Urban Renewal
Free Cities
Watch: Video tour of Sacramento’s K Street
Watch as Steven Greenhut of the Free Cities Center tours Sacramento’s K Street – a poster child for the negative consequences of government planning dictates – with longtime former Capitol staffer and proponent for ending eminent domain abuse Richard Mersereau. They discuss how eminent domain and the lasting legacy of ...
Blog
An ode to the suburb
An ode to the suburb By Andrew Smith | January 4, 2024 Suburbs are considered the ugly stepchild of American urban design. They’re generally despised, considered bastions of conformity, derided as “cookie-cutter vinyl villages,” considered eyesores and blamed for virtually every malady that has affected urban America. But if they’re ...
Free Cities
Scott Beyer – Latin America’s Urban Experience
Our guest this week is Scott Beyer, founder of the Market Urbanist, a website that reports and researches innovative free-market policy solutions to the myriad of problems many cities are facing. Scott is the author of PRI’s new mini book: Latin America’s Urban Experience: How Markets Help Developing Countries Cope ...
Blog
Latin America Should Upgrade Rather Than Demolish ‘Favelas’
Latin America Should Upgrade Rather Than Demolish ‘Favelas’ By Scott Beyer | November 16, 2023 Some developing countries are making the same urban-renewal mistakes made by the United States in the post-war era. Sensible market-oriented policies can transform slums into safe and decent neighborhoods rather than simply displacing poor people. ...
Book
NEW BOOK RELEASE
Latin America’s Experience Shows How Markets Can Help Urban America Overcome Government-Created Problems
SACRAMENTO – Despite its socialist political traditions, Latin America offers some free market lessons for the West Coast’s urban centers on housing, transportation, government services and startup cities, finds a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click ...
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.
Watch: Video tour of Sacramento’s K Street
Watch as Steven Greenhut of the Free Cities Center tours Sacramento’s K Street – a poster child for the negative consequences of government planning dictates – with longtime former Capitol staffer and proponent for ending eminent domain abuse Richard Mersereau. They discuss how eminent domain and the lasting legacy of ...
An ode to the suburb
An ode to the suburb By Andrew Smith | January 4, 2024 Suburbs are considered the ugly stepchild of American urban design. They’re generally despised, considered bastions of conformity, derided as “cookie-cutter vinyl villages,” considered eyesores and blamed for virtually every malady that has affected urban America. But if they’re ...
Scott Beyer – Latin America’s Urban Experience
Our guest this week is Scott Beyer, founder of the Market Urbanist, a website that reports and researches innovative free-market policy solutions to the myriad of problems many cities are facing. Scott is the author of PRI’s new mini book: Latin America’s Urban Experience: How Markets Help Developing Countries Cope ...
Latin America Should Upgrade Rather Than Demolish ‘Favelas’
Latin America Should Upgrade Rather Than Demolish ‘Favelas’ By Scott Beyer | November 16, 2023 Some developing countries are making the same urban-renewal mistakes made by the United States in the post-war era. Sensible market-oriented policies can transform slums into safe and decent neighborhoods rather than simply displacing poor people. ...
NEW BOOK RELEASE
Latin America’s Experience Shows How Markets Can Help Urban America Overcome Government-Created Problems
SACRAMENTO – Despite its socialist political traditions, Latin America offers some free market lessons for the West Coast’s urban centers on housing, transportation, government services and startup cities, finds a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. Click ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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.
