Free Republic

President Trump will stand with the suburban Americans who are being threatenedThe longer presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Joe Biden stays hidden in his basement, the further away he gets from everyday Americans. Only the left can get to him in his basement, and the result is a steady slide to politically disastrous positions. His most recent attack on the American people was his endorsement (or borrowing) of the Cory Booker-James Clyburn plan to use the federal government to destroy the suburbs by forcing changes imposed by Washington bureaucrats. The plan would seek to diversify American suburbs by withholding...

The Trump administration officially deep-sixed a secretive Obama-era scheme on Friday. That’s more good news for all Americans who appreciate the fundamental right of freedom to associate. As Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson declared, “President Donald Trump and I agree that the best run communities are the ones run locally. Today, we are tearing down the Obama Administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which was an overreach of unelected Washington bureaucrats into local communities.” Carson then hit the nail on the head: “The AFFH rule was a ruse for social engineering under the guise of desegregation, essentially...

President Donald Trump’s pledge to roll back an Obama-era regulation designed to eliminate racial disparities in the suburbs is drawing harsh criticism from fair housing advocates, who label it a blatant attempt to play racial politics and appeal to white voters in the final weeks before the election. They also consider it a empty political stunt, since the regulation he’s talking about eliminating never truly got started on the ground in the first place. The initiative, known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing or AFFH, is a provision of the Fair Housing Act that requires local governments and zoning boards to...

As the country grappled with the coronavirus pandemic, widespread shutdowns forced businesses to close – some permanently. With so many businesses closing at once, Americans were left searching for a way to make enough money to get by. As social distancing and working from home became the new normal, many jobless Americans turned to home-based businesses to put food on the table for their families. The good news for aspiring entrepreneurs is that the internet gives many the option to put their home spaces to productive use. Well, it would be good news if the government would just get out...

These days everybody seems to be talking about the Netflix documentary series ‘Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness’ and the eccentric character known as ‘Joe Exotic’. The series focuses on the little-known but deeply interconnected society of big cat conservationists and collectors in America, exploring the private zoos and sanctuaries they’ve set up for these unusual and deadly pets. Long before anyone ever heard of Mr. Exotic though, there was a real life Tiger Lady raising 450 pound Bengal tigers and terrifying local resident in the suburbs of Jackson, NJ During a New Jersey winter, wildlife sightings are not uncommon....

Politicians bemoan the lack of affordable housing, but their policies often create the problem. Look no further than Oregon, where restrictive zoning and mandates have yielded the lowest rate of residential construction in decades. Oregon’s population grew by nearly 400,000 between 2010 and 2019. But the state added a mere 37 housing permits for every 100 new residents, according to a report released last week by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. Economist Josh Lehner found that “while much of the attention is paid to rising housing costs, we know they are the symptom and not the cause of the...

Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not. The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on suburban lots in neighborhoods previously consisting of quiet streets and open green spaces. Proponents of “upzoning” say the changes are necessary because suburbs are bastions of segregation and elitism, as well as bad for the environment. The move, which aims to provide “affordable housing,” might be fiercely opposed by local officials throughout the state, who have deliberately created...

Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not. The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on suburban lots in neighborhoods previously consisting of quiet streets and open green spaces. Proponents of “upzoning” say the changes are necessary because suburbs are bastions of segregation and elitism, as well as bad for the environment. The move, which aims to provide “affordable housing,” might be fiercely opposed by local officials throughout the state, who have deliberately created...

Virginia House Del. Ibraheem Samirah introduced a bill that would override local zoning officials to permit multi-family housing in every neighborhood, changing the character of quiet suburbs.Oregon passed a similar bill, following moves by cities such as Minneapolis; Austin, Texas; and Seattle.Proponents say urban lifestyles are better for the environment and that suburbs are bastions of racial segregation. Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not.The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on...

First they came for our plastic grocery bags. Then they came for our plastic straws. Now they’ve come for our plastic water bottles at SFO. Yes, you read that right. Starting Tuesday, the sale of plastic water bottles will be banned at San Francisco International Airport, one of the few places they actually make sense. California has many dumb laws and statutes and bans, but this one is especially brainless—spurred by futile self-righteousness. After running late for your flight after a 30-minute security line only to have TSA confiscate your Fiji water bottle, you’ll now have to stop at a...

A Christian group is suing a Georgia county for withdrawing approval of the purchase of land for temporary housing of men recovering from addictions. Vision Warriors, defended by the American Center for Law and Justice, filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. It accuses the Cherokee County board of commissioners, including Harry Johnston, Steve West, Ray Gunnin, Benny Carter and Corey Ragsdale, of “deliberate and purposeful deprivation of plaintiff’s rights under the United States Constitution.” ACLJ said Vision Warriors was assured at least twice by the county’s zoning officials, including in writing, that it’s...

A form-based code is a land development regulation that fosters predictable built results and a high-quality public realm by using physical form (rather than separation of uses) as the organizing principle for the code. A form-based code is a regulation, not a mere guideline, adopted into city, town, or county law. A form-based code offers a powerful alternative to conventional zoning regulation. Several years ago, I wrote a series of articles for News with Views, explaining Sustainable Development. Today two of them are popping up regularly in the media. Back when I wrote these two articles, people would not believe...

In a bold move to address its affordable-housing crisis and confront a history of racist housing practices, Minneapolis has decided to eliminate single-family zoning, a classification that has long perpetuated segregation.

A property owner who illegally demolished a 1936 Twin Peaks house designed by a renowned modernist must rebuild an exact replica of the home rather than the much larger structure the property owner had proposed replacing it with, the City Planning Commission ruled this week. In a unanimous 5-0 vote late Thursday night, the commission also ordered that the property owner — Ross Johnston, through his 49 Hopkins LLC — include a sidewalk plaque telling the story of the original house designed by architect Richard Neutra, the demolition and the replica. The commission directive, unprecedented in San Francisco, comes more...

Fast Company reports on a Chicago company that is betting big on modular apartment construction. Just beyond the snowy streets and neatly packed three-flats of Chicago’s southwest side, the factory at 3348 South Pulaski appears like a low gray monolith, spanning nearly 10 normal blocks and serving as a boundary between the residential neighborhood and the city’s industrial freight hub. Inside, the Chicago general contractor Skender is setting up what amounts to an apartment factory: An assembly line that will crank into gear in the spring, producing standardized apartment units ready to be bolted into a steel-framed stack on a...

I keep thinking about the fact that everywhere you go, there are cemeteries. As we get more and more populated with people, more and more people will die. Eventually, I'm concerned that there will be so many dead people that we will run out of space to bury them and that they will then have to start tearing down houses of living people in order to find room to bury the dead. This might not happen in my lifetime but if it doesn't, I'll become part of the problem because they will have to find a spot to bury me....

If the U.S. economy is really doing so well, then why is homelessness rising so rapidly? As the gap between the rich and the poor continues to increase, the middle class is steadily eroding. In fact, I recently gave my readers 15 signs that the middle class in America is being systematically destroyed. More Americans are falling out of the middle class and into poverty with each passing day, and this is one of the big reasons why the number of homeless is surging. For example, the number of people living on the street in L.A. has shot up 75...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sent a clear message to millions of gun owners in California: You're living in a Second Amendment-free zone. In an order on Monday, without explanation or comment, the Court rejected a civil rights lawsuit brought by the Calguns Foundation and the Second Amendment Foundation. Those groups had hoped the justices would rule that the Second Amendment continues to apply even in the progressive enclaves of the left coast—and that law-abiding California residents possess the right to buy and sell firearms. Instead, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, a decision that underscores its...

ROCKLEDGE, FL (CBS Local) – A Florida community has rallied behind a mother of three who was ordered to remove a rainbow flag from her lawn. According to reports, an email was sent to the woman’s landlord, which compared the symbol of LGBTQ rights to the Confederate flag. Jennifer Raymond, a resident in the Ashwood Lakes subdivision of Rockledge, has reportedly flown the rainbow flag outside her family’s home for the last two years. Raymond told local reporters that her landlord recently received an email from a member on the neighborhood’s architectural review committee. The email claimed that Raymond’s flag...

Over the last decade, short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, HomeAway, and VRBO have expanded and provided an economic boom to many communities. Yet several localities are pursuing onerous zoning rules and other regulations that would restrict short-term rental activity. For many homeowners, short-term rental provides a critical source of additional income to help them pay their mortgages and to meet other financial obligations. States can protect their residents from overzealous, local bureaucrats with state pre-emption. Short-term rental helps local communities by growing the number of tourists that visit the area. A recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic...