Free Cities
Blog
Biden’s California Economy: Calling for national rent control
When running for president, Joe Biden often praised California’s governance and promised to nationalize many of the state’s policies. While Biden mostly has promoted the state’s infamous Assembly Bill 5, which was an attempt to largely outlaw independent contracting, the president also seeks to mimic the state in another way: ...
William L. Anderson
February 23, 2023
Blog
Progressives misread housing market with attack on investors
There seems to be mild panic regarding investors buying up housing. The Washington Post reported last year that, “investors bought a record share of homes in 2021,” almost “one in seven homes sold in America’s top metropolitan areas” as well as “the most in at least two decades.” Often the ...
Kerry Jackson
February 22, 2023
California
Michael Shellenberger – Sacramento “Ideas in Action” Policy Conference
Our guest this week is best-selling author Michael Shellenberger who gave the closing remarks at this year’s Sacramento policy conference. Michael is the author of San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities and Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All. He is cofounder of the California Peace Coalition, an alliance ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 21, 2023
California
Watch: Videos from 2023 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference
Keynote Speaker: Keith Knopf of Challenges and Opportunities of Doing Business in California Keith Knopf, the president and CEO of The Raley’s Companies, shares how state policies like Prop. 47 and green mandates affect the challenges and opportunities of doing business in California. Success Stories Turning Around Urban Communities Watch ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 20, 2023
Blog
Maze of red tape impedes urban business growth
Maze of red tape impedes urban business growth By Kerry Jackson | February 17, 2023 Humanity flourishes when it’s free. Minds innovate, human capital is liberated and the ambitious get to work when they’re not interrupted by restrictive licensing and other bureaucratic hurdles that pose impenetrable barriers to personal and ...
Kerry Jackson
February 17, 2023
Blog
California Has “Been There, Done That” on Push for Gas Stove Ban
California Has “Been There, Done That” on Push for Gas Stove Ban By Tim Anaya | February 16, 2023 News that the federal government is considering a ban on the sale of new gas stoves – “everything’s on the table” says a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner – sparked a ...
Tim Anaya
February 16, 2023
Book
Cities Can Save Money, Improve Services, Boost Economic Opportunity By Embracing Private Sector, Finds New PRI Book
NEW BOOK RELEASE Dynamism or Decay? Getting City Hall Out of the Way Sal Rodriguez Depending on what city you’re living in can make the difference between the success or failure of businesses and communities concludes a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 16, 2023
Blog
Mass transit in America: Pipedream or possibility?
A few years ago, when I taught at a university for a term in China, we lived in Changsha, a city of 7.5 million people. Because we didn’t have a car, we depended upon public transportation to get away from our campus and shop downtown. Especially attractive was the gleaming ...
William L. Anderson
February 15, 2023
Blog
Why California’s ‘affordable’ housing costs $1 million a unit
Why California’s ‘affordable’ housing costs $1 million a unit By John Seiler | February 10, 2023 A friend of mine is an executive in the construction industry. His company sometimes works on government projects, especially in Los Angeles. As a non-union shop, his company works under the rules of Project ...
John Seiler
February 10, 2023
Blog
California Chooses Flashy Projects Over Quality Transit
(Image Courtesy California High-Speed Rail Authority) Do California government officials want more public transit riders? If the decades-long decline of even local public transit ridership or the state’s continued funding of its infamous $113 billion and counting fantasy train from Los Angeles to San Francisco is any indication, the answer ...
Kenneth Schrupp
February 9, 2023
Biden’s California Economy: Calling for national rent control
When running for president, Joe Biden often praised California’s governance and promised to nationalize many of the state’s policies. While Biden mostly has promoted the state’s infamous Assembly Bill 5, which was an attempt to largely outlaw independent contracting, the president also seeks to mimic the state in another way: ...
Progressives misread housing market with attack on investors
There seems to be mild panic regarding investors buying up housing. The Washington Post reported last year that, “investors bought a record share of homes in 2021,” almost “one in seven homes sold in America’s top metropolitan areas” as well as “the most in at least two decades.” Often the ...
Michael Shellenberger – Sacramento “Ideas in Action” Policy Conference
Our guest this week is best-selling author Michael Shellenberger who gave the closing remarks at this year’s Sacramento policy conference. Michael is the author of San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities and Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All. He is cofounder of the California Peace Coalition, an alliance ...
Watch: Videos from 2023 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference
Keynote Speaker: Keith Knopf of Challenges and Opportunities of Doing Business in California Keith Knopf, the president and CEO of The Raley’s Companies, shares how state policies like Prop. 47 and green mandates affect the challenges and opportunities of doing business in California. Success Stories Turning Around Urban Communities Watch ...
Maze of red tape impedes urban business growth
Maze of red tape impedes urban business growth By Kerry Jackson | February 17, 2023 Humanity flourishes when it’s free. Minds innovate, human capital is liberated and the ambitious get to work when they’re not interrupted by restrictive licensing and other bureaucratic hurdles that pose impenetrable barriers to personal and ...
California Has “Been There, Done That” on Push for Gas Stove Ban
California Has “Been There, Done That” on Push for Gas Stove Ban By Tim Anaya | February 16, 2023 News that the federal government is considering a ban on the sale of new gas stoves – “everything’s on the table” says a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner – sparked a ...
Cities Can Save Money, Improve Services, Boost Economic Opportunity By Embracing Private Sector, Finds New PRI Book
NEW BOOK RELEASE Dynamism or Decay? Getting City Hall Out of the Way Sal Rodriguez Depending on what city you’re living in can make the difference between the success or failure of businesses and communities concludes a new book released today by the Free Cities Center at the nonpartisan, free-market ...
Mass transit in America: Pipedream or possibility?
A few years ago, when I taught at a university for a term in China, we lived in Changsha, a city of 7.5 million people. Because we didn’t have a car, we depended upon public transportation to get away from our campus and shop downtown. Especially attractive was the gleaming ...
Why California’s ‘affordable’ housing costs $1 million a unit
Why California’s ‘affordable’ housing costs $1 million a unit By John Seiler | February 10, 2023 A friend of mine is an executive in the construction industry. His company sometimes works on government projects, especially in Los Angeles. As a non-union shop, his company works under the rules of Project ...
California Chooses Flashy Projects Over Quality Transit
(Image Courtesy California High-Speed Rail Authority) Do California government officials want more public transit riders? If the decades-long decline of even local public transit ridership or the state’s continued funding of its infamous $113 billion and counting fantasy train from Los Angeles to San Francisco is any indication, the answer ...