Lessons from three years covering California’s housing crisis. How the federal government could empower cities. We can create better neighborhoods with small-scale change at the same time as we work on bigger structural shifts. Five lessons from reporting on California housing: Before reporter Matt Levin moves on to a new gig, he shares his five lessons from reporting on California’s housing crisis, including: There are three housing crises, not one; you either believe in market-rate housing or you don’t; and the construction workers union has more power than you think. (Matt Levin | CalMatters) Federal policy could liberate cities: Democrats and Republicans use the federal government to regulate what cities and towns around the United States can do, albeit in different ways. But in the progressive tradition of the New Deal era, the incoming administration should empower local governments to implement policies such as local broadband and transportation policy without having to rely on hostile states. (Daniel Block | Washington Monthly)