Blog
Blog
How local governments can prepare for a possible recession
A recession is beginning now, according to the June 22 Chapman Economic Forecast Update, the most accurate in the country for GDP prediction. Said President Emeritus Jim Doti at the event, “We’re pointing to a negative change in the third quarter and the fourth quarter and that’s the stuff of ...
Blog
Crimes, Punishment, and Parole – Mass Releases and Mass Victimization
The use of the term “mass incarceration” is widely accepted to define the United States rate of incarceration in comparison to other countries. According to prisonpolicy.org, the US rate of incarceration is 664 per 100,000 population. In California, the rate was 549/100,000, which ranks 33 out of the 50 states. ...
Blog
Los Angeles Moves Forward with Public Bank Proposal
There are nearly 400 bank branches in the city of Los Angeles, according to one source. Another says there are about 325 branches and 63 banks. Whatever the true number is, it doesn’t seem the city is underserved, especially in an era in which banks don’t even have to have ...
Blog
The Dark Side Of California’s Solar System
The city of Los Angeles has a Department of Water and Power, the largest of its kind in the U.S. From this we are to understand that there is a synergistic connection between the two commodities. Yet one is crowding out the other in California’s race to an all-renewables electrical ...
Blog
What California can learn from African buses
What California can learn from African buses While the Golden State splurges on infrastructure, African cities show the greater efficiency of decentralized private transit. By Scott Beyer | July 20, 2023 California, faced with its long-infamous traffic problems, wants taxpayers to embrace transit. It has spent decades funding high-speed rail, ...
Blog
Read latest on state's housing crisis
‘Inclusionary zoning’ will only exacerbate the housing crisis
San Francisco’s inclusionary zoning laws require that when proposing residential developments of 10 or more units, developers must take at least one from a handful of actions to create housing for lower-income families, including setting aside a percentage of units to be sold or rented at below market rate (either ...
Blog
The Starbucks Index Shows California’s Growing Urban Crime Problem
For anyone who’s visited or lived in the American South, the much-loved Waffle House is everywhere. Open 24 hours, the Waffle House is known for its good service and consistent if not perhaps gourmet offerings. Of course, breakfast is served all day (and night). There are 1,981 Waffle Houses in ...
Blog
Learn what California needs to do on renewable energy
California Energy Lessons Waiting To Be Learned
California’s headlong rush toward an all-EV, zero-carbon-power-grid Camelot shows no signs of abating. It’s as if there are no possible alternatives. Of course, there are, but the signs can be hard to read while traveling at full speed. As so many of the planet’s 8 billion people know, because California ...
Blog
Southwest cities can continue freeing their housing markets through deregulation
This piece continues a two-part series review of the housing landscape in southwest cities. Part one linked here takes a look at the housing landscape in the states of Arizona and Colorado. Part two below looks to New Mexico and Utah, followed by the review’s conclusion. New Mexico In New ...
Blog
Getting back to work: strategies for permit and licensing reform
Getting back to work: strategies for permit and licensing reform By Anastasia Boden and Stephen Slivinski | July 13, 2023 Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from the Better Cities Project’s ‘Getting Back to Work’ – a blueprint for helping cities thrive following the COVID-19 disruptions. Although the ...
How local governments can prepare for a possible recession
A recession is beginning now, according to the June 22 Chapman Economic Forecast Update, the most accurate in the country for GDP prediction. Said President Emeritus Jim Doti at the event, “We’re pointing to a negative change in the third quarter and the fourth quarter and that’s the stuff of ...
Crimes, Punishment, and Parole – Mass Releases and Mass Victimization
The use of the term “mass incarceration” is widely accepted to define the United States rate of incarceration in comparison to other countries. According to prisonpolicy.org, the US rate of incarceration is 664 per 100,000 population. In California, the rate was 549/100,000, which ranks 33 out of the 50 states. ...
Los Angeles Moves Forward with Public Bank Proposal
There are nearly 400 bank branches in the city of Los Angeles, according to one source. Another says there are about 325 branches and 63 banks. Whatever the true number is, it doesn’t seem the city is underserved, especially in an era in which banks don’t even have to have ...
The Dark Side Of California’s Solar System
The city of Los Angeles has a Department of Water and Power, the largest of its kind in the U.S. From this we are to understand that there is a synergistic connection between the two commodities. Yet one is crowding out the other in California’s race to an all-renewables electrical ...
What California can learn from African buses
What California can learn from African buses While the Golden State splurges on infrastructure, African cities show the greater efficiency of decentralized private transit. By Scott Beyer | July 20, 2023 California, faced with its long-infamous traffic problems, wants taxpayers to embrace transit. It has spent decades funding high-speed rail, ...
Read latest on state's housing crisis
‘Inclusionary zoning’ will only exacerbate the housing crisis
San Francisco’s inclusionary zoning laws require that when proposing residential developments of 10 or more units, developers must take at least one from a handful of actions to create housing for lower-income families, including setting aside a percentage of units to be sold or rented at below market rate (either ...
The Starbucks Index Shows California’s Growing Urban Crime Problem
For anyone who’s visited or lived in the American South, the much-loved Waffle House is everywhere. Open 24 hours, the Waffle House is known for its good service and consistent if not perhaps gourmet offerings. Of course, breakfast is served all day (and night). There are 1,981 Waffle Houses in ...
Learn what California needs to do on renewable energy
California Energy Lessons Waiting To Be Learned
California’s headlong rush toward an all-EV, zero-carbon-power-grid Camelot shows no signs of abating. It’s as if there are no possible alternatives. Of course, there are, but the signs can be hard to read while traveling at full speed. As so many of the planet’s 8 billion people know, because California ...
Southwest cities can continue freeing their housing markets through deregulation
This piece continues a two-part series review of the housing landscape in southwest cities. Part one linked here takes a look at the housing landscape in the states of Arizona and Colorado. Part two below looks to New Mexico and Utah, followed by the review’s conclusion. New Mexico In New ...
Getting back to work: strategies for permit and licensing reform
Getting back to work: strategies for permit and licensing reform By Anastasia Boden and Stephen Slivinski | July 13, 2023 Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from the Better Cities Project’s ‘Getting Back to Work’ – a blueprint for helping cities thrive following the COVID-19 disruptions. Although the ...
