Free Cities
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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 ...
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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 ...
Blog
What will California cities do if the bullet train is derailed?
What will California cities do if the bullet train is derailed? By John Seiler | May 16, 2025 California cities face numerous needs for mass transit at the local level. But lurking over any plans is the California High-Speed Rail project, which has soaked up funds since voters approved it ...
Blog
Can San Franciscans finally overcome their fear of heights?
Like all California cities, San Francisco must comply with state mandates and has in response promised to create “more space for families, workers and the next generation of San Franciscans.” The city’s Housing Element Update is its guidebook for accommodating housing needs through 2031. To get there will require “rezoning to accommodate 36,200 additional units above ...
Blog
Technology is spotlighting failure of arcane transit models
Alas, the walkout, taken in response to a “disgraceful contract offer,” didn’t accomplish much. Strikers’ “energy” and “resolve” may have been “very strong,” but on Day 17 of their protest, a judge ordered the dispatchers, bus drivers and light-rail operators of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 back to work. A ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Seattle’s ‘social housing’ plan struggles to get off the ground
Two years ago, voters approved Initiative 135, which created the Seattle Social Housing Developer. Supporters of Initiative 135 argued the Seattle Social Housing Developer would be “a new, powerful tool to counter” the city’s housing crisis by empowering a governmental entity to develop and acquire properties for housing. Explained the ...
Blog
Urbanists can slow but not stop our transportation progress
Urbanists can slow but not stop our transportation progress By Marc Joffe | May 1, 2025 California is the prime battleground between transportation innovation and legacy mass transit. While Silicon Valley is rolling out driverless taxis and testing flying cars, urbanists and transit unions are seeking more taxpayer funding to ...
Blog
Examining the roots of California’s ongoing insurance crisis
Examining the roots of California’s ongoing insurance crisis by Rafael Perez | April 24, 2025 There are two uncomfortable truths that have settled in after the smoke cleared from the Los Angeles County fires. The first is that the public will pay for a significant share of the damage. The ...
Blog
West Coast cities need to catch up on office-to-home conversions
Some buildings are in the pipeline, just waiting for approval, but many cities need to do more improving of infrastructure, cleanliness and safety in order to thrive. In a sign of good news, more office-to-residential conversions have developed in cities as distinct as Cleveland, Houston and Washington, D.C. The West ...
Blog
The solution to traffic congestion isn’t up, up and away
The solution to traffic congestion isn’t up, up and away By D. Dowd Muska | April 17, 2025 Urbanists often have their heads in the clouds. But this is ridiculous. Today’s trendiest transportation topic in the world of “smart growth”? What the YouTube channel Climate and Transit calls “aerial lifts that ...
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 ...
What will California cities do if the bullet train is derailed?
What will California cities do if the bullet train is derailed? By John Seiler | May 16, 2025 California cities face numerous needs for mass transit at the local level. But lurking over any plans is the California High-Speed Rail project, which has soaked up funds since voters approved it ...
Can San Franciscans finally overcome their fear of heights?
Like all California cities, San Francisco must comply with state mandates and has in response promised to create “more space for families, workers and the next generation of San Franciscans.” The city’s Housing Element Update is its guidebook for accommodating housing needs through 2031. To get there will require “rezoning to accommodate 36,200 additional units above ...
Technology is spotlighting failure of arcane transit models
Alas, the walkout, taken in response to a “disgraceful contract offer,” didn’t accomplish much. Strikers’ “energy” and “resolve” may have been “very strong,” but on Day 17 of their protest, a judge ordered the dispatchers, bus drivers and light-rail operators of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 back to work. A ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Seattle’s ‘social housing’ plan struggles to get off the ground
Two years ago, voters approved Initiative 135, which created the Seattle Social Housing Developer. Supporters of Initiative 135 argued the Seattle Social Housing Developer would be “a new, powerful tool to counter” the city’s housing crisis by empowering a governmental entity to develop and acquire properties for housing. Explained the ...
Urbanists can slow but not stop our transportation progress
Urbanists can slow but not stop our transportation progress By Marc Joffe | May 1, 2025 California is the prime battleground between transportation innovation and legacy mass transit. While Silicon Valley is rolling out driverless taxis and testing flying cars, urbanists and transit unions are seeking more taxpayer funding to ...
Examining the roots of California’s ongoing insurance crisis
Examining the roots of California’s ongoing insurance crisis by Rafael Perez | April 24, 2025 There are two uncomfortable truths that have settled in after the smoke cleared from the Los Angeles County fires. The first is that the public will pay for a significant share of the damage. The ...
West Coast cities need to catch up on office-to-home conversions
Some buildings are in the pipeline, just waiting for approval, but many cities need to do more improving of infrastructure, cleanliness and safety in order to thrive. In a sign of good news, more office-to-residential conversions have developed in cities as distinct as Cleveland, Houston and Washington, D.C. The West ...
The solution to traffic congestion isn’t up, up and away
The solution to traffic congestion isn’t up, up and away By D. Dowd Muska | April 17, 2025 Urbanists often have their heads in the clouds. But this is ridiculous. Today’s trendiest transportation topic in the world of “smart growth”? What the YouTube channel Climate and Transit calls “aerial lifts that ...
