Blog
Blog
Read part 3 of 3 part series on Norway's prison system
What Can California Learn from Norway’s Prison System? (Part Three)
Critics of the California (and presumably the entire US) correctional system) often point out that Norwegian correctional staff are not armed, and mix freely with inmates. Inmates attend religious services, practice yoga, sports, vocational skills, attend classes, and officers do not use martial terms or ranks. California’s facilities offer many ...
Blog
Will new California laws finally ease the housing shortage?
California’s twin housing and homelessness crises continue to fester. The Legislature in recent years passed some useful bills promoting housing construction by streamlining the local approval process, such as Senate Bills 9 and 10 from 2021. Yet cities remain plagued with homeless encampments. Housing prices, despite soaring interest rates that ...
Blog
‘Nail houses’ Serve as Monuments of Resistance to Planners
‘Nail houses’ serve as monuments of resistance to planners KERRY JACKSON | OCTOBER 13, 2023 Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously has said that outside of bombing it, rent control is the best way to destroy a city. Though not nearly as efficient as either of those, both planners and the ...
Blog
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Union-backed bills pose biggest challenges to cities
Cities are creatures of the state, so they have to obey. Residents are likely to suffer more and bigger potholes, further declining school test scores and higher taxes – meaning more people will flee the state or head to the suburbs. Here’s a look at some of the worst urban-related ...
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 ...
Read part 3 of 3 part series on Norway's prison system
What Can California Learn from Norway’s Prison System? (Part Three)
Critics of the California (and presumably the entire US) correctional system) often point out that Norwegian correctional staff are not armed, and mix freely with inmates. Inmates attend religious services, practice yoga, sports, vocational skills, attend classes, and officers do not use martial terms or ranks. California’s facilities offer many ...
Will new California laws finally ease the housing shortage?
California’s twin housing and homelessness crises continue to fester. The Legislature in recent years passed some useful bills promoting housing construction by streamlining the local approval process, such as Senate Bills 9 and 10 from 2021. Yet cities remain plagued with homeless encampments. Housing prices, despite soaring interest rates that ...
‘Nail houses’ Serve as Monuments of Resistance to Planners
‘Nail houses’ serve as monuments of resistance to planners KERRY JACKSON | OCTOBER 13, 2023 Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously has said that outside of bombing it, rent control is the best way to destroy a city. Though not nearly as efficient as either of those, both planners and the ...
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Union-backed bills pose biggest challenges to cities
Cities are creatures of the state, so they have to obey. Residents are likely to suffer more and bigger potholes, further declining school test scores and higher taxes – meaning more people will flee the state or head to the suburbs. Here’s a look at some of the worst urban-related ...
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 ...
