VTA's light rail system is widely considered one of the worst-performing in the country. BART's expansion to downtown SJ is riddled with dubious cost overruns and declining ridership projects. And now we learn: those empty metallic beasts will get extended to Eastridge. Mark Joffe at Cato Institute runs the numbers on local transit boondoggles—and it's not pretty.
Read MoreIf Bay Area Rapid Transit is such a broken, anachronistic system, why are we forking over the big bucks to extend it to downtown SJ? Even Bloomberg acknowledges that with its dismal ridership numbers, dearth of adequate funding, and declining credit score, BART has no business expanding to DTSJ and Santa Clara. Rather than hoping taxpayers will shell out additional dough to keep BART alive, the transit agency should consider closures and service cuts, says analyst Skylar Woodhouse.
Read MoreEdward Ring reports for American Greatness on what voters originally green-lit, way back in 2008, as a $33 billion endeavor: CA's high-speed rail project, now estimated to cost $127 billion. As taxpayer money melts into nought over decades, the HSR can hardly promise any environmental or communal benefits.
Read MoreAs SJ continues climbing out of its longtime drought status, Edward Ring reminds us in the WSJ that additional rainfall means nothing if we aren't adequately extracting and storing water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Such approaches would eliminate CA's water deficit without harming the environment.
Read MoreSupervisor Catherine Stefani voiced her concerns at a recent committee meeting that SF's chosen replacement for partner org UCHS—which is the Felton Institute—might be just as dangerous. FI has been accused of disrupting union organization via withholding raises, not-good-faith bargaining, and bullying behavior; yet SF still hedges on enforcing accountability in nonprofit partners' contracts. The SF Standard's report below.
Read MoreBarrier-free taxpayer-funded homeless housing is often lauded by the left as The Compassionate Approach. Housing First meets individuals where they're at, whether they're addicted to substances or experiencing a severe mental illness. However, the Daily Caller's roundup of recent stats tells a different story: Unrestricted housing policies have only seen increased rates of homelessness and death.
Read MoreSchool choice options are supported by many Californian families from a variety of political affiliations. In light of the CA Senate's education committee recently rejecting an educational savings account (ESA) bill, Jeffrey Carter explains on his Substack blog why supply side economics are, indeed, effective when applied to education.
Read MoreSeveral SF Democrats including long-loyal activist Cyn Wang were just denied charter for the new Westside Family Dem Club. Why? The Dems fear club leaders are Republicans in camouflage, as “family” is really code for “right wing.” This isn't the first time local Dem Central Committees have hastily ousted allies who behave slightly contra the hive mind. The SF Chronicle's analysis below.
Read MoreSan Jose’s Director of Housing will retire this July, with the City still in crisis mode regarding affordability and homelessness. According to Scott Beyer, head of the Market Urbanism Report, the City should look for a replacement with a dramatically different approach—one that rejects a hyper-regulated land-use and rental management regime, and embraces instead a deregulatory approach. Simply put: How about working with—not against—the market? An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreExperienced researcher of CA community colleges Christopher Jepsen breaks down Calbright: the emergent virtual-only CC institution making waves across the Golden State. Jepsen argues that despite online learning's benefits, local Bay Area brick-and-mortar CCs shouldn't be too concerned about "stolen" enrollment. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreMRCTV gives the details on what shouldn't be surprising to anyone, given how many high-profile companies are high-tailing it out of the SF Bay Area: A nationwide survey of CEOs reveals that California is considered the worst state for business. Not #25, not even #49, but dead last at #50.
Read MoreSometimes the local news cycle feels like a never-ending winter. Upright free speech is penalized for being offensive (as with the aggressive censureship of college district Trustee Reynoso), while discriminatory remarks are forgiven for being free speech (think: Los Gatos's walkback from disciplining Planning Commissioner Clark's anti-white remark). Negativity reigns, while hope appears to shy away. In Commentary, Bari Weiss exhorts free thinkers to retain courage and loudly reject untruths. To demand gov't transparency across the board. To push back against injustices with the heat of a bold, unstoppable, unyielding summer.
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