As California looks to increase the supply of housing, one of the more creative solutions emerged — and then died — during last year’s legislative session. Former Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, proposed a bill to let local governments sell off public golf courses for housing projects.
Golf courses are great for golfers, but aren’t accessible to families for hiking and picnics. As Reason Foundation noted on these pages last year, 24 of the 27 local California government-owned golf courses it identified through city budgets lost a total of $20 million operating them. Governments aren’t good at operating anything in an efficient manner. They should not be operating facilities that cater to a few, wealthier residents. Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize them.