Demographics

Remote and Hybrid Work Continues Appeal in the US and Canada

nordstrom-downtown-SF-closing.jpg

Despite the continuing pressure from employers for employees to work on-site, working from home continues at a strong pace. Just released data from WFH Research indicates that 41.3% of US workers worked at home at least part of the time between March and June 2023.  read more »

Gen Z Moving Out of Cities

ChildreninSuburbs.jpg

Remember the young people who supposedly loved cities and rejected the suburbs? It turns out they are the ones who have been fleeing the cities since the beginning of the pandemic.  read more »

What America's Urban Exodus Means for San Francisco

SanFrancisco-twilight.jpg

Over the past few weeks, seemingly endless stories have detailed San Francisco’s continuing troubles, with its retail core collapse and high office vacancy rates being the latest areas of serious attention.  read more »

The Luckiest Country

Cumulus_Clouds_over_South-Dakota_Prairie.jpg

“There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children, and the United States of America.” ~ Otto Van Bismarck  read more »

Conversations with Dr. Pali Lehola

south_africa_pretoria_capital_historically_parliament_architecture_tourism_park-844041.jpg

Dr Pali Lehohla is the director of the Economic Modelling Academy, a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, a Research Associate at Oxford University, a board member of Institute for Economic Justice at Wits and a distinguished Alumni of the University of Ghana. He is the former Statistician-General of South Africa.  read more »

Secession Is a Threat Californians Should Take Seriously

secession-jefferson-county.png

At the height of the anti-Trump hysteria after 2016, Democrats in California talked often about “Calexit”, which would allow the Golden State to secede and, no doubt, form an ideal Ecotopia of its own.  read more »

Housing Report: Blame Ourselves, Not Our Stars

2023-housing-report.jpg

No issue plagues Californians more than the high cost of housing. By almost every metric—from rents to home prices—Golden State residents suffer the highest burden for shelter of any state in the continental U.S.  read more »

The Greatest Generational Conflict of All

James-Dean-1955.jpg

Ever since the phrase “the generation gap” was minted — by a headline writer at Look during the youth rebellion of the Sixties — trouble has been brewing. Today, there are two generational conflicts in play around the world  read more »

Democracy Does Not Die With Dispersion

top-of-the-rock_nyc-manhattan.jpg

With the COVID-19 pandemic declared over, a significant question for politicians, planners, and pundits alike is what to do with city centers and old urban cores after the pandemic pushed many Americans to move away from dense urban areas.  read more »

Cities of the West: An American Success Story, Part 2

colorado-river-compact-signing.jpg

Part one of this essay showed how the political tradition of Alexander Hamilton, Henry Clay, and Abraham Lincoln gave rise to the successful spread of American civilization  read more »