Blog
Blog
Converting offices to homes helps ease housing crunch
Converting offices to homes helps ease housing crunch By John Seiler | September 6, 2024 “There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.” —Jane Jacobs, author As cities in California and ...
Blog
Transit carried only 74.9% of 2019 riders in June
Transit’s failure to recover from the pandemic is due largely to its downtown-centric orientation in most urban areas. Before the pandemic, almost half of all transit commuters in the nation’s 50 largest urban areas worked downtown, and almost half of downtown workers commuted by transit whereas less than 6% ...
Blog
A Cruel Moment of Clarity
The police as of this writing have not identified the 17 year-old suspect who was arrested immediately after the shooting, saying only that he is from Tracy, California. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Tuesday filed attempted murder, robbery, and other charges against the suspect. It’s an election year and the ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS – Dim View: New PRI Poll Shows Just 4 out of 10 Voters Rate their Local School Boards Positively
As school boards grapple with issues ranging from poor student achievement scores in reading and math on state and national tests to widespread student behavior and discipline problems to ideological controversies, the public is less than happy with the performance of their school boards in the face of these challenges. ...
Blog
Does Oakland show any hope of exiting its doom loop?
Does Oakland show any hope of exiting its doom loop? by Matthew Fleming | August 30, 2024 Even before FBI agents raided the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in late June, it was safe to wonder: What the heck is wrong with Oakland? Defenders of the city point to ...
Blog
‘Vision Zero’ is latest utopian fad designed to frustrate drivers
As of February 2024, 59 U.S. cities had adopted Vision Zero, including 13 in California. Indianapolis is one of the latest to jump on the bandwagon, and it has already begun implementing some of its strategies. These include reducing speed limits to 20 mph and banning right turns on red ...
Blog
Read the latest on California's growing crime problem
Public Safety on the Edge – Law enforcement in California’s Fastest Growing County
On July 22, the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) published a research brief shedding new light on the problem of rural police staffing in California. So acute is the problem that two years ago, the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office made national news when it announced that staffing shortages ...
Blog
State Fair High Speed Rail Exhibit Shows Project That May Never Materialize in our Lifetimes
An HSR official told Newsweek that the showcase is “the culmination of years of construction progress, outreach, and community collaboration to make sure these trains and this system mirrors the diversity and vibrancy of the people who’ll ride it.” Too bad this grand “culmination” arrived so late. The project was ...
Blog
Spending Watch
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Blog
Read the latest on California's homeless crisis
Is drop in Sacramento homelessness a fluke or trend?
Officials reported a 29% decrease in overall homelessness in 2024 compared to 2022. But this coincides with a change in methodology in how people were counted, as well as a discrepancy between the count and what local nonprofits are finding on the ground. And one year does not make a ...
Converting offices to homes helps ease housing crunch
Converting offices to homes helps ease housing crunch By John Seiler | September 6, 2024 “There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.” —Jane Jacobs, author As cities in California and ...
Transit carried only 74.9% of 2019 riders in June
Transit’s failure to recover from the pandemic is due largely to its downtown-centric orientation in most urban areas. Before the pandemic, almost half of all transit commuters in the nation’s 50 largest urban areas worked downtown, and almost half of downtown workers commuted by transit whereas less than 6% ...
A Cruel Moment of Clarity
The police as of this writing have not identified the 17 year-old suspect who was arrested immediately after the shooting, saying only that he is from Tracy, California. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Tuesday filed attempted murder, robbery, and other charges against the suspect. It’s an election year and the ...
CAPITAL IDEAS – Dim View: New PRI Poll Shows Just 4 out of 10 Voters Rate their Local School Boards Positively
As school boards grapple with issues ranging from poor student achievement scores in reading and math on state and national tests to widespread student behavior and discipline problems to ideological controversies, the public is less than happy with the performance of their school boards in the face of these challenges. ...
Does Oakland show any hope of exiting its doom loop?
Does Oakland show any hope of exiting its doom loop? by Matthew Fleming | August 30, 2024 Even before FBI agents raided the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in late June, it was safe to wonder: What the heck is wrong with Oakland? Defenders of the city point to ...
‘Vision Zero’ is latest utopian fad designed to frustrate drivers
As of February 2024, 59 U.S. cities had adopted Vision Zero, including 13 in California. Indianapolis is one of the latest to jump on the bandwagon, and it has already begun implementing some of its strategies. These include reducing speed limits to 20 mph and banning right turns on red ...
Read the latest on California's growing crime problem
Public Safety on the Edge – Law enforcement in California’s Fastest Growing County
On July 22, the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) published a research brief shedding new light on the problem of rural police staffing in California. So acute is the problem that two years ago, the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office made national news when it announced that staffing shortages ...
State Fair High Speed Rail Exhibit Shows Project That May Never Materialize in our Lifetimes
An HSR official told Newsweek that the showcase is “the culmination of years of construction progress, outreach, and community collaboration to make sure these trains and this system mirrors the diversity and vibrancy of the people who’ll ride it.” Too bad this grand “culmination” arrived so late. The project was ...
Spending Watch
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending
California’s Expensive but Ineffective Income Support Spending Wayne Winegarden August 2024 Including federal, state, and local funds, California’s per capita spending on income support programs is 81 percent higher than the average expenditures for all other states – per capita spending of $3,869 compared to $2,141. These expenditures include “cash ...
Read the latest on California's homeless crisis
Is drop in Sacramento homelessness a fluke or trend?
Officials reported a 29% decrease in overall homelessness in 2024 compared to 2022. But this coincides with a change in methodology in how people were counted, as well as a discrepancy between the count and what local nonprofits are finding on the ground. And one year does not make a ...
