Free Cities
Free Cities
Yemi Mobolade and Brian Risley – How Colorado Springs is Letting Freedom Lead the Way
This week, as PRI releases its new documentary “Colorado Springs: Letting Freedom Lead the Way,” we present an extended cut of our interview with Mayor Yemi Mobolade and Councilman Brian Risley. They discuss how Colorado Springs has been so successful in lowering the cost of living and improving the quality ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Six ways Trump administration will change urban policy
The following policy possibilities have been derived largely from Trump’s statements. Housing. “We’re going to open up tracks of federal land for housing construction,” the real estate magnate announced on Aug. 15 at a news conference. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.” He ...
Blog
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan By Sal Rodriguez | January 24, 2025 California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a knack for putting forth “big hairy, audacious goals.” From his vow to end homelessness in San Francisco in 10 years, to deliver single-payer health care in California or ...
Free Cities
Watch the Free Cities Center documentary
Watch the Free Cities Center documentary, “Colorado Springs: Letting Freedom Lead the Way”
Colorado Springs ranked #3 nationwide and #1 in the west in PRI’s “Free Cities Index,” a ranking of America’s 50 largest cities for their pro-growth policies. “Talking to business owners, civic leaders, community activists and journalists, we found Colorado Springs to be a booming, thriving city thanks to a ...
Blog
Read the latest on the Southern California wildfire response
Rebuilding Los Angeles puts urbanism at a crossroads
Here’s a scenario, for example, that Californians might wish to avoid: The city of Altadena, previously a relatively low-density suburb with detached single family homes, is rebuilt with two-story townhomes along the narrow neighborhood streets, and three-story “luxury apartments” along the four-lane boulevards. There is inadequate street parking at this ...
Blog
Time to pursue emergency reforms to battle wildfires
Time to pursue emergency reforms to battle wildfires by Daniel M. Kolkey | January 15, 2025 Editor’s note: This article is adapted from the Pacific Research Institute’s 2021 book, “Saving California.” We’re reprinting this in the wake of the devastating Southern California wildfires, as its policy prescriptions provide a blueprint ...
Blog
An insurance emergency after officials let crisis fester
An insurance emergency after officials let crisis fester Horrific wildfires in Los Angeles have focused attention on California’s ongoing insurance troubles, but because of the state’s inaction its insurance industry is facing an “existential crisis,” as a recent New York Post headline put it. The Wall Street Journal quotes a ...
Blog
Anti-crime wave crashes over crime-soaked California cities
Anti-crime wave crashes over crime-soaked California cities by John Seiler | January 10, 2025 Like the tide moving in and out along its magnificent coastline, California’s crime policies oscillate between harshness and laxity, never getting it quite right. The crack epidemic and increase in violent crime of the 1980s led ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Los Angeles’ rezoning plan is too little, too late
The Citywide Housing Incentive Program mainly eases regulations in high-density residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors. According to City News Service, “The ordinance is aimed at encouraging developers to build more affordable housing units in exchange for certain breaks on their projects, such as heights and parking regulations.” It provides further ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
U.S. cities can learn from Stockholm’s citizen democracy
American cities are obviously a mess. They are plagued by crime, corruption, homelessness, drug addiction, failing schools and vast inequalities of wealth. The underlying problems aren’t rocket science. It’s partly due to our professional politicians, whose motivational interests often do not coincide with the common good of city residents. It ...
Yemi Mobolade and Brian Risley – How Colorado Springs is Letting Freedom Lead the Way
This week, as PRI releases its new documentary “Colorado Springs: Letting Freedom Lead the Way,” we present an extended cut of our interview with Mayor Yemi Mobolade and Councilman Brian Risley. They discuss how Colorado Springs has been so successful in lowering the cost of living and improving the quality ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Six ways Trump administration will change urban policy
The following policy possibilities have been derived largely from Trump’s statements. Housing. “We’re going to open up tracks of federal land for housing construction,” the real estate magnate announced on Aug. 15 at a news conference. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.” He ...
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan
LA needs fewer government rules, not a Marshall Plan By Sal Rodriguez | January 24, 2025 California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a knack for putting forth “big hairy, audacious goals.” From his vow to end homelessness in San Francisco in 10 years, to deliver single-payer health care in California or ...
Watch the Free Cities Center documentary
Watch the Free Cities Center documentary, “Colorado Springs: Letting Freedom Lead the Way”
Colorado Springs ranked #3 nationwide and #1 in the west in PRI’s “Free Cities Index,” a ranking of America’s 50 largest cities for their pro-growth policies. “Talking to business owners, civic leaders, community activists and journalists, we found Colorado Springs to be a booming, thriving city thanks to a ...
Read the latest on the Southern California wildfire response
Rebuilding Los Angeles puts urbanism at a crossroads
Here’s a scenario, for example, that Californians might wish to avoid: The city of Altadena, previously a relatively low-density suburb with detached single family homes, is rebuilt with two-story townhomes along the narrow neighborhood streets, and three-story “luxury apartments” along the four-lane boulevards. There is inadequate street parking at this ...
Time to pursue emergency reforms to battle wildfires
Time to pursue emergency reforms to battle wildfires by Daniel M. Kolkey | January 15, 2025 Editor’s note: This article is adapted from the Pacific Research Institute’s 2021 book, “Saving California.” We’re reprinting this in the wake of the devastating Southern California wildfires, as its policy prescriptions provide a blueprint ...
An insurance emergency after officials let crisis fester
An insurance emergency after officials let crisis fester Horrific wildfires in Los Angeles have focused attention on California’s ongoing insurance troubles, but because of the state’s inaction its insurance industry is facing an “existential crisis,” as a recent New York Post headline put it. The Wall Street Journal quotes a ...
Anti-crime wave crashes over crime-soaked California cities
Anti-crime wave crashes over crime-soaked California cities by John Seiler | January 10, 2025 Like the tide moving in and out along its magnificent coastline, California’s crime policies oscillate between harshness and laxity, never getting it quite right. The crack epidemic and increase in violent crime of the 1980s led ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Los Angeles’ rezoning plan is too little, too late
The Citywide Housing Incentive Program mainly eases regulations in high-density residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors. According to City News Service, “The ordinance is aimed at encouraging developers to build more affordable housing units in exchange for certain breaks on their projects, such as heights and parking regulations.” It provides further ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
U.S. cities can learn from Stockholm’s citizen democracy
American cities are obviously a mess. They are plagued by crime, corruption, homelessness, drug addiction, failing schools and vast inequalities of wealth. The underlying problems aren’t rocket science. It’s partly due to our professional politicians, whose motivational interests often do not coincide with the common good of city residents. It ...
