Housing

Book

New Free Cities Book

Reforms to Increase Affordability, Homebuilding Would Go Far to Alleviate State’s Housing, Homeless Crises

SACRAMENTO – Rolling back policies that have created unaffordable costs of living and made homebuilding prohibitively expensive can alleviate the state’s housing and homeless problems, finds a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download ...
Blog

Read latest on SF's housing woes

So-Called Vacant Housing Tax Will Make SF’s Rental Housing Problems Even Worse

San Francisco’s residential vacancy rate is around 13% to 15%. Tens of thousands of housing units are unoccupied. Some might see this as merely the natural order of things, the market response to the conditions on the ground. But politicians, and a majority of voters – 54% –  believe it’s ...
Blog

Read the latest on California's housing crisis

Building infrastructure is key to lowering housing costs

Housing. Shelter. Room at the inn. A hearth and a home. From the moment neolithic humans emerged from caves to build structures in the open, they needed some place warm and dry to call home. It is a primal necessity and a prerequisite for civilization. This imperative is not lost ...
California

Is 2024 Finally The Year of a California Homebuilding Breakthrough?

On Jan. 1, a package of housing legislation that was passed in 2023 took effect. Will the results be a homebuilding boom? California’s housing gap is implausibly wide, so it’s going to require a historic effort to catch up. In 2015, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said that “on top of ...
Blog

Learn about latest effort to subvert free market housing reform

Protect property rights to boost housing and preserve history

When I came to Orange County in 1987 to write editorials for The Orange County Register, I rented an apartment in Huntington Beach about half a mile from the famous beach to the south. Half a mile to the west was Main Street, then a funky row of surfboard shops, ...
Blog

Shutting a homeless camp that resembled ‘Lord of the Flies’ – Part Two

Shutting a homeless camp that resembled ‘Lord of the Flies’ Part Two Political polarization shaped the battle over Spokane’s misnamed ‘Camp Hope’ Jeremy Lott | December 15, 2023 Jeffrey Finer is a lawyer who represented Jewels Helping Hands, one of the charities that was involved in bringing services to Spokane, ...
Blog

Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Portland overrules bureaucrats and streamlines permitting

Back in March 2021, city auditors issued a blunt assessment of the city’s permitting system. “Getting a building permit in Portland can be a frustratingly slow process,” the auditors concluded, noting the city had for years missed its own timeliness goals. “Delays can affect the economy and motivate property owners ...
Blog

Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

The state’s housing shortages have consequences

Due to a combination of population growth and a slow response by the home-building industry, California had by 2020 fallen an estimated 3.5-million units short of what was needed to bring supply into balance with demand. Since that time, the gap has narrowed by half, with the state logging a net population loss ...
Blog

Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Tejon Ranch’s CEQA battle offers warning for new Solano city

To cope with an ongoing and severe housing shortage, California’s Legislature has passed laws that override local zoning laws to make it easier for developers to construct high-density “infill” projects within existing cities. What California’s policymakers have not done, however, is encourage the development of new cities on raw land. One such ...
Blog

Freedom – Not Density – Should Drive Land-Use Decisions

Freedom – Not Density – Should Drive Land-Use Decisions By Steven Greenhut | November 10, 2023 SACRAMENTO – California has in recent years embarked on a remarkable legislative journey that has seen some of the state’s most-onerous land-use regulations rolled back. Lawmakers have recognized that government restrictions are the key ...
Book

New Free Cities Book

Reforms to Increase Affordability, Homebuilding Would Go Far to Alleviate State’s Housing, Homeless Crises

SACRAMENTO – Rolling back policies that have created unaffordable costs of living and made homebuilding prohibitively expensive can alleviate the state’s housing and homeless problems, finds a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click here to download ...
Blog

Read latest on SF's housing woes

So-Called Vacant Housing Tax Will Make SF’s Rental Housing Problems Even Worse

San Francisco’s residential vacancy rate is around 13% to 15%. Tens of thousands of housing units are unoccupied. Some might see this as merely the natural order of things, the market response to the conditions on the ground. But politicians, and a majority of voters – 54% –  believe it’s ...
Blog

Read the latest on California's housing crisis

Building infrastructure is key to lowering housing costs

Housing. Shelter. Room at the inn. A hearth and a home. From the moment neolithic humans emerged from caves to build structures in the open, they needed some place warm and dry to call home. It is a primal necessity and a prerequisite for civilization. This imperative is not lost ...
California

Is 2024 Finally The Year of a California Homebuilding Breakthrough?

On Jan. 1, a package of housing legislation that was passed in 2023 took effect. Will the results be a homebuilding boom? California’s housing gap is implausibly wide, so it’s going to require a historic effort to catch up. In 2015, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said that “on top of ...
Blog

Learn about latest effort to subvert free market housing reform

Protect property rights to boost housing and preserve history

When I came to Orange County in 1987 to write editorials for The Orange County Register, I rented an apartment in Huntington Beach about half a mile from the famous beach to the south. Half a mile to the west was Main Street, then a funky row of surfboard shops, ...
Blog

Shutting a homeless camp that resembled ‘Lord of the Flies’ – Part Two

Shutting a homeless camp that resembled ‘Lord of the Flies’ Part Two Political polarization shaped the battle over Spokane’s misnamed ‘Camp Hope’ Jeremy Lott | December 15, 2023 Jeffrey Finer is a lawyer who represented Jewels Helping Hands, one of the charities that was involved in bringing services to Spokane, ...
Blog

Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Portland overrules bureaucrats and streamlines permitting

Back in March 2021, city auditors issued a blunt assessment of the city’s permitting system. “Getting a building permit in Portland can be a frustratingly slow process,” the auditors concluded, noting the city had for years missed its own timeliness goals. “Delays can affect the economy and motivate property owners ...
Blog

Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

The state’s housing shortages have consequences

Due to a combination of population growth and a slow response by the home-building industry, California had by 2020 fallen an estimated 3.5-million units short of what was needed to bring supply into balance with demand. Since that time, the gap has narrowed by half, with the state logging a net population loss ...
Blog

Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Tejon Ranch’s CEQA battle offers warning for new Solano city

To cope with an ongoing and severe housing shortage, California’s Legislature has passed laws that override local zoning laws to make it easier for developers to construct high-density “infill” projects within existing cities. What California’s policymakers have not done, however, is encourage the development of new cities on raw land. One such ...
Blog

Freedom – Not Density – Should Drive Land-Use Decisions

Freedom – Not Density – Should Drive Land-Use Decisions By Steven Greenhut | November 10, 2023 SACRAMENTO – California has in recent years embarked on a remarkable legislative journey that has seen some of the state’s most-onerous land-use regulations rolled back. Lawmakers have recognized that government restrictions are the key ...
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