A Message from Mayor Matt

Long Story Short… Here’s what you need to know this week — in 30 seconds or less: Keep scrolling for all the data and details. Dear Neighbor, Hope fuels action. It’s won presidential campaigns, it’s ended wars, it’s powered scientific breakthroughs.  The absence of hope breeds stagnation. Because the moment we lose faith in progress,…
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Nat’l homelessness count way up; Why Housing First is to blame

January 14, 2025 Image by Jon Evans New research reveals that homelessness across the U.S. is up more than 10%, despite billions (mis)spent on addressing the crisis. Robert Marbut, former U.S. homelessness czar, says that the country’s Housing First policies—which effectively redirected monies away from treatment and towards expensive new housing—has exacerbated unprecedented levels of…
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Permanent Supportive Housing fails on most measures, research finds

August 18, 2022 Local nonprofit spokespeople recently took to the op-ed pages of local media to buttress SJ’s widely criticized Housing First and Permanent Supportive Housing strategies. Their rickety defense neglects crucial details on how barrier-free permanent housing is ineffective, costly, and wrongly targeted. Various expert sources below analyze PSH’s inadequacies to assist local communities. To receive daily updates of…
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Housing First, without services, doomed to fail

May 25, 2023 CityWatch LA’s Tim Campbell describes how barrier-free housing programs, such as what SJ and LA provide, are not successful if used independently of other support measures—especially substance abuse and behavioral interventions. Many SJ locals like past councilmember Johnny Khamis are calling for more comprehensive strategies to address homelessness. Housing First can be…
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Housing First

August 25, 2023 Data says: Housing First flounders on actually abating homelessness in CA/Utah The Cato Institute team parses outcomes from California’s and Utah’s Housing First policies, and wonders why pols keep pouring taxpayer funds into initiatives that have only seen elevated homelessness rates. Between 2016 and 2022, for instance, CA’s rose by 93%—so really,…
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☆ Supe Abe-Koga ignores cost/benefit analysis in an economically illiterate defense of disgraced Housing First policies

November 23, 2025 The burning of the Amazon Rainforest is a classic example of a common flaw in local government thinking–considering only the benefits of an action, regardless of its price. Image by Amazônia Real from Manaus AM, Brasil, CC BY 2.0 One of the biggest problems baked into Silicon Valley progressive governance is the systemic…
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A disaster in motion: California’s nightmare could be your reality

Dear John,  Picture this: tents on your streets, sky-high rents, shops closing, crime unchecked. That’s California today. And the worst part? Politicians think it’s a “blueprint” for every other state. Thank you, — Steve Hilton Authorized by Steve Hilton for Governor 2026
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Debating the definition of single-family zoning

April 5, 2021 Michael Brilliot of the SJ Planning Dept recently chided Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio for saying that San Jose’s proposed Opportunity Housing initiative would eliminate single family zoning in the city, even though the initiative would allow up to six units on lots currently zoned for single families. Brilliot publicly said PLO was…
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Maybe Houston’s getting it right and the Bay Area is all wrong

December 23, 2019 Affordable housing & living. Integrated communities. Booming economy. Increased densification. Scott Beyer of Market Urbanism takes on liberal snobbery about Houston’s urban success in Catalyst. “Anyone who advocates for “Market Urbanism”—aka free-market city policy—must grapple with a common response: “but then we’ll get a bunch of Houstons.” The implication is that Houston is…
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Zoned out: learning from Tennessee’s invisible affordability barrier

November 25, 2025 Image by IDuke, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons Driving restrictive land use means longer commutes, lost productivity, and even reduced wages. Studies estimate zoning missteps cut a staggering $1.6 trillion from Americans’ collective income annually. In crippled towns, lifting just three cities’ codes could lift real per-capita income 8%. The Tennessee…
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Happy Thanksgiving! New Items Are Coming Soon

We at Indy Competition Services take this time to wish each and every one a happy, healthy Thanskgiving holiday celebration!  Lotus Cars ushered in the rear engine revolution in Indy car racing in 1963. Soon UK constructors Brabham and Lola followed right behind. But there were American car builders who quickly picked up inspiration from…
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