Blog
Blog
Don’t expect housing fixes from the federal government
The heat of a presidential election – especially one that’s seen highly unusual and disruptive events, from an attempted assassination attempt the late-stage replacement of a candidate – is rarely a good time to discuss nuanced policy. Less than 100 days from the vote, both candidates mainly toss out vague ...
Blog
Boom town or bust? Developers postpone new-city plan
The developers apparently ran into bad polling and a negative report from Solano County questioning funding sources for related infrastructure. Taking more time and getting the bureaucratic papers and all the infrastructure funding and governance details in order will address some of the arguments the NIMBYs (Not In My Back ...
Blog
Read about the proposed tax on link clicks
Free Markets, Not a New “Link Tax” Best Way to Preserve California Journalism
One of the most contentious issues at the end of the legislative session is the so-called “California Journalism Preservation Act” (Assembly Bill 886, by Asm. Buffy Wicks, D-Berkeley), which would require online platforms like Google and Meta (parent of Facebook) to pay for digital news content. Payments could be made ...
Blog
The Prop 47 Budgetary Shell Game – Who you Gonna Believe? Them, or your Lying Eyes?
In 2014, Californians voted overwhelmingly to pass Proposition 47, known by its supporters title the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” Prop 47’s advocates made a strong case, promising that both crime and incarceration rates would decline. At the same time, supporters argued that “massive” savings from ending the practice of ...
Blog
The good, bad and ugly: Lessons from India’s private city
The good, bad and ugly: Lessons from India’s private city Gurgaon, the large satellite city outside New Delhi, shows the tremendous upside, and a few pitfalls, of privatization. by Scott Beyer | July 24, 2024 Urban privatization – via “startup cities,” “competitive governance” and the like – has risen these ...
Blog
Why Dallas permits more housing than all of California
In April, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area permitted more housing than all of California, meaning that on a per-capita basis, DFW permitted five times as much housing as the Golden State. Given that interest rates are the same nationwide, how is one metro area permitting more new housing than the largest state in the ...
Blog
Learn about the high costs of California's green mandates
Los Angeles’ Costly Path to an All “Clean Power” Future
California’s energy transition is moving along about as smoothly as Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. Both are incoherent, have encountered hurdles they can’t scale and have made promises that can’t be kept. California’s race to produce greenhouse-gas emission-free power by 2045, for instance, has hit a snag in Los Angeles, where ...
Blog
Read the latest on California's homeless crisis
Newsom’s Veto a Strange Way to Show Support for “Transparency and Accountability”
Assembly Bill 2570, by Asm. Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, would have required state officials to prepare an annual audit evaluating the effectiveness of the state’s primary homeless grant program – the Homeless, Housing, Assistance and Prevention program. The bill would require the audit to be included in an annual report department ...
Blog
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions Matthew Fleming | July 18, 2024 History of SF’s myriad commissions The first 21 commissions were founded in 1898 with the city and county charter, but the list has ballooned to 115 today for the city of around ...
Blog
Transit agencies put lofty EV goals above riders’ needs
Perhaps few professional environmentalists read reports issued by the King County Auditor’s Office, but they ought to pay attention to one released last month. Called “Zero Emissions: Metro Transit Working to Mitigate Risks to County’s Ambitious 2035 Goal,” the report documented a phenomenon that climate warriors can no longer ignore: the “many ...
Don’t expect housing fixes from the federal government
The heat of a presidential election – especially one that’s seen highly unusual and disruptive events, from an attempted assassination attempt the late-stage replacement of a candidate – is rarely a good time to discuss nuanced policy. Less than 100 days from the vote, both candidates mainly toss out vague ...
Boom town or bust? Developers postpone new-city plan
The developers apparently ran into bad polling and a negative report from Solano County questioning funding sources for related infrastructure. Taking more time and getting the bureaucratic papers and all the infrastructure funding and governance details in order will address some of the arguments the NIMBYs (Not In My Back ...
Read about the proposed tax on link clicks
Free Markets, Not a New “Link Tax” Best Way to Preserve California Journalism
One of the most contentious issues at the end of the legislative session is the so-called “California Journalism Preservation Act” (Assembly Bill 886, by Asm. Buffy Wicks, D-Berkeley), which would require online platforms like Google and Meta (parent of Facebook) to pay for digital news content. Payments could be made ...
The Prop 47 Budgetary Shell Game – Who you Gonna Believe? Them, or your Lying Eyes?
In 2014, Californians voted overwhelmingly to pass Proposition 47, known by its supporters title the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” Prop 47’s advocates made a strong case, promising that both crime and incarceration rates would decline. At the same time, supporters argued that “massive” savings from ending the practice of ...
The good, bad and ugly: Lessons from India’s private city
The good, bad and ugly: Lessons from India’s private city Gurgaon, the large satellite city outside New Delhi, shows the tremendous upside, and a few pitfalls, of privatization. by Scott Beyer | July 24, 2024 Urban privatization – via “startup cities,” “competitive governance” and the like – has risen these ...
Why Dallas permits more housing than all of California
In April, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area permitted more housing than all of California, meaning that on a per-capita basis, DFW permitted five times as much housing as the Golden State. Given that interest rates are the same nationwide, how is one metro area permitting more new housing than the largest state in the ...
Learn about the high costs of California's green mandates
Los Angeles’ Costly Path to an All “Clean Power” Future
California’s energy transition is moving along about as smoothly as Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. Both are incoherent, have encountered hurdles they can’t scale and have made promises that can’t be kept. California’s race to produce greenhouse-gas emission-free power by 2045, for instance, has hit a snag in Los Angeles, where ...
Read the latest on California's homeless crisis
Newsom’s Veto a Strange Way to Show Support for “Transparency and Accountability”
Assembly Bill 2570, by Asm. Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, would have required state officials to prepare an annual audit evaluating the effectiveness of the state’s primary homeless grant program – the Homeless, Housing, Assistance and Prevention program. The bill would require the audit to be included in an annual report department ...
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions
Patronage or problem solving? San Fran debates its proliferation of iffy commissions Matthew Fleming | July 18, 2024 History of SF’s myriad commissions The first 21 commissions were founded in 1898 with the city and county charter, but the list has ballooned to 115 today for the city of around ...
Transit agencies put lofty EV goals above riders’ needs
Perhaps few professional environmentalists read reports issued by the King County Auditor’s Office, but they ought to pay attention to one released last month. Called “Zero Emissions: Metro Transit Working to Mitigate Risks to County’s Ambitious 2035 Goal,” the report documented a phenomenon that climate warriors can no longer ignore: the “many ...
