Homelessness
California
CA homelessness goal pledged by Newsom lapses in failure today
Five years ago today, on May 11, 2021, California Gov. Newsom announced his plan to “end family homelessness within five years.” Any objective grader would give Newsom an F on homelessness, and Californians should be worried if the state elects any of the top Democrats running for governor who gave ...
Blog
Fact-Checking Katie Porter’s Homeless Claim
Porter made her point in response to Republican candidate Steve Hilton’s suggestion that homelessness could be mitigated primarily through drug abuse treatment. Porter, whose campaign has not responded with a request asking for her source, scolded Hilton. “You would learn in my bankruptcy and consumer protection class that the majority ...
Blog
BOOK EXCERPT Urban Policy Beyond the Nation’s Big Metros: Smaller-City Case Studies from California, Washington and Michigan
It’s easy to think that urban policy is solely about big cities and their surrounding suburbs, much in the way that one would naturally believe that farm policy is solely about farm regions. A quick perusal of the statistics suggests that America is indeed an urban nation despite its vast ...
Blog
Newsom has failed on homelessness, and it shouldn’t be hard so hard to spot.
“I’m a notoriously tough grader, but I would probably give him a B,” said former Congresswoman Katie Porter, who is also a professor at UC Irvine. “I don’t think this has been an easy problem to solve, but I give him a lot of credit for calling attention to the ...
Blog
California needs more oversight, not another homeless agency
California needs more oversight, not another homeless agency By Sarah Downey | March 20, 2026 As California continues to struggle with homelessness, state leaders are rebranding the bureaucracy by rolling out a different agency with many of the same players and goals. This comes after a series of distressing audits ...
Blog
No need for hysteria over federal cuts to homeless housing
The usually levelheaded CalMatters reported that the expected deep cuts are the “latest blow in a seemingly endless barrage of bad news for the California agencies tasked with fighting homelessness.” The “news has sent counties throughout California into a panic” and they are “bracing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars,” the ...
Blog
Read about San José's transformation under Mayor Mahan
San José Mayor Shows Market-Based Ideas Can Improve Urban Quality of Life
Major cities in California have decayed in recent years as elected officials and city bureaucrats have doubled down on a mix of government mandates, excessive regulations, high fees and lax enforcement of public safety laws that have created an unattractive quality of life driving away businesses, jobs, tax revenue and ...
Blog
Mayor Daniel Lurie slashes red tape in San Francisco
Mayor Daniel Lurie slashes red tape in San Francisco By Sal Rodriguez | September 15, 2025 Since taking office in January, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has made streamlining his city’s notoriously challenging regulatory processes a top priority. In February, Lurie established PermitSF, a multi-agency effort tasked with speeding up ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
L.A. homeless counts fall before World Cup, Olympics
According to the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count from July, “For the second straight year, homelessness is down across Los Angeles County, falling 4% to 72,308. Homelessness also declined in the city of Los Angeles, falling by 3.4% to 43,699.” That contrasts with a 3% increase in California in ...
Blog
Learn about the latest Newsom plan on homelessness
Fixing Years Of Missteps On Homelessness
“There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets,” Newson said announcing the model ordinance. The plan would make it unlawful to set up camps “for the purpose of sleeping, lying, or sheltering one or more persons for more than three consecutive days or nights in the same location.” ...
CA homelessness goal pledged by Newsom lapses in failure today
Five years ago today, on May 11, 2021, California Gov. Newsom announced his plan to “end family homelessness within five years.” Any objective grader would give Newsom an F on homelessness, and Californians should be worried if the state elects any of the top Democrats running for governor who gave ...
Fact-Checking Katie Porter’s Homeless Claim
Porter made her point in response to Republican candidate Steve Hilton’s suggestion that homelessness could be mitigated primarily through drug abuse treatment. Porter, whose campaign has not responded with a request asking for her source, scolded Hilton. “You would learn in my bankruptcy and consumer protection class that the majority ...
BOOK EXCERPT Urban Policy Beyond the Nation’s Big Metros: Smaller-City Case Studies from California, Washington and Michigan
It’s easy to think that urban policy is solely about big cities and their surrounding suburbs, much in the way that one would naturally believe that farm policy is solely about farm regions. A quick perusal of the statistics suggests that America is indeed an urban nation despite its vast ...
Newsom has failed on homelessness, and it shouldn’t be hard so hard to spot.
“I’m a notoriously tough grader, but I would probably give him a B,” said former Congresswoman Katie Porter, who is also a professor at UC Irvine. “I don’t think this has been an easy problem to solve, but I give him a lot of credit for calling attention to the ...
California needs more oversight, not another homeless agency
California needs more oversight, not another homeless agency By Sarah Downey | March 20, 2026 As California continues to struggle with homelessness, state leaders are rebranding the bureaucracy by rolling out a different agency with many of the same players and goals. This comes after a series of distressing audits ...
No need for hysteria over federal cuts to homeless housing
The usually levelheaded CalMatters reported that the expected deep cuts are the “latest blow in a seemingly endless barrage of bad news for the California agencies tasked with fighting homelessness.” The “news has sent counties throughout California into a panic” and they are “bracing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars,” the ...
Read about San José's transformation under Mayor Mahan
San José Mayor Shows Market-Based Ideas Can Improve Urban Quality of Life
Major cities in California have decayed in recent years as elected officials and city bureaucrats have doubled down on a mix of government mandates, excessive regulations, high fees and lax enforcement of public safety laws that have created an unattractive quality of life driving away businesses, jobs, tax revenue and ...
Mayor Daniel Lurie slashes red tape in San Francisco
Mayor Daniel Lurie slashes red tape in San Francisco By Sal Rodriguez | September 15, 2025 Since taking office in January, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has made streamlining his city’s notoriously challenging regulatory processes a top priority. In February, Lurie established PermitSF, a multi-agency effort tasked with speeding up ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
L.A. homeless counts fall before World Cup, Olympics
According to the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count from July, “For the second straight year, homelessness is down across Los Angeles County, falling 4% to 72,308. Homelessness also declined in the city of Los Angeles, falling by 3.4% to 43,699.” That contrasts with a 3% increase in California in ...
Learn about the latest Newsom plan on homelessness
Fixing Years Of Missteps On Homelessness
“There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets,” Newson said announcing the model ordinance. The plan would make it unlawful to set up camps “for the purpose of sleeping, lying, or sheltering one or more persons for more than three consecutive days or nights in the same location.” ...