Underused properties could be turned into affordable housing, community centers or sold to make new businesses.

All too often, cities diverge from enacting local regulations essential to public safety into unnecessary, subjective standards that instead serve as stumbling blocks for entrepreneurs.

Side by side in Minneapolis, we get to compare the effects of a very modest upzoning with those of stronger changes. The modest changes have resulted in few duplexes and triplexes; but where the city took a slightly bolder approach to loosening its zoning laws, developers have sought permits to build in significant numbers.

The problem is cities' overly optimistic assumptions to calculate their liabilities, including unrealistically high rates of return on pension fund investments. As a result, pension liabilities are significantly underestimated leading to chronic underfunding.

Governments across North America take on average nearly 14 percent of fare revenues in the form of sales taxes from riders, who are in a sense double-taxed because cities often also charge an operating fee to shared micromobility companies, a fee that is typically passed onto the consumer.