Free Cities

Free Cities

Steve Greenhut and Wayne Winegarden – Giving Housing Supply a Boost

Our guests this week are Steve Greenhut, director of PRI’s Free Cities Center and Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in business and economics.  The two have joined forces to produce PRI’s latest mini book from the Free Cities Center, “Giving Housing Supply a Boost: How to Improve Affordability and Reduce Homelessness.” ...
Blog

Lessons from Africa: Private utilities offer a way forward

Lessons from Africa: Private utilities offer a way forward By Scott Beyer | February 2, 2024 I was exploring a rural Kenyan village last spring when noticing an infrastructure dichotomy – one I later realized is characteristic of Africa. The government in Wamunyu, a farm town two hours from Nairobi, ...
Blog

Markets and subsidies: Exposing the delusions of urbanists

To understand the “rules” regarding the role of the internal combustion engine powered by fossil fuels, Calvinball comes to mind, created in the comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes.” Calvinball players make up the rules as they go along, and other players cannot make sense of what is happening. To hear ...
Book

New Free Cities Book

Reforms to Increase Affordability, Homebuilding Would Go Far to Alleviate State’s Housing, Homeless Crises

SACRAMENTO – Rolling back policies that have created unaffordable costs of living and made homebuilding prohibitively expensive can alleviate the state’s housing and homeless problems, finds a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download ...
Blog

Creating a bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area transit

Creating a bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area transit By Steven Greenhut | January 26, 2024 Note:  This is a longer version of an op-ed that ran earlier this week in the East Bay Times. When government agencies face daunting problems, it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to propose some “solution” ...
Commentary

A bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area’s transit problems

When government agencies face daunting problems, it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to propose some “solution” that amounts to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic — i.e., a pointless bureaucratic revamping that does nothing to address the obvious iceberg. The latest example involves the San Francisco Bay Area’s myriad transit ...
Blog

Cities can improve day-to-day life by freeing street vendors

Cities can improve day-to-day life by freeing street vendors By Sal Rodriguez | January 19, 2024 As long as there have been street vendors, city bureaucrats have tried to stop them. Whether for protectionist reasons protecting brick-and-mortar businesses from competition or in response to exaggerated health concerns, such rules are ...
Blog

Read the latest on California's housing crisis

Building infrastructure is key to lowering housing costs

Housing. Shelter. Room at the inn. A hearth and a home. From the moment neolithic humans emerged from caves to build structures in the open, they needed some place warm and dry to call home. It is a primal necessity and a prerequisite for civilization. This imperative is not lost ...
Blog

In 2024, will more cities relax the grip of progressive policy?

In 2024, will more cities relax the grip of progressive policy? by Kerry Jackson  |  January 12, 2024 Joel Kotkin of Chapman University recently posted a piece on Unherd in which he reports that, “​​Across America’s cities, voters are driving out progressives.” Encouraging, if true. Kotkin says that in Seattle, ...
Blog

Get the latest scoop on local green programs

Budget woes force cities to limit utopian climate programs

City officials depend on money from state and federal governments to implement climate agendas imposed from above. A new report finds them griping about their favorite topic: not enough money from the taxpayers. Key takeaway: “Across all policy areas, respondents were most likely to identify staff capacity and funding as ...
Free Cities

Steve Greenhut and Wayne Winegarden – Giving Housing Supply a Boost

Our guests this week are Steve Greenhut, director of PRI’s Free Cities Center and Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow in business and economics.  The two have joined forces to produce PRI’s latest mini book from the Free Cities Center, “Giving Housing Supply a Boost: How to Improve Affordability and Reduce Homelessness.” ...
Blog

Lessons from Africa: Private utilities offer a way forward

Lessons from Africa: Private utilities offer a way forward By Scott Beyer | February 2, 2024 I was exploring a rural Kenyan village last spring when noticing an infrastructure dichotomy – one I later realized is characteristic of Africa. The government in Wamunyu, a farm town two hours from Nairobi, ...
Blog

Markets and subsidies: Exposing the delusions of urbanists

To understand the “rules” regarding the role of the internal combustion engine powered by fossil fuels, Calvinball comes to mind, created in the comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes.” Calvinball players make up the rules as they go along, and other players cannot make sense of what is happening. To hear ...
Book

New Free Cities Book

Reforms to Increase Affordability, Homebuilding Would Go Far to Alleviate State’s Housing, Homeless Crises

SACRAMENTO – Rolling back policies that have created unaffordable costs of living and made homebuilding prohibitively expensive can alleviate the state’s housing and homeless problems, finds a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download ...
Blog

Creating a bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area transit

Creating a bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area transit By Steven Greenhut | January 26, 2024 Note:  This is a longer version of an op-ed that ran earlier this week in the East Bay Times. When government agencies face daunting problems, it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to propose some “solution” ...
Commentary

A bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area’s transit problems

When government agencies face daunting problems, it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to propose some “solution” that amounts to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic — i.e., a pointless bureaucratic revamping that does nothing to address the obvious iceberg. The latest example involves the San Francisco Bay Area’s myriad transit ...
Blog

Cities can improve day-to-day life by freeing street vendors

Cities can improve day-to-day life by freeing street vendors By Sal Rodriguez | January 19, 2024 As long as there have been street vendors, city bureaucrats have tried to stop them. Whether for protectionist reasons protecting brick-and-mortar businesses from competition or in response to exaggerated health concerns, such rules are ...
Blog

Read the latest on California's housing crisis

Building infrastructure is key to lowering housing costs

Housing. Shelter. Room at the inn. A hearth and a home. From the moment neolithic humans emerged from caves to build structures in the open, they needed some place warm and dry to call home. It is a primal necessity and a prerequisite for civilization. This imperative is not lost ...
Blog

In 2024, will more cities relax the grip of progressive policy?

In 2024, will more cities relax the grip of progressive policy? by Kerry Jackson  |  January 12, 2024 Joel Kotkin of Chapman University recently posted a piece on Unherd in which he reports that, “​​Across America’s cities, voters are driving out progressives.” Encouraging, if true. Kotkin says that in Seattle, ...
Blog

Get the latest scoop on local green programs

Budget woes force cities to limit utopian climate programs

City officials depend on money from state and federal governments to implement climate agendas imposed from above. A new report finds them griping about their favorite topic: not enough money from the taxpayers. Key takeaway: “Across all policy areas, respondents were most likely to identify staff capacity and funding as ...
Scroll to Top