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Agriculture
Read about new state water law
SB 389: New water law wastes time in the race to save a valuable resource
Water rights in California are split into pre- and post-1914 categories with pre-1914 and riparian rights given supremacy over post-1914 rights. The pre-1914 and riparian rights are largely for surface water withdrawals – effecting streams, rivers, and tributaries throughout the state. In recent years, activists have called for a total ...
Blog
Read part 2 of 3 part series on Norway's prison system
Should California Really Be Following Norway’s Lead on Criminal Justice Reform? (Part Two)
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) measures post incarceration conduct three ways: rearrests, reconvictions, and returns to prison. The most recent study, published in April 2023, studies a cohort of inmates released in 2017/18 for a period of three years. A three-year period is generally accepted as adequate ...
Blog
School choice works
The BASIC Fund: Proof That School Choice Works, Even in California
Across the country, lawmakers in red and red-leaning states have enacted expansive school-choice laws. Arkansas, Iowa, Utah, Florida, Arizona, West Virginia, and North Carolina have adopted universal school-choice programs that allow parents to use government-funded education savings accounts to help fund their education expenses, including private-school tuition. It is often ...
Blog
California Bill Would Loosen Housing Rules Along the Coast
California bill would loosen housing rules along the coast National commentators always have a field day discussing the unusual new progressive legislation that California’s lawmakers send to the governor, with the latest eye-popping new law raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour. This year’s “crazy list” ...
Blog
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Privatized parks revitalize public spaces and neighborhoods
Recently, Zócalo Public Square, a media enterprise affiliated with Arizona State University, published an essay asking the question, “How public is your favorite public park?” The essay, written by Kevin Loughran, an assistant professor of sociology at Temple University, walks through the rise of private ownership or management of public ...
Blog
Read about latest Sacramento green overreach
Is Sacramento Going to Ban Classic Cars? Recent History Suggests It Might.
California, according to the Capitol Museum in Sacramento, “is the world’s first auto-civilization.” A PBS affiliate says “as an innovator and early adopter of freeways, California became the symbolic capital of car culture.” Just five years ago, Jalopnik reported that “California is one of the hottest beds of car culture ...
Blog
Read part 1 of 3 part series on Norway's prison system
Prisons – California Dreamin’, or a Norwegian Nightmare? (Part One)
Armed with reports of low recidivism rates – and apparently ignorant of California’s own recidivism statistics (except to say they are too high) – Gov. Newsom made reducing recidivism a focal point of his 2023 State of the State tour where one of his first stops was San Quentin Prison. ...
Blog
Crime is out of control in Oakland
And Now, On The Other Side Of The Bay …
San Francisco has become almost as famous for its serial store closings as its cable cars. Popular retailers, including Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Saks Off 5th, Anthropologie and Office Depot are shutting their doors because, well, they just can’t take it anymore. The thieves won. Across the water, on the east ...
Blog
How new city can change how California envisions its future: Part Two
How new city can change how California envisions its future: Part Two Edward Ring | September 29, 2023 Building a new city from scratch on 50,000 acres of cattle ranches is an audacious goal, even for the coterie of Silicon Valley billionaires who have been identified as behind the project. ...
Blog
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Modern take on ‘flophouses’ could ease homeless problem
Let’s first look at the current situation. This year’s approved budget for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in Washington is $253.3 million. San Francisco spends at least $1.4 billion a year on the problem. Yet that money doesn’t seem to be making a measurable dent in the problem. We ...
Read about new state water law
SB 389: New water law wastes time in the race to save a valuable resource
Water rights in California are split into pre- and post-1914 categories with pre-1914 and riparian rights given supremacy over post-1914 rights. The pre-1914 and riparian rights are largely for surface water withdrawals – effecting streams, rivers, and tributaries throughout the state. In recent years, activists have called for a total ...
Read part 2 of 3 part series on Norway's prison system
Should California Really Be Following Norway’s Lead on Criminal Justice Reform? (Part Two)
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) measures post incarceration conduct three ways: rearrests, reconvictions, and returns to prison. The most recent study, published in April 2023, studies a cohort of inmates released in 2017/18 for a period of three years. A three-year period is generally accepted as adequate ...
School choice works
The BASIC Fund: Proof That School Choice Works, Even in California
Across the country, lawmakers in red and red-leaning states have enacted expansive school-choice laws. Arkansas, Iowa, Utah, Florida, Arizona, West Virginia, and North Carolina have adopted universal school-choice programs that allow parents to use government-funded education savings accounts to help fund their education expenses, including private-school tuition. It is often ...
California Bill Would Loosen Housing Rules Along the Coast
California bill would loosen housing rules along the coast National commentators always have a field day discussing the unusual new progressive legislation that California’s lawmakers send to the governor, with the latest eye-popping new law raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour. This year’s “crazy list” ...
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Privatized parks revitalize public spaces and neighborhoods
Recently, Zócalo Public Square, a media enterprise affiliated with Arizona State University, published an essay asking the question, “How public is your favorite public park?” The essay, written by Kevin Loughran, an assistant professor of sociology at Temple University, walks through the rise of private ownership or management of public ...
Read about latest Sacramento green overreach
Is Sacramento Going to Ban Classic Cars? Recent History Suggests It Might.
California, according to the Capitol Museum in Sacramento, “is the world’s first auto-civilization.” A PBS affiliate says “as an innovator and early adopter of freeways, California became the symbolic capital of car culture.” Just five years ago, Jalopnik reported that “California is one of the hottest beds of car culture ...
Read part 1 of 3 part series on Norway's prison system
Prisons – California Dreamin’, or a Norwegian Nightmare? (Part One)
Armed with reports of low recidivism rates – and apparently ignorant of California’s own recidivism statistics (except to say they are too high) – Gov. Newsom made reducing recidivism a focal point of his 2023 State of the State tour where one of his first stops was San Quentin Prison. ...
Crime is out of control in Oakland
And Now, On The Other Side Of The Bay …
San Francisco has become almost as famous for its serial store closings as its cable cars. Popular retailers, including Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Saks Off 5th, Anthropologie and Office Depot are shutting their doors because, well, they just can’t take it anymore. The thieves won. Across the water, on the east ...
How new city can change how California envisions its future: Part Two
How new city can change how California envisions its future: Part Two Edward Ring | September 29, 2023 Building a new city from scratch on 50,000 acres of cattle ranches is an audacious goal, even for the coterie of Silicon Valley billionaires who have been identified as behind the project. ...
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Modern take on ‘flophouses’ could ease homeless problem
Let’s first look at the current situation. This year’s approved budget for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority in Washington is $253.3 million. San Francisco spends at least $1.4 billion a year on the problem. Yet that money doesn’t seem to be making a measurable dent in the problem. We ...
