John Seiler
Blog
As EV Sales Lag, California Cities Double Down on Charging Stations
As EV Sales Lag, California Cities Double Down on Charging Stations California leads the charge to switch from petroleum-guzzling vehicles to electric cars. Cities and counties are grappling with the many problems involved in setting up charging stations in single-family homes, multi-family units and separate charging stations in shopping centers. ...
John Seiler
March 21, 2025
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 ...
John Seiler
March 5, 2025
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 ...
John Seiler
January 27, 2025
Blog
Anti-crime wave crashes over crime-soaked California cities
Anti-crime wave crashes over crime-soaked California cities by John Seiler | January 10, 2025 Like the tide moving in and out along its magnificent coastline, California’s crime policies oscillate between harshness and laxity, never getting it quite right. The crack epidemic and increase in violent crime of the 1980s led ...
John Seiler
January 10, 2025
Blog
Growing federal debt will take its toll on city budgets
Growing federal debt will take its toll on city budgets John Seiler | December 20, 2024 IT HAS TO END SOMETIME. The national debt has soared above $36 trillion – and counting. And when the party does end, cities are going to be hit. How hard is for the future. ...
John Seiler
December 20, 2024
Blog
Voters slam California with new local taxes and bonds
Voters slam California with new local taxes and bonds By John Seiler | December 6, 2024 California’s Nov. 5 election totals, finalized on Dec. 5 by county registrars, show voters slammed local taxpayers with around $2.3 billion in new direct tax increases. Plus $47.1 billion in new bond debt, which ...
John Seiler
December 6, 2024
Blog
ELECTION 2024 – California’s ballot measures could worsen homelessness
ELECTION 2024 California’s ballot measures could worsen homelessness John Seiler | October 31, 2024 On Nov. 5, voters in California cities can make the housing and homeless crises better – or worse. Alas, most likely the latter. They likely will pass the vast majority of local sales tax increases, school ...
John Seiler
October 31, 2024
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Democratic plan would bring turmoil to housing markets
A century ago, the federal government involved itself hardly at all in housing, leaving that to state and local governments, and the market. The major exception was housing on federal land, including the District of Columbia, other territories and military bases. That changed in 1937 when, as part of President ...
John Seiler
September 26, 2024
Blog
Converting offices to homes helps ease housing crunch
Converting offices to homes helps ease housing crunch By John Seiler | September 6, 2024 “There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.” —Jane Jacobs, author As cities in California and ...
John Seiler
September 6, 2024
Blog
Boom town or bust? Developers postpone new-city plan
The developers apparently ran into bad polling and a negative report from Solano County questioning funding sources for related infrastructure. Taking more time and getting the bureaucratic papers and all the infrastructure funding and governance details in order will address some of the arguments the NIMBYs (Not In My Back ...
John Seiler
July 30, 2024
As EV Sales Lag, California Cities Double Down on Charging Stations
As EV Sales Lag, California Cities Double Down on Charging Stations California leads the charge to switch from petroleum-guzzling vehicles to electric cars. Cities and counties are grappling with the many problems involved in setting up charging stations in single-family homes, multi-family units and separate charging stations in shopping centers. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Anti-crime wave crashes over crime-soaked California cities
Anti-crime wave crashes over crime-soaked California cities by John Seiler | January 10, 2025 Like the tide moving in and out along its magnificent coastline, California’s crime policies oscillate between harshness and laxity, never getting it quite right. The crack epidemic and increase in violent crime of the 1980s led ...
Growing federal debt will take its toll on city budgets
Growing federal debt will take its toll on city budgets John Seiler | December 20, 2024 IT HAS TO END SOMETIME. The national debt has soared above $36 trillion – and counting. And when the party does end, cities are going to be hit. How hard is for the future. ...
Voters slam California with new local taxes and bonds
Voters slam California with new local taxes and bonds By John Seiler | December 6, 2024 California’s Nov. 5 election totals, finalized on Dec. 5 by county registrars, show voters slammed local taxpayers with around $2.3 billion in new direct tax increases. Plus $47.1 billion in new bond debt, which ...
ELECTION 2024 – California’s ballot measures could worsen homelessness
ELECTION 2024 California’s ballot measures could worsen homelessness John Seiler | October 31, 2024 On Nov. 5, voters in California cities can make the housing and homeless crises better – or worse. Alas, most likely the latter. They likely will pass the vast majority of local sales tax increases, school ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Democratic plan would bring turmoil to housing markets
A century ago, the federal government involved itself hardly at all in housing, leaving that to state and local governments, and the market. The major exception was housing on federal land, including the District of Columbia, other territories and military bases. That changed in 1937 when, as part of President ...
Converting offices to homes helps ease housing crunch
Converting offices to homes helps ease housing crunch By John Seiler | September 6, 2024 “There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans.” —Jane Jacobs, author As cities in California and ...
Boom town or bust? Developers postpone new-city plan
The developers apparently ran into bad polling and a negative report from Solano County questioning funding sources for related infrastructure. Taking more time and getting the bureaucratic papers and all the infrastructure funding and governance details in order will address some of the arguments the NIMBYs (Not In My Back ...