Free Cities

Cities still grappling with the fallout 17 months after LA’s wildfires By John Seiler | June 19, 2026 Since the January 2025 wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades and Eaton, what have policymakers done to make sure California cities are better protected from future outbreaks? Policies should be split into “three buckets,” ...

You know about the bridge to nowhere. The electric tugboat? Probably not. In 2020, the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District received a unique grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Awarded under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), the $2,017,660 subsidy paid for the eWolf, “America’s first all-electric ...

Facing a housing crisis, Boise focuses on incentives, not mandates By Sarah Downey | June 12, 2026 The familiar adage of the carrot and the stick helps sum up what Boise is doing to manage a fast-growing population mixed with a housing crunch. Instead of employing a regulation-heavy stick approach, ...

California has one of the world’s most spectacular coastlines, which meanders 1,100 miles from Imperial Beach to Crescent City. And, of course, everyone wants to “Save Our Coast” and assure public access to beaches, which is why Californians voted 55% to 45% in 1972 for Proposition 20. It promised to protect ...

SMART bomb: Wine country’s commuter-rail catastrophe By D. Dowd Muska | June 5, 2026 BOOK REVIEW: “The Great Train Heist: The California SMART Taxpayer Rip-off” They tried in 1990. It didn’t work. They tried in 1998. Nothing doing. They tried in 2000. Voters declined. They tried in 2006. No dice. ...

Lacking oversight: How to fix California’s system for selecting judges By Michael Warnken | May 29, 2026 California’s judicial selection process has undergone significant changes since the state’s admission to the Union in 1850. Today, trial judges are chosen through a hybrid system of judicial elections and gubernatorial appointments, as ...

With a projected housing need of 55,000 new units by 2045, the city has passed some minor housing reforms in recent years, including legalizing accessory dwelling units and allowing more housing near major transit lines. But the city has been reluctant to undertake citywide zoning reforms, despite the city’s housing ...

Under reformist mayor, San Francisco continues to self-correct San Francisco has long been a whipping post for conservatives who like to portray it as the case study for progressive zaniness, an ever-present example of the kind of public policies that other cities ought to avoid. The city has often deserved ...