Housing
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‘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
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
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 ...
Blog
How new city can change how California envisions its future: Part One
How new city can change how California envisions its future: Part One Edward Ring | September 22, 2023 It’s not news that California has a housing shortage, nor are the reasons for this shortage a mystery. For decades, California has restricted exurban development, passed building codes that are the most ...
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Read latest for PRI's Free Cities Center
California cities face new challenges as their populations age
Back in 1990 I wrote several editorials in the Orange County Register criticizing Sen. Bob Dole’s Americans With Disabilities Act. I still think it was a bad idea that violated property rights and federalism. But now, dealing with arthritic knees at age 68, I’m using the amenities the ADA mandates ...
Blog
Free Market Reforms Can Alleviate the Housing Crisis
Cities: Let developers turn zombie malls into bustling housing
For commercial property owners and businesses, it can be a smart way to make better and more optimal use of antiquated properties. And for city leaders, it can be a way of revitalizing neighborhoods while bringing much needed housing online with less NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) backlash than normal. ...
Blog
Private city east of Bay Area could be a game-changer
Private city east of Bay Area could be a game-changer By Steven Greenhut | September 9, 2023 In one of the most-fascinating real-estate stories in American history, a secretive group of buyers purchased 30,000 acres of mostly swampland in central Florida in the 1960s. Hemmed in by urbanization at his ...
Blog
Read about latest push for rent control
Seattle rejects rent control in win for sound economics
It’s always a breath of fresh air when elected officials have a grasp on basic economics. On August 1, the Seattle City Council voted 6-to-2 to reject a rent control proposal from termed-out Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant. Sawant proposed a rent control trigger law that would impose a strict, ...
Blog
America’s future cities: A case for decentralization
America’s future cities: A case for decentralization As the virulence of the COVID pandemic subsided in 2020, a new phrase, “urban doom loop,” became a common way to describe the failure of America’s downtowns to recover economically. The concept is simple enough. As occupancy in downtown buildings declines, businesses 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 ...
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” ...
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 ...
How new city can change how California envisions its future: Part One
How new city can change how California envisions its future: Part One Edward Ring | September 22, 2023 It’s not news that California has a housing shortage, nor are the reasons for this shortage a mystery. For decades, California has restricted exurban development, passed building codes that are the most ...
Read latest for PRI's Free Cities Center
California cities face new challenges as their populations age
Back in 1990 I wrote several editorials in the Orange County Register criticizing Sen. Bob Dole’s Americans With Disabilities Act. I still think it was a bad idea that violated property rights and federalism. But now, dealing with arthritic knees at age 68, I’m using the amenities the ADA mandates ...
Free Market Reforms Can Alleviate the Housing Crisis
Cities: Let developers turn zombie malls into bustling housing
For commercial property owners and businesses, it can be a smart way to make better and more optimal use of antiquated properties. And for city leaders, it can be a way of revitalizing neighborhoods while bringing much needed housing online with less NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) backlash than normal. ...
Private city east of Bay Area could be a game-changer
Private city east of Bay Area could be a game-changer By Steven Greenhut | September 9, 2023 In one of the most-fascinating real-estate stories in American history, a secretive group of buyers purchased 30,000 acres of mostly swampland in central Florida in the 1960s. Hemmed in by urbanization at his ...
Read about latest push for rent control
Seattle rejects rent control in win for sound economics
It’s always a breath of fresh air when elected officials have a grasp on basic economics. On August 1, the Seattle City Council voted 6-to-2 to reject a rent control proposal from termed-out Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant. Sawant proposed a rent control trigger law that would impose a strict, ...
America’s future cities: A case for decentralization
America’s future cities: A case for decentralization As the virulence of the COVID pandemic subsided in 2020, a new phrase, “urban doom loop,” became a common way to describe the failure of America’s downtowns to recover economically. The concept is simple enough. As occupancy in downtown buildings declines, businesses that ...
