Urban Renewal

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Want to save cities? Then revamp urban schools

Want to Save Cities? Then Revamp Urban Schools There are many reasons for the decline of America’s cities, but one of the key reasons why many families flee older urban areas is because of the poor quality of urban public schools. Research has shown, however, that one way to reverse ...
Blog

The Very Thin Blue Line – Police staffing is down, and homicides are up

In Oakland in 2021, 133 people were killed and another 537 were shot, making Oakland one of California’s most dangerous cities. To put the numbers in perspective, more Oakland residents were killed per capita than the entire fatal casualties experienced by the US Armed Forces in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. ...
California

New Report Shows How “CEQA Gauntlet” Hinders Housing, School, Infrastructure, Climate Projects

With 3,000 prospective UC Berkeley students facing rejection due to a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit, the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute today released “The CEQA Gauntlet,” a new research project detailing how CEQA adds expense and delay to – and in some cases halts – critical California projects including ...
Blog

Mainstream Media Fuels False Narrative that SFPD Engages in Bad Conduct

Recently the San Francisco Chronicle again took aim at the SF Police Department accusing them of a litany of inaction, slow response times, and failure to investigate crimes concluding in a recent article: “What is the Police Department doing?  Too often, the answer is not much”. Some answers to their ...
California

Michael Shellenberger – San Fransicko

Our guest on this podcast is national bestselling author, Michael Shellenberger.  He recently spoke to PRI supporters at a luncheon in San Francisco on his new book: San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. Michael has witnessed San Francisco’s decline over the past 30 years as it struggles with lawlessness, homelessness, ...
Blog

Californians Are Growing Increasingly Concerned About Crime. What’s Behind the Change in Attitude?

Anecdotes of rising incidents of crime across California are too numerous to mention these days. While California had a regimen of tough-on-crime public safety laws on the books as late as a decade ago, the past decade has ushered in a dramatic shift in criminal justice policy that led to ...
California

Steve Smith – California’s Increasing Crime

In this podcast, our guest is Steve Smith, senior fellow in Urban Studies.  Steve is a recognized leader in education, training, law enforcement, and peacekeeping operations, with over 20 years of experience in domestic and international policing and investigations. He discusses the growing crime in California and other major cities ...
Blog

Can Newsom’s Project Homekey End Homelessness?

In 2001 due to a job change, I moved from Baltimore to San Francisco.  It was the Dot.com Boom, and like everyone else who was moving to the City by the Bay, I was desperately hunting for an apartment. Back then, it was common for two dozen people to be ...
Blog

What Crime Reports and Rates Don’t Tell Us

Last week the San Francisco Police Department issued its crime statistics report for 2021 also known as COMPSTAT.  Modeled on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and divided into two parts graded by seriousness they give us a picture of reported crime in the City of San Francisco.  Unlike the ...
Blog

Crime Victims Not Persuaded All’s Well in San Francisco

In a recent article – “We fact checked the most common claims about San Francisco crime”, the San Francisco Chronicle outrageously attempted to defend the state of crime in San Francisco as well as the recall facing District Attorney Chesa Boudin.   The Chronicle may feel that while crime is up, ...
Blog

Want to save cities? Then revamp urban schools

Want to Save Cities? Then Revamp Urban Schools There are many reasons for the decline of America’s cities, but one of the key reasons why many families flee older urban areas is because of the poor quality of urban public schools. Research has shown, however, that one way to reverse ...
Blog

The Very Thin Blue Line – Police staffing is down, and homicides are up

In Oakland in 2021, 133 people were killed and another 537 were shot, making Oakland one of California’s most dangerous cities. To put the numbers in perspective, more Oakland residents were killed per capita than the entire fatal casualties experienced by the US Armed Forces in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. ...
California

New Report Shows How “CEQA Gauntlet” Hinders Housing, School, Infrastructure, Climate Projects

With 3,000 prospective UC Berkeley students facing rejection due to a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit, the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute today released “The CEQA Gauntlet,” a new research project detailing how CEQA adds expense and delay to – and in some cases halts – critical California projects including ...
Blog

Mainstream Media Fuels False Narrative that SFPD Engages in Bad Conduct

Recently the San Francisco Chronicle again took aim at the SF Police Department accusing them of a litany of inaction, slow response times, and failure to investigate crimes concluding in a recent article: “What is the Police Department doing?  Too often, the answer is not much”. Some answers to their ...
California

Michael Shellenberger – San Fransicko

Our guest on this podcast is national bestselling author, Michael Shellenberger.  He recently spoke to PRI supporters at a luncheon in San Francisco on his new book: San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. Michael has witnessed San Francisco’s decline over the past 30 years as it struggles with lawlessness, homelessness, ...
Blog

Californians Are Growing Increasingly Concerned About Crime. What’s Behind the Change in Attitude?

Anecdotes of rising incidents of crime across California are too numerous to mention these days. While California had a regimen of tough-on-crime public safety laws on the books as late as a decade ago, the past decade has ushered in a dramatic shift in criminal justice policy that led to ...
California

Steve Smith – California’s Increasing Crime

In this podcast, our guest is Steve Smith, senior fellow in Urban Studies.  Steve is a recognized leader in education, training, law enforcement, and peacekeeping operations, with over 20 years of experience in domestic and international policing and investigations. He discusses the growing crime in California and other major cities ...
Blog

Can Newsom’s Project Homekey End Homelessness?

In 2001 due to a job change, I moved from Baltimore to San Francisco.  It was the Dot.com Boom, and like everyone else who was moving to the City by the Bay, I was desperately hunting for an apartment. Back then, it was common for two dozen people to be ...
Blog

What Crime Reports and Rates Don’t Tell Us

Last week the San Francisco Police Department issued its crime statistics report for 2021 also known as COMPSTAT.  Modeled on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and divided into two parts graded by seriousness they give us a picture of reported crime in the City of San Francisco.  Unlike the ...
Blog

Crime Victims Not Persuaded All’s Well in San Francisco

In a recent article – “We fact checked the most common claims about San Francisco crime”, the San Francisco Chronicle outrageously attempted to defend the state of crime in San Francisco as well as the recall facing District Attorney Chesa Boudin.   The Chronicle may feel that while crime is up, ...
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