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Transit bailout will only delay the day of reckoning

Transit bailout will only delay the day of reckoning By Steven Greenhut | June 29, 2023 It was inevitable that the California Legislature would bail out the state’s ailing public-transportation systems, which are facing dire fiscal crises as federal pandemic aid dries up. Although he had resisted a cash infusion ...
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California sends mixed messages on housing mandates

California sends mixed messages on housing mandates by Matt Fleming | June 22, 2023 Is California inching towards solving the housing crisis? Not exactly. But the same government that has perpetuated the crisis is at times taking modest actions to get out of the way. One of those ways began ...
Blog

Read about CA's war on suburbs

To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs

The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
Free Cities

Marc Joffe – How can California transportation policy better serve customers?

Transportation expert Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute joins Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center for a discussion of how to transform transportation policy in California to better serve customers and focus on transportation engineering rather than social engineering.  They also discuss the current state budget debate over a ...
Free Cities

Latest Free Cities Center video

Watch: How can California transportation policy better serve customers?

Watch transportation expert Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute tour the Walnut Creek BART station with Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center. They discuss how to transform transportation policy in California to better serve customers and focus on transportation engineering rather than social engineering.
Blog

Focus homeless aid on transformation, then affordability

Focus homeless aid on transformation, then affordability By Kenneth Schrupp | June 16, 2023 Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass is concentrating homeless assistance projects in high-rent areas where the homeless choose to congregate. This only perpetuates the homeless population’s reliance on government support. In spite of the hundreds of millions ...
Blog

Read latest about government overregulation

By managing growth, planners make cities less livable

While Euclidean zoning has been credited with segregating developments that have incompatible uses – a chemical plant next to a school or a landfill right up against a residential district, for a couple of examples – it has a record of going too far. In some cases, planners “decided that ...
Blog

Soaking rich homeowners fails in Los Angeles

Soaking rich homeowners fails in Los Angeles By Randal O’Toole  |  June 9, 2023 To help fund the $1.3 billion that Los Angeles’ City Council believes it needs to house the homeless, the city decided to impose a “mansion tax” of 4 percent on the sales of any homes or ...
Blog

Read excerpt from new Free Cities Center book

Providing us with the transportation that planners want

One need only spend a little time on a transit-oriented social-media page or reading the thoughts of urban-focused writers to detect a certain disdain toward the automobile, suburbia and the construction of road and freeway lanes. Such attitudes are not outliers, as any quick search of New Urbanist and pro-transit ...
Blog

Arizona and Colorado Report: Power-hungry cities kill pro-housing zoning-reform bills

Arizona and Colorado Report: Power-hungry cities kill pro-housing zoning-reform bills by Sal Rodriguez Colorado and Arizona had a shot at passing substantive reform of development-stifling land-use regulations this year. But both efforts went down in the last few months thanks in large part to fierce opposition from city governments, which ...
Blog

Transit bailout will only delay the day of reckoning

Transit bailout will only delay the day of reckoning By Steven Greenhut | June 29, 2023 It was inevitable that the California Legislature would bail out the state’s ailing public-transportation systems, which are facing dire fiscal crises as federal pandemic aid dries up. Although he had resisted a cash infusion ...
Blog

California sends mixed messages on housing mandates

California sends mixed messages on housing mandates by Matt Fleming | June 22, 2023 Is California inching towards solving the housing crisis? Not exactly. But the same government that has perpetuated the crisis is at times taking modest actions to get out of the way. One of those ways began ...
Blog

Read about CA's war on suburbs

To reduce costs, California also needs to build new suburbs

The three myths that have led to this predicament are the following: Nuclear power and natural gas power causes unacceptable harm to the environment; reservoirs and desalination plants cause unacceptable harm to the environment; and single-family homes nestled in sprawling suburbs cause unacceptable harm to the environment. These are myths. ...
Free Cities

Marc Joffe – How can California transportation policy better serve customers?

Transportation expert Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute joins Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center for a discussion of how to transform transportation policy in California to better serve customers and focus on transportation engineering rather than social engineering.  They also discuss the current state budget debate over a ...
Free Cities

Latest Free Cities Center video

Watch: How can California transportation policy better serve customers?

Watch transportation expert Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute tour the Walnut Creek BART station with Steven Greenhut of PRI’s Free Cities Center. They discuss how to transform transportation policy in California to better serve customers and focus on transportation engineering rather than social engineering.
Blog

Focus homeless aid on transformation, then affordability

Focus homeless aid on transformation, then affordability By Kenneth Schrupp | June 16, 2023 Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass is concentrating homeless assistance projects in high-rent areas where the homeless choose to congregate. This only perpetuates the homeless population’s reliance on government support. In spite of the hundreds of millions ...
Blog

Read latest about government overregulation

By managing growth, planners make cities less livable

While Euclidean zoning has been credited with segregating developments that have incompatible uses – a chemical plant next to a school or a landfill right up against a residential district, for a couple of examples – it has a record of going too far. In some cases, planners “decided that ...
Blog

Soaking rich homeowners fails in Los Angeles

Soaking rich homeowners fails in Los Angeles By Randal O’Toole  |  June 9, 2023 To help fund the $1.3 billion that Los Angeles’ City Council believes it needs to house the homeless, the city decided to impose a “mansion tax” of 4 percent on the sales of any homes or ...
Blog

Read excerpt from new Free Cities Center book

Providing us with the transportation that planners want

One need only spend a little time on a transit-oriented social-media page or reading the thoughts of urban-focused writers to detect a certain disdain toward the automobile, suburbia and the construction of road and freeway lanes. Such attitudes are not outliers, as any quick search of New Urbanist and pro-transit ...
Blog

Arizona and Colorado Report: Power-hungry cities kill pro-housing zoning-reform bills

Arizona and Colorado Report: Power-hungry cities kill pro-housing zoning-reform bills by Sal Rodriguez Colorado and Arizona had a shot at passing substantive reform of development-stifling land-use regulations this year. But both efforts went down in the last few months thanks in large part to fierce opposition from city governments, which ...
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