Free Cities
Banking
Don’t bank on this financially illiterate idea going away
Don’t bank on this financially illiterate idea going away By Sal Rodriguez | August 3, 2023 Over the last few years, city officials in Los Angeles and San Francisco have flirted with the idea of establishing public banks to ostensibly support or facilitate the cause of the day. San Francisco ...
Blog
Read latest on California's failing transit systems
Transit systems battle crime to restore fallen ridership
Although I usually drive, sometimes I take the bus in Orange County, the last time a year ago. As you might expect in car-centric Southern California, almost all the other riders were poor people, some no doubt recent immigrants of unknown official status. I know many recent immigrants, and the ...
Blog
Harvesting Southern California rain can reinvigorate its cities
Harvesting Southern California rain can reinvigorate its cities By Edward Ring | July 27, 2023 It never rains in California But girl, don’t they warn ya? It pours, man, it pours —by Albert Hammond, 1972 “It Never Rains in Southern California“ Anyone who has experienced traffic on the Santa Monica ...
Blog
How local governments can prepare for a possible recession
A recession is beginning now, according to the June 22 Chapman Economic Forecast Update, the most accurate in the country for GDP prediction. Said President Emeritus Jim Doti at the event, “We’re pointing to a negative change in the third quarter and the fourth quarter and that’s the stuff of ...
Blog
What California can learn from African buses
What California can learn from African buses While the Golden State splurges on infrastructure, African cities show the greater efficiency of decentralized private transit. By Scott Beyer | July 20, 2023 California, faced with its long-infamous traffic problems, wants taxpayers to embrace transit. It has spent decades funding high-speed rail, ...
Blog
Read latest on state's housing crisis
‘Inclusionary zoning’ will only exacerbate the housing crisis
San Francisco’s inclusionary zoning laws require that when proposing residential developments of 10 or more units, developers must take at least one from a handful of actions to create housing for lower-income families, including setting aside a percentage of units to be sold or rented at below market rate (either ...
Blog
Southwest cities can continue freeing their housing markets through deregulation
This piece continues a two-part series review of the housing landscape in southwest cities. Part one linked here takes a look at the housing landscape in the states of Arizona and Colorado. Part two below looks to New Mexico and Utah, followed by the review’s conclusion. New Mexico In New ...
Blog
Getting back to work: strategies for permit and licensing reform
Getting back to work: strategies for permit and licensing reform By Anastasia Boden and Stephen Slivinski | July 13, 2023 Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from the Better Cities Project’s ‘Getting Back to Work’ – a blueprint for helping cities thrive following the COVID-19 disruptions. Although the ...
Blog
Southwest cities slowly freeing their housing markets
The southwest has not been immune to the “housing crisis” frequently talked about in more densely populated coastal states like California. Rising housing costs, which can put considerable strain on middle-class and lower-income individuals and families, have been aggravated and amplified by government policies constraining the ability of homebuilders to ...
Blog
Learn About "15-Minute" Cities
Trendy ‘15-minute cities’ get their 15 minutes of fame
But that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily as charming and practical as their devotees portray them to be. “A 15-minute city,” explains the National League of Cities, “enables residents to access most daily amenities within a 15- to 20-minute walk, bike or other mode of transportation from any point in a ...
Don’t bank on this financially illiterate idea going away
Don’t bank on this financially illiterate idea going away By Sal Rodriguez | August 3, 2023 Over the last few years, city officials in Los Angeles and San Francisco have flirted with the idea of establishing public banks to ostensibly support or facilitate the cause of the day. San Francisco ...
Read latest on California's failing transit systems
Transit systems battle crime to restore fallen ridership
Although I usually drive, sometimes I take the bus in Orange County, the last time a year ago. As you might expect in car-centric Southern California, almost all the other riders were poor people, some no doubt recent immigrants of unknown official status. I know many recent immigrants, and the ...
Harvesting Southern California rain can reinvigorate its cities
Harvesting Southern California rain can reinvigorate its cities By Edward Ring | July 27, 2023 It never rains in California But girl, don’t they warn ya? It pours, man, it pours —by Albert Hammond, 1972 “It Never Rains in Southern California“ Anyone who has experienced traffic on the Santa Monica ...
How local governments can prepare for a possible recession
A recession is beginning now, according to the June 22 Chapman Economic Forecast Update, the most accurate in the country for GDP prediction. Said President Emeritus Jim Doti at the event, “We’re pointing to a negative change in the third quarter and the fourth quarter and that’s the stuff of ...
What California can learn from African buses
What California can learn from African buses While the Golden State splurges on infrastructure, African cities show the greater efficiency of decentralized private transit. By Scott Beyer | July 20, 2023 California, faced with its long-infamous traffic problems, wants taxpayers to embrace transit. It has spent decades funding high-speed rail, ...
Read latest on state's housing crisis
‘Inclusionary zoning’ will only exacerbate the housing crisis
San Francisco’s inclusionary zoning laws require that when proposing residential developments of 10 or more units, developers must take at least one from a handful of actions to create housing for lower-income families, including setting aside a percentage of units to be sold or rented at below market rate (either ...
Southwest cities can continue freeing their housing markets through deregulation
This piece continues a two-part series review of the housing landscape in southwest cities. Part one linked here takes a look at the housing landscape in the states of Arizona and Colorado. Part two below looks to New Mexico and Utah, followed by the review’s conclusion. New Mexico In New ...
Getting back to work: strategies for permit and licensing reform
Getting back to work: strategies for permit and licensing reform By Anastasia Boden and Stephen Slivinski | July 13, 2023 Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from the Better Cities Project’s ‘Getting Back to Work’ – a blueprint for helping cities thrive following the COVID-19 disruptions. Although the ...
Southwest cities slowly freeing their housing markets
The southwest has not been immune to the “housing crisis” frequently talked about in more densely populated coastal states like California. Rising housing costs, which can put considerable strain on middle-class and lower-income individuals and families, have been aggravated and amplified by government policies constraining the ability of homebuilders to ...
Learn About "15-Minute" Cities
Trendy ‘15-minute cities’ get their 15 minutes of fame
But that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily as charming and practical as their devotees portray them to be. “A 15-minute city,” explains the National League of Cities, “enables residents to access most daily amenities within a 15- to 20-minute walk, bike or other mode of transportation from any point in a ...
