free” to ride, with the council declaring “our intention to go fare-free transit.” Activists in Los Angeles have argued ...
Free Cities

WATCH: Learn about the intriguing proposed Solano County city

A proposed new city in rural Solano County has generated significant interest and intrigue. Watch as the Free Cities Center’s Steven Greenhut explores the controversial new city effort with reporter Nick McConnell of the Vacaville Reporter and Free Cities Center contributor Edward Ring.    
Blog

Learn about newly proposed Solano County city

New city’s fate will show if California is serious about housing

Surveys consistently show that owning a home is one of the keys to overall happiness, which no doubt explains why debates about housing prices are so emotional – and so dominant in the Legislature and at city councils. Thanks to low supply and the resulting price surges, many Californians now ...
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