Blog
American suburbs are better than most people think
American suburbs are better than most people think By Randal O’Toole | July 24, 2026 Economist Noah Smith writes that suburbs are “not my personal cup of tea, but there are good reasons people like them.” Most of those reasons will be familiar to Antiplanner readers [and to readers of the Free Cities ...
Blog
California’s Missing Report: Why the State Needs an Annual State of the Criminal Justice System Report
Every year, state agencies, universities, advocacy organizations, and think tanks—including the Pacific Research Institute—publish valuable analyses of crime, courts, corrections, sentencing, policing, and public safety. Those reports shape legislation, influence budgets, and inform public debate. Yet despite this steady stream of research, California continues to revisit many of the same ...
Blog
California cities turn to tax hikes to deal with overspending
Two years ago, 125 local tax measures appeared on ballots. Ninety, says the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, passed. A number of cities now have local sales taxes that exceed 10%. Several cities in “conservative” Orange County are likewise asking voters to approve various local tax increases. We won’t know until the deadline in August how ...
Blog
California Leads the Nation in Attacks on Its Own Communications Networks. Sacramento Should Act Like It.
California likes to lead. On this one, leading is nothing to brag about. New industry data released this summer counted 18,327 nationwide intentional attacks on communications networks, the cables, fiber lines, and towers that keep phones and internet working, in 2025. That’s a whopping 59 percent increase over the prior ...
Blog
From Sarajevo to the World Cup: Why Alliances Still Matter
That transformation also raises an important question as Americans reconsider our nation’s role in the world. In 1984, Sarajevo welcomed the world as host of the Winter Olympics. Back then the city represented a modern, multicultural Yugoslavia and an optimistic future. John Denver was there as part of the US ...
Blog
Buying local: The new push to legalize neighborhood businesses
Buying local: The new push to legalize neighborhood businesses by D. Dowd Muska | July 17, 2026 Your mission, NIMBYs, should you choose to accept it: Stop accessory commercial units, or ACUs. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have won bipartisan, pan-ideological support in blue and red states. But advocacy for ACUs — ...
Blog
‘Like, bye’: Two words that define Wilson’s start as Seattle mayor
Democratic socialist Katie Wilson took office as mayor of Seattle at the start of the year with big promises and lots of excitement. “We have to do big new things,” she said in her inaugural address. “And I’m going to be calling on all the brilliance and creativity and dedication ...
AI
Newsom Picked the Right Tool but the Wrong Playbook
Should government be doing deals like this? Yes. The free-market complaint about government has never been that it uses modern tools. Rather, the complaint is that government so often refuses to use them. Californians wait in DMV lines, stay on hold for hours with state agencies, and get stuck in ...
Blog
From the Summer of Love to the Summer of Likes
A few years ago, a flash mob meant gathering in a public place to dance, or engage in some harmless act of collective absurdity. The goal was novelty. The participants sought attention, but not victims. In May, approximately 200 teenagers gathered at The Pike in Long Beach after a meetup ...
Blog
How California’s Plastic Ban Could Change What Every American Buys
The Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, passed and signed in 2022, went into effect on May 1. It demands a lot. By 2032, every shred of single-use packaging and single-use plastic food service ware sold in the state has to be recyclable or compostable. The law covers not just ...
American suburbs are better than most people think
American suburbs are better than most people think By Randal O’Toole | July 24, 2026 Economist Noah Smith writes that suburbs are “not my personal cup of tea, but there are good reasons people like them.” Most of those reasons will be familiar to Antiplanner readers [and to readers of the Free Cities ...
California’s Missing Report: Why the State Needs an Annual State of the Criminal Justice System Report
Every year, state agencies, universities, advocacy organizations, and think tanks—including the Pacific Research Institute—publish valuable analyses of crime, courts, corrections, sentencing, policing, and public safety. Those reports shape legislation, influence budgets, and inform public debate. Yet despite this steady stream of research, California continues to revisit many of the same ...
California cities turn to tax hikes to deal with overspending
Two years ago, 125 local tax measures appeared on ballots. Ninety, says the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, passed. A number of cities now have local sales taxes that exceed 10%. Several cities in “conservative” Orange County are likewise asking voters to approve various local tax increases. We won’t know until the deadline in August how ...
California Leads the Nation in Attacks on Its Own Communications Networks. Sacramento Should Act Like It.
California likes to lead. On this one, leading is nothing to brag about. New industry data released this summer counted 18,327 nationwide intentional attacks on communications networks, the cables, fiber lines, and towers that keep phones and internet working, in 2025. That’s a whopping 59 percent increase over the prior ...
From Sarajevo to the World Cup: Why Alliances Still Matter
That transformation also raises an important question as Americans reconsider our nation’s role in the world. In 1984, Sarajevo welcomed the world as host of the Winter Olympics. Back then the city represented a modern, multicultural Yugoslavia and an optimistic future. John Denver was there as part of the US ...
Buying local: The new push to legalize neighborhood businesses
Buying local: The new push to legalize neighborhood businesses by D. Dowd Muska | July 17, 2026 Your mission, NIMBYs, should you choose to accept it: Stop accessory commercial units, or ACUs. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have won bipartisan, pan-ideological support in blue and red states. But advocacy for ACUs — ...
‘Like, bye’: Two words that define Wilson’s start as Seattle mayor
Democratic socialist Katie Wilson took office as mayor of Seattle at the start of the year with big promises and lots of excitement. “We have to do big new things,” she said in her inaugural address. “And I’m going to be calling on all the brilliance and creativity and dedication ...
Newsom Picked the Right Tool but the Wrong Playbook
Should government be doing deals like this? Yes. The free-market complaint about government has never been that it uses modern tools. Rather, the complaint is that government so often refuses to use them. Californians wait in DMV lines, stay on hold for hours with state agencies, and get stuck in ...
From the Summer of Love to the Summer of Likes
A few years ago, a flash mob meant gathering in a public place to dance, or engage in some harmless act of collective absurdity. The goal was novelty. The participants sought attention, but not victims. In May, approximately 200 teenagers gathered at The Pike in Long Beach after a meetup ...
How California’s Plastic Ban Could Change What Every American Buys
The Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, passed and signed in 2022, went into effect on May 1. It demands a lot. By 2032, every shred of single-use packaging and single-use plastic food service ware sold in the state has to be recyclable or compostable. The law covers not just ...