Housing

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Single-Family Homes Don’t Fulfill Everyone’s Dreams – Or Budgets

Single-Family Homes Don’t Fulfill Everyone’s Dreams – Or Budgets By Thomas Irwin | March 28, 2025 As the father of two young children, one of my primary roles is to be a sounding board for all kinds of desires from my children. These run the gambit from the ordinary and ...
Book

New Free Cities Book

New Book “The War on Suburbia” Challenges the Ideological Battle Against American Suburbs

SACRAMENTO – Acclaimed journalist and policy analyst Steven Greenhut released today his latest book, The War on Suburbia, a compelling examination of how urban planning, government policies, and ideological battles threaten the future of suburban living. Published by the Pacific Research Institute, this book offers a critical look at how policymakers, environmentalists, and urban ...
Blog

Office conversions can help address L.A.’s housing shortage

Even before the pandemic, such adaptive-reuse efforts were taking place. Lately it’s become more relevant given the escalation in housing costs along with low inventory across the residential marketplace. The Los Angeles wildfires also have provided impetus for this idea. It’s better for the environment when one doesn’t have to ...
Blog

Rent controls will slow rebuilding L.A. from the wildfires

The Wall Street Journal talked to Richard Green, director of the University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate. Restrictions he mentioned were California Coastal Commission restraints and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). And Proposition 13, the 1978 tax-limitation measure, left property as about the only area of ...
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 ...
Business & Economics

Housing Unaffordability Is A Policy Choice Not A Technology Problem

Trying to deflect the blame for the growing problem of housing affordability, politicians across the country are channeling their inner Captain Louis Renault and “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, the usual suspects are property landlords using algorithmic software to better understand the local market dynamics. Read the ...
California

Joe Kent – Lessons from Maui as LA Begins to Rebuild

This week, Joe Kent of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii joins us to share lessons learned from the Aloha State’s experience in rebuilding after the devastating Maui wildfires from a few years ago. It’s a conversation everyone who has been affected by the wildfires should listen to, especially as leaders ...
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 ...
Blog

Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery

Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery by Steven Greenhut  |  January 31, 2025 A week doesn’t go by that I don’t get at least one unsolicited offer for my property, typically from investors who don’t use a company name or last name. They often claim to have driven by the house ...
Blog

Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Six ways Trump administration will change urban policy

The following policy possibilities have been derived largely from Trump’s statements. Housing. “We’re going to open up tracks of federal land for housing construction,” the real estate magnate announced on Aug. 15 at a news conference. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.” He ...
Blog

Single-Family Homes Don’t Fulfill Everyone’s Dreams – Or Budgets

Single-Family Homes Don’t Fulfill Everyone’s Dreams – Or Budgets By Thomas Irwin | March 28, 2025 As the father of two young children, one of my primary roles is to be a sounding board for all kinds of desires from my children. These run the gambit from the ordinary and ...
Book

New Free Cities Book

New Book “The War on Suburbia” Challenges the Ideological Battle Against American Suburbs

SACRAMENTO – Acclaimed journalist and policy analyst Steven Greenhut released today his latest book, The War on Suburbia, a compelling examination of how urban planning, government policies, and ideological battles threaten the future of suburban living. Published by the Pacific Research Institute, this book offers a critical look at how policymakers, environmentalists, and urban ...
Blog

Office conversions can help address L.A.’s housing shortage

Even before the pandemic, such adaptive-reuse efforts were taking place. Lately it’s become more relevant given the escalation in housing costs along with low inventory across the residential marketplace. The Los Angeles wildfires also have provided impetus for this idea. It’s better for the environment when one doesn’t have to ...
Blog

Rent controls will slow rebuilding L.A. from the wildfires

The Wall Street Journal talked to Richard Green, director of the University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate. Restrictions he mentioned were California Coastal Commission restraints and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). And Proposition 13, the 1978 tax-limitation measure, left property as about the only area of ...
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 ...
Business & Economics

Housing Unaffordability Is A Policy Choice Not A Technology Problem

Trying to deflect the blame for the growing problem of housing affordability, politicians across the country are channeling their inner Captain Louis Renault and “rounding up the usual suspects”. In this case, the usual suspects are property landlords using algorithmic software to better understand the local market dynamics. Read the ...
California

Joe Kent – Lessons from Maui as LA Begins to Rebuild

This week, Joe Kent of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii joins us to share lessons learned from the Aloha State’s experience in rebuilding after the devastating Maui wildfires from a few years ago. It’s a conversation everyone who has been affected by the wildfires should listen to, especially as leaders ...
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 ...
Blog

Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery

Consumer-protection edicts will only slow LA recovery by Steven Greenhut  |  January 31, 2025 A week doesn’t go by that I don’t get at least one unsolicited offer for my property, typically from investors who don’t use a company name or last name. They often claim to have driven by the house ...
Blog

Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Six ways Trump administration will change urban policy

The following policy possibilities have been derived largely from Trump’s statements. Housing. “We’re going to open up tracks of federal land for housing construction,” the real estate magnate announced on Aug. 15 at a news conference. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.” He ...
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