Urban Renewal

Improving cities better than subsidizing weight-loss drugs By Kenneth Schrupp | May 24, 2024 Legislation that would cover weight-loss drugs and surgery to mitigate the state’s ballooning weight crisis fortunately died in the Senate this year, but lawmakers still have productive ways to deal with a problem that’s leaving 28% ...

The number of socialist mayors going back more than three decades is, thankfully, low as a portion of all U.S. mayors. A few stand out: Ron Dellums was Oakland’s mayor from 2007 to 2011; Konstantine Anthony had a short run in Burbank, Calif., that ended last year; and, of course, ...

Post-COVID, are cities still the engines of civilization? Physicist Geoffrey West has called cities “the crucible of civilization.” That widely quoted metaphor is worth unpacking. A crucible is a mold that holds molten substances as they are cooling and gives them new form. The claim here is that cities are ...

Let the market decide the right number of parking spots By Kenneth Schrupp | April 5, 2024 First published in 2005, David Shoup’s “The High Cost of Free Parking” is, after nearly two decades, driving a national reconsideration of parking minimums. But while some cities from Austin to San Jose ...

A proposed new city in rural Solano County has generated significant interest and intrigue. Watch as the Free Cities Center’s Steven Greenhut explores the controversial new city effort with reporter Nick McConnell of the Vacaville Reporter and Free Cities Center contributor Edward Ring.    

Watch as Free Cities Center’s Steven Greenhut sits down with Professor William Anderson to discuss whether more subsidies for public transit are the key to improving urban living.

Cities can improve day-to-day life by freeing street vendors By Sal Rodriguez | January 19, 2024 As long as there have been street vendors, city bureaucrats have tried to stop them. Whether for protectionist reasons protecting brick-and-mortar businesses from competition or in response to exaggerated health concerns, such rules are ...

In 2024, will more cities relax the grip of progressive policy? by Kerry Jackson  |  January 12, 2024 Joel Kotkin of Chapman University recently posted a piece on Unherd in which he reports that, “​​Across America’s cities, voters are driving out progressives.” Encouraging, if true. Kotkin says that in Seattle, ...

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 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 ...