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Basic Income
Compton: cities learn wrong lessons from ‘free money’ program
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 ...
Matthew Fleming
February 21, 2025
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Read a sneak preview: Are urbanists right: Do cities subsidize the suburbs?
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 ...
Steven Greenhut
February 20, 2025
Blog
Learn how looters are adding to trauma being experienced by fire victims
A Tale of Two LA’s
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens The toll of the recent Southern California fires is shocking. Together, the seven fires known colloquially as the “Los ...
Steve Smith
February 18, 2025
Blog
Food fight: Organic-waste rules are latest recycling failure
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 ...
D. Dowd Muska
February 14, 2025
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Free Cities Center Analysis: City representation – Single-member districts versus at large
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, ...
Michael Warnken
February 13, 2025
Blog
Latest report shows California bullet train is really a train to nowhere
Will There Ever Be Any Good News About The High-Speed Rail?
Last month’s spike-driving ceremony was a feel-good story about the California bullet train. It was, said Gov. Gavin Newsom, a “big damn deal” that indicated “progress” was being made on a project that is embarrassingly behind schedule and almost inconceivably over cost. It was an event for public consumption that ...
Kerry Jackson
February 12, 2025
Blog
Latest test scores show CA's public schools continue to fail kids
The California Classroom Collapse Hits the Middle Class
Last year, Bret Daniels, the mayor of the middle-class Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights, announced that he was quitting his position as mayor and moving to Kentucky, in part because of the quality of education his seven-year-old daughter was receiving. Recently released test scores show that California’s education decline is ...
Lance Izumi
February 11, 2025
Blog
China and America: The War Over the Panama Canal
READ THE PDF China and America: The War Over the Panama Canal “If the government in China in a conflict tells them to shut down the Panama Canal, they will have to,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio to SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly on January 30, referring to Chinese businesses in ...
Gordon Chang
February 10, 2025
Blog
SmartLA is a not-so-bright way to rebuild Los Angeles
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 ...
Kerry Jackson
February 7, 2025
Blog
Congestion pricing: Bold experiment or a money grab?
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 ...
Sal Rodriguez
February 6, 2025
Compton: cities learn wrong lessons from ‘free money’ program
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 ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Read a sneak preview: Are urbanists right: Do cities subsidize the suburbs?
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 ...
Learn how looters are adding to trauma being experienced by fire victims
A Tale of Two LA’s
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens The toll of the recent Southern California fires is shocking. Together, the seven fires known colloquially as the “Los ...
Food fight: Organic-waste rules are latest recycling failure
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 ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Free Cities Center Analysis: City representation – Single-member districts versus at large
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, ...
Latest report shows California bullet train is really a train to nowhere
Will There Ever Be Any Good News About The High-Speed Rail?
Last month’s spike-driving ceremony was a feel-good story about the California bullet train. It was, said Gov. Gavin Newsom, a “big damn deal” that indicated “progress” was being made on a project that is embarrassingly behind schedule and almost inconceivably over cost. It was an event for public consumption that ...
Latest test scores show CA's public schools continue to fail kids
The California Classroom Collapse Hits the Middle Class
Last year, Bret Daniels, the mayor of the middle-class Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights, announced that he was quitting his position as mayor and moving to Kentucky, in part because of the quality of education his seven-year-old daughter was receiving. Recently released test scores show that California’s education decline is ...
China and America: The War Over the Panama Canal
READ THE PDF China and America: The War Over the Panama Canal “If the government in China in a conflict tells them to shut down the Panama Canal, they will have to,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio to SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly on January 30, referring to Chinese businesses in ...
SmartLA is a not-so-bright way to rebuild Los Angeles
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?
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 ...