New York’s Self-Destruction: Rent Control – May 28, 2003
Rent control helps destroy New York, harming the poor and subsidizing the middle class..

Cheap houses? Not here – May 28, 2003
Manitoba housing are less affordable because incomes are lower than those in higher priced markets..

Rent Control Subsidizes Rich Manhattanites – March 15, 2003
If rental prices were completely deregulated, the median monthly rent of subsidized housing would increase by only $8 due to the expansion of the unregulated market.

Cracking the Code – January 5, 2003
New Jersey is unleashing the older inner city by relaxing building codes

Ontario Rent Control Lessons – December 21, 2002
Reader feedback on the damage caused by rent control in Ontario

Winnipeg’s Housing Bust – December 5, 2002
Despite the political spin that low house prices are an advantage, Winnipeg's low house prices are one more symptom of Manitoba's relative lack of economic growth.

Let's Worry about Stagnation, not Sprawl – December 5, 2002
An analysis of Winnipeg's population trends reveals we should be worried about the lack of growth, not "sprawl"

Fixing Winnipeg's Downtown – December 5, 2002
This December 2002 paper explores "big-picture" policy reforms to revitalize Winnipeg's high potential downtown. It kicks off the Frontier Centre's Winnipeg Policy Blueprint Project.

Lift Rent Control to Benefit Low Income Renters – December 4, 2002
Residential property owners pay higher property taxes because rent control reduces the assessed value of apartments, shifting the burden to homeowners. If rents were decontrolled and allowed to find their market level, the value and assessments of apartment buildings would go up and property tax receipts would follow the same direction. As taxes from apartments went up, taxes on homes would find their share of the burden fall. A perverse result of rent control is that it subsidizes high-income earners. Our least fortunate citizens in the core area in less well maintained, older properties (the ones rent control was supposed to protect) are paying rents similar to people in better areas. If rent controls were phased out, the rents in many of these properties would fall. Rent control hurts all property values, and removing it would spur the kind of reinvestment that is crucial to reversing the decline of the inner city.

A Conversation with John Norquist (On Cities) – October 25, 2002
The first of a two part interview with policy innovator Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist

How Rent Control Killed Affordable Housing in Winnipeg – October 9, 2002
Senior Policy Analyst Dennis Owens discusses how rent control hurts the poor

2002 Canada Property Tax Comparison – October 4, 2002
2002 comparison of effective residential property tax levels in major Canadian cities

Government Policy Hamstrings Downtown Revival – March 1, 2002
The Frontier Centre's offices are located in the Hammond Building, in Winnipeg's historic Exchange District.

Rent Control In Winnipeg – May 31, 2000
This short report discusses the damage caused by rent control in Winnipeg and suggests approaches to ease out of them

Rent Control Part of Winnipeg's Poor House Prices – May 31, 2000
Rent control reduces the value of apartments, increasing property taxes for home owners.

A Tale from the Public Policy Crypt – April 12, 1999
Although it's a lovely place, Manitoba's virtues do not include being on the cutting edge of public policy. But that has a bright side: tourist dollars from archaeologists who come to dig into our crypt of old, ineffective public policy ideas.