Free Cities
Blog
Enviro law’s abusers continue to block urban housing
Enviro law’s abusers continue to block urban housing by John Seiler There are many reasons for California’s housing crisis, but a major problem everyone acknowledges, but never comes close to resolving, is the inability to advance reform of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA (pronounced See-Kwa). It thwarts the ...
Commentary
Sparking an urban revival by empowering the people
California is in trouble. Nowhere is this more evident than in its cities. Once bustling centers of commerce and culture now are showcases for dirty streets, empty storefronts and the homeless encampments. Many people would blame the present circumstance on the pandemic or our current economic woes, but these are ...
Blog
California pols push urbanism, as people flee cities
California pols push urbanism, as people flee cities Since the 1970s, California policy makers have embarked on a land-use strategy designed to promote “urbanism” – the idea that we all ought to live in dense housing developments, that suburban sprawl should be limited by government planning restrictions, and rural land should be ...
Blog
Rent control is destroying a city near you
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter stood on a vacant lot on Charlotte Street in the South Bronx, surrounded by empty, burned-out buildings, something reminiscent of Berlin at the end of World War II. The scene looked like something from a scene in “Escape from New York,” but Carter promised he ...
Agriculture
Can big cities become an agricultural hotbed?
Over 4 billion people have joined the global population in the last 50 years, putting stress on available farmland, water and fertilizer. At the same time, the capacity of the planet to absorb farm waste – toxic farm runoff contaminating aquifers and rivers – has stretched the limit. Nearly 8 ...
Blog
‘Housing First’ puts lofty goals above real-world results
Proponents of housing first claim that housing is a basic human right, and a permanent and stable home is the best platform from which to help people overcome the challenges that led to their homelessness, including the problems of mental illness and addiction. As a result of this premise, ...
Blog
About Free Cities Center
Cities throughout the West face rising crime, soaring housing costs, a sprawling homelessness crisis and devastated downtown areas following two years of COVID restrictions and the aftermath of destructive protests. Policymakers typically address these and other urban problems in a piecemeal fashion. They fail to understand what makes great cities ...
Free Cities
California Think Tank Launches New ‘Free Cities Center’ to Incubate Free Market Ideas to Improve Cities
Pacific Research Institute today launched the “Free Cities Center,” an ambitious initiative cultivating innovative ideas to improve urban life based around freedom and property rights – not government.
Book
NEW BOOK RELEASE – Back from Dystopia: A New Vision for Western Cities
NEW BOOK RELEASE Back from Dystopia: A New Vision for Western Cities Steven Greenhut Cities throughout the West face rising crime, soaring housing costs, a sprawling homelessness crisis and devastated downtown areas following two years of COVID restrictions and the aftermath of destructive protests. Policymakers typically address these and other ...
California
OC Rescue Mission: How a Private Charity is Turning Around Lives More Effectively Than Government
Watch video tour of the Orange County Rescue Mission and interview with president Jim Palmer to learn how the private charity is turning lives around more effectively than traditional government homeless programs.
Enviro law’s abusers continue to block urban housing
Enviro law’s abusers continue to block urban housing by John Seiler There are many reasons for California’s housing crisis, but a major problem everyone acknowledges, but never comes close to resolving, is the inability to advance reform of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA (pronounced See-Kwa). It thwarts the ...
Sparking an urban revival by empowering the people
California is in trouble. Nowhere is this more evident than in its cities. Once bustling centers of commerce and culture now are showcases for dirty streets, empty storefronts and the homeless encampments. Many people would blame the present circumstance on the pandemic or our current economic woes, but these are ...
California pols push urbanism, as people flee cities
California pols push urbanism, as people flee cities Since the 1970s, California policy makers have embarked on a land-use strategy designed to promote “urbanism” – the idea that we all ought to live in dense housing developments, that suburban sprawl should be limited by government planning restrictions, and rural land should be ...
Rent control is destroying a city near you
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter stood on a vacant lot on Charlotte Street in the South Bronx, surrounded by empty, burned-out buildings, something reminiscent of Berlin at the end of World War II. The scene looked like something from a scene in “Escape from New York,” but Carter promised he ...
Can big cities become an agricultural hotbed?
Over 4 billion people have joined the global population in the last 50 years, putting stress on available farmland, water and fertilizer. At the same time, the capacity of the planet to absorb farm waste – toxic farm runoff contaminating aquifers and rivers – has stretched the limit. Nearly 8 ...
‘Housing First’ puts lofty goals above real-world results
Proponents of housing first claim that housing is a basic human right, and a permanent and stable home is the best platform from which to help people overcome the challenges that led to their homelessness, including the problems of mental illness and addiction. As a result of this premise, ...
About Free Cities Center
Cities throughout the West face rising crime, soaring housing costs, a sprawling homelessness crisis and devastated downtown areas following two years of COVID restrictions and the aftermath of destructive protests. Policymakers typically address these and other urban problems in a piecemeal fashion. They fail to understand what makes great cities ...
California Think Tank Launches New ‘Free Cities Center’ to Incubate Free Market Ideas to Improve Cities
Pacific Research Institute today launched the “Free Cities Center,” an ambitious initiative cultivating innovative ideas to improve urban life based around freedom and property rights – not government.
NEW BOOK RELEASE – Back from Dystopia: A New Vision for Western Cities
NEW BOOK RELEASE Back from Dystopia: A New Vision for Western Cities Steven Greenhut Cities throughout the West face rising crime, soaring housing costs, a sprawling homelessness crisis and devastated downtown areas following two years of COVID restrictions and the aftermath of destructive protests. Policymakers typically address these and other ...
OC Rescue Mission: How a Private Charity is Turning Around Lives More Effectively Than Government
Watch video tour of the Orange County Rescue Mission and interview with president Jim Palmer to learn how the private charity is turning lives around more effectively than traditional government homeless programs.
