Urban Renewal

Blog

Greening the ‘food desert’ by farming vacant urban land

Greening the ‘food desert’ by farming vacant urban land Edward Ring | October 20, 2023 When it comes to food, America’s cities enjoy precarious abundance. We take for granted the remarkable system that allows us close proximity to chilled and gleaming shelves, loaded with apricots from Spain, avocados from Mexico, ...
Blog

Read latest from Free Cities Center

Privatized parks revitalize public spaces and neighborhoods

Recently, Zócalo Public Square, a media enterprise affiliated with Arizona State University, published an essay asking the question, “How public is your favorite public park?” The essay, written by Kevin Loughran, an assistant professor of sociology at Temple University, walks through the rise of private ownership or management of public ...
Free Cities

NEW FREE CITIES REPORT

New ‘Free Cities Index’ Ranks America’s Best and Worst Pro-Growth Cities

SACRAMENTO – Cities that promote pro-growth policies, encourage entrepreneurship, and efficiently provide core public services ranked at the top of a new “Free Cities Index” of the nation’s most 50 populous cities released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click ...
Book

New PRI Book Release

State Planners Focus Too Much on Social Engineering Rather Than Transportation Engineering

NEW PRI BOOK RELEASE PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST Re-Envisioning Our Approach to Transportation Planning Steven Greenhut State Planners Focus Too Much on Social Engineering Rather Than Transportation Engineering Focus Should Be Easing Gridlock, Not Prodding People Out of Cars State and local transportation officials are planning transportation projects around social engineering, ...
Agriculture

Urban Ag Promotes Healthy Food, Thriving Gardens

Urban Ag Promotes Healthy Food, Thriving Gardens MARCH 27, 2023 Watch as Steven Greenhut of the Free Cities Center tours City Slicker Farms in Oakland, an urban agriculture program that promotes access to healthy food, thriving gardens and urban green spaces.
Free Cities

PRI Sacramento Policy Conference – Reimagining Our Cities

This is the final podcast recording of PRI’s Annual Sacramento Policy Conference.  The theme of this panel discussion is “Reimagining Our Cities.” 
California

Watch: Videos from 2023 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference

Keynote Speaker: Keith Knopf of Challenges and Opportunities of Doing Business in California Keith Knopf, the president and CEO of The Raley’s Companies, shares how state policies like Prop. 47 and green mandates affect the challenges and opportunities of doing business in California. Success Stories Turning Around Urban Communities Watch ...
Book

Cities Can Save Money, Improve Services, Boost Economic Opportunity By Embracing Private Sector, Finds New PRI Book

NEW BOOK RELEASE Dynamism or Decay? Getting City Hall Out of the Way Sal Rodriguez Depending on what city you’re living in can make the difference between the success or failure of businesses and communities concludes a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market ...
Free Cities

Watch: How Art Can Improve Urban Life with Roberta Ahmanson

Watch as Steven Greenhut of PRI's Free Cities Center discusses how art can improve the quality of life in urban centers.
Blog

About Free Cities Center

Cities throughout the West face rising crime, soaring housing costs, a sprawling homelessness crisis and devastated downtown areas following two years of COVID restrictions and the aftermath of destructive protests. Policymakers typically address these and other urban problems in a piecemeal fashion. They fail to understand what makes great cities ...
Blog

Greening the ‘food desert’ by farming vacant urban land

Greening the ‘food desert’ by farming vacant urban land Edward Ring | October 20, 2023 When it comes to food, America’s cities enjoy precarious abundance. We take for granted the remarkable system that allows us close proximity to chilled and gleaming shelves, loaded with apricots from Spain, avocados from Mexico, ...
Blog

Read latest from Free Cities Center

Privatized parks revitalize public spaces and neighborhoods

Recently, Zócalo Public Square, a media enterprise affiliated with Arizona State University, published an essay asking the question, “How public is your favorite public park?” The essay, written by Kevin Loughran, an assistant professor of sociology at Temple University, walks through the rise of private ownership or management of public ...
Free Cities

NEW FREE CITIES REPORT

New ‘Free Cities Index’ Ranks America’s Best and Worst Pro-Growth Cities

SACRAMENTO – Cities that promote pro-growth policies, encourage entrepreneurship, and efficiently provide core public services ranked at the top of a new “Free Cities Index” of the nation’s most 50 populous cities released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click ...
Book

New PRI Book Release

State Planners Focus Too Much on Social Engineering Rather Than Transportation Engineering

NEW PRI BOOK RELEASE PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST Re-Envisioning Our Approach to Transportation Planning Steven Greenhut State Planners Focus Too Much on Social Engineering Rather Than Transportation Engineering Focus Should Be Easing Gridlock, Not Prodding People Out of Cars State and local transportation officials are planning transportation projects around social engineering, ...
Agriculture

Urban Ag Promotes Healthy Food, Thriving Gardens

Urban Ag Promotes Healthy Food, Thriving Gardens MARCH 27, 2023 Watch as Steven Greenhut of the Free Cities Center tours City Slicker Farms in Oakland, an urban agriculture program that promotes access to healthy food, thriving gardens and urban green spaces.
Free Cities

PRI Sacramento Policy Conference – Reimagining Our Cities

This is the final podcast recording of PRI’s Annual Sacramento Policy Conference.  The theme of this panel discussion is “Reimagining Our Cities.” 
California

Watch: Videos from 2023 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference

Keynote Speaker: Keith Knopf of Challenges and Opportunities of Doing Business in California Keith Knopf, the president and CEO of The Raley’s Companies, shares how state policies like Prop. 47 and green mandates affect the challenges and opportunities of doing business in California. Success Stories Turning Around Urban Communities Watch ...
Book

Cities Can Save Money, Improve Services, Boost Economic Opportunity By Embracing Private Sector, Finds New PRI Book

NEW BOOK RELEASE Dynamism or Decay? Getting City Hall Out of the Way Sal Rodriguez Depending on what city you’re living in can make the difference between the success or failure of businesses and communities concludes a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market ...
Free Cities

Watch: How Art Can Improve Urban Life with Roberta Ahmanson

Watch as Steven Greenhut of PRI's Free Cities Center discusses how art can improve the quality of life in urban centers.
Blog

About Free Cities Center

Cities throughout the West face rising crime, soaring housing costs, a sprawling homelessness crisis and devastated downtown areas following two years of COVID restrictions and the aftermath of destructive protests. Policymakers typically address these and other urban problems in a piecemeal fashion. They fail to understand what makes great cities ...
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