Steven Greenhut
Blog
SF’s ‘Grand Central Station’ is more like a mausoleum
Advocates for San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Center have never lacked a sense of grandiosity about their goals. “The ability to envision the future and to transform aspirations into reality is what sets leaders apart,” boasted a glossy brochure published by the joint powers authority in charge of the project. “No ...
Blog
Read latest on BART's push for higher taxes
BART pushes to raise taxes to subsidize falling ridership
The pandemic is well behind us, yet transit ridership levels nationwide – and in the San Francisco Bay Area in particular – have only recovered somewhat from pre-pandemic levels. In fact, those pre-pandemic levels weren’t particularly great as transit ridership has been falling for years. Despite California’s reluctance to invest ...
Blog
Read latest about war on cars
Car wars and other progressive fantasies
Thanks to the wonders of social media, it’s easy to find large communities of car-loathing, bicycle-riding, transit-loving urbanists who view cars as “death machines” and insist they are the cause of every woe known to mankind. Many of these progressive scolds would love to ban them, or at least strictly ...
Blog
Learn about newly proposed Solano County city
New city’s fate will show if California is serious about housing
Surveys consistently show that owning a home is one of the keys to overall happiness, which no doubt explains why debates about housing prices are so emotional – and so dominant in the Legislature and at city councils. Thanks to low supply and the resulting price surges, many Californians now ...
Blog
Car-less cities campaign is the latest paternalistic fad
Car-less cities campaign is the latest paternalistic fad By Steven Greenhut | February 16, 2024 Many modern urbanists like to claim the great urban writer Jane Jacobs, author of “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” as one of their own. It’s easy to understand, given that Jacobs was ...
Blog
Creating a bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area transit
Creating a bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area transit By Steven Greenhut | January 26, 2024 Note: This is a longer version of an op-ed that ran earlier this week in the East Bay Times. When government agencies face daunting problems, it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to propose some “solution” ...
Commentary
A bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area’s transit problems
When government agencies face daunting problems, it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to propose some “solution” that amounts to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic — i.e., a pointless bureaucratic revamping that does nothing to address the obvious iceberg. The latest example involves the San Francisco Bay Area’s myriad transit ...
Blog
Lower costs – not subsidies – spur Sacto’s restaurant scene
Lower costs – not subsidies – spur Sacto’s restaurant scene By Steven Greenhut | December 22, 2023 When I moved to Sacramento in 2009, the city’s restaurant and nightlife scene was rather bleak. I recall roaming around downtown on an election night looking for an open bar, figuring Capitol staffers ...
Blog
Sorry, Urbanists, But Bicycles Will Never Save the Planet
Sorry, Urbanists, But Bicycles Will Never Save The Planet Steven Greenhut | December 4, 2024 SACRAMENTO – After my recent column chiding urbanists for their visceral dislike of suburbia and cars, I’ve been bemused by posts from a subset of their movement: hard-core bicyclists. Lots of people, myself included, enjoy an occasional ...
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 ...
SF’s ‘Grand Central Station’ is more like a mausoleum
Advocates for San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Center have never lacked a sense of grandiosity about their goals. “The ability to envision the future and to transform aspirations into reality is what sets leaders apart,” boasted a glossy brochure published by the joint powers authority in charge of the project. “No ...
Read latest on BART's push for higher taxes
BART pushes to raise taxes to subsidize falling ridership
The pandemic is well behind us, yet transit ridership levels nationwide – and in the San Francisco Bay Area in particular – have only recovered somewhat from pre-pandemic levels. In fact, those pre-pandemic levels weren’t particularly great as transit ridership has been falling for years. Despite California’s reluctance to invest ...
Read latest about war on cars
Car wars and other progressive fantasies
Thanks to the wonders of social media, it’s easy to find large communities of car-loathing, bicycle-riding, transit-loving urbanists who view cars as “death machines” and insist they are the cause of every woe known to mankind. Many of these progressive scolds would love to ban them, or at least strictly ...
Learn about newly proposed Solano County city
New city’s fate will show if California is serious about housing
Surveys consistently show that owning a home is one of the keys to overall happiness, which no doubt explains why debates about housing prices are so emotional – and so dominant in the Legislature and at city councils. Thanks to low supply and the resulting price surges, many Californians now ...
Car-less cities campaign is the latest paternalistic fad
Car-less cities campaign is the latest paternalistic fad By Steven Greenhut | February 16, 2024 Many modern urbanists like to claim the great urban writer Jane Jacobs, author of “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” as one of their own. It’s easy to understand, given that Jacobs was ...
Creating a bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area transit
Creating a bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area transit By Steven Greenhut | January 26, 2024 Note: This is a longer version of an op-ed that ran earlier this week in the East Bay Times. When government agencies face daunting problems, it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to propose some “solution” ...
A bigger bureaucracy won’t fix Bay Area’s transit problems
When government agencies face daunting problems, it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to propose some “solution” that amounts to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic — i.e., a pointless bureaucratic revamping that does nothing to address the obvious iceberg. The latest example involves the San Francisco Bay Area’s myriad transit ...
Lower costs – not subsidies – spur Sacto’s restaurant scene
Lower costs – not subsidies – spur Sacto’s restaurant scene By Steven Greenhut | December 22, 2023 When I moved to Sacramento in 2009, the city’s restaurant and nightlife scene was rather bleak. I recall roaming around downtown on an election night looking for an open bar, figuring Capitol staffers ...
Sorry, Urbanists, But Bicycles Will Never Save the Planet
Sorry, Urbanists, But Bicycles Will Never Save The Planet Steven Greenhut | December 4, 2024 SACRAMENTO – After my recent column chiding urbanists for their visceral dislike of suburbia and cars, I’ve been bemused by posts from a subset of their movement: hard-core bicyclists. Lots of people, myself included, enjoy an occasional ...
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 ...
