Free Cities

California’s latest insurance package will offer little relief California’s property insurance market has hobbled along for years, as insurers have slowly – then quickly – exited the market after years of massive wildfire losses have threatened their reserves. State officials have mostly blamed climate change, arguing that increased temperatures are ...

Compton: cities learn wrong lessons from ‘free money’ program By Matthew Fleming | February 21, 2025 The results of the largest city-based experiment with what happens when low-income families receive free money from the government were just published and apparently nothing was learned. And nothing was learned because lovers of ...

Urbanists often justify their anti-suburban policies based on a fairness issue. They argue that cities subsidize the suburbs and this shift of resources robs cities of their tax revenues and that leads to a decline in their quality of life. It’s odd for a movement that eagerly supports public subsidies ...

Food fight: Organic-waste rules are latest recycling failure By D. Dowd Muska  |  February 14, 2025 Draconian climate policies are wholly unwelcome in Washington, D.C., under the new Republican administration, so expect the greenest state and local governments to fight back in 2025. One area likely to draw significant interest: food ...

At-Large Elections: Advantages and Disadvantages In at-large elections, all elected representatives represent the entire polity, be it a city or county. Proponents argue that this method promotes a unified vision among members since they all serve the same district. Additionally, at-large elections eliminate the issue of gerrymandering within the city, ...

There are rumors that the fires were deliberately started so planners could rebuild under the SmartLA 2028 strategy. Let’s dismiss this conspiracy theory right now. No serious person believes it. But that’s not to say that officials won’t demand that the renewal of the burned-out sections fit their definition of a “smart ...

Congestion pricing: Bold experiment or a money grab? By Sal Rodriguez | February 6, 2025 Is New York City’s congestion pricing plan a bold experiment or just a money grab? After many years of debate, many thousands of pages of reports and no shortage of lawsuits, New York City on ...

Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery by Steven Greenhut  |  January 31, 2025 A week doesn’t go by that I don’t get at least one unsolicited offer for my property, typically from investors who don’t use a company name or last name. They often claim to have driven by the house ...

This week, as PRI releases its new documentary “Colorado Springs: Letting Freedom Lead the Way,” we present an extended cut of our interview with Mayor Yemi Mobolade and Councilman Brian Risley. They discuss how Colorado Springs has been so successful in lowering the cost of living and improving the quality ...

The following policy possibilities have been derived largely from Trump’s statements. Housing. “We’re going to open up tracks of federal land for housing construction,” the real estate magnate announced on Aug. 15 at a news conference. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.” He ...