A “new city” near the Bay Area has caught the popular imagination, for better or worse. What of “regular” planning?
APA Preview: The Central Valley Faces Growth Issues
A roundtable with planners from California’s Central Valley, in advance of the Cal APA conference in Fresno
The Perverse Economics of Los Angeles’s “Mansion Tax”
A well intentioned ballot measure to raise affordable housing funds from big-dollar real estate transfers could kill the housing Los Angeles needs most.
Yet Again, Culprits for Gentrification Escape Blame
A restaurant critic wonders if they deserve blame for furthering gentrification in San Francisco. It’s an interesting, and utterly counterproductive, question.
New Los Angeles Mayor Picks Unnecessary Fights over “Luxury” Housing
Los Angeles needs every type of housing. Mayor Karen Bass doesn’t know that yet.
The Top Stories of 2022
2022 was an unusually action-packed year in California planning
Rating California’s New Transit Lines and Extensions
New public transit lines, extensions, and major upgrades have been opening up all over California lately. CP&DR reviews the impacts of these transformative, and not-so-transformative, projects.
The Lawyer Behind The “Builder’s Remedy”
The attorney who is helping developers bring over 4,000 units to Santa Monica nearly overnight shares the nuances of the newly powerful Builder’s Remedy.
APA Conference: When Planners Wish Upon a Star
This week’s APA conference is located across the street from the “happiest place on earth” — with “place” in very ironic quotes. Here’s what Disneyland, and Disney’s latest “imagineering” efforts mean for planning today.
The Internal-Combustion Car Did Us A Favor
As California brings the gas-powered car era to a close, let’s remember: It was just awful enough, at just the right moment, to inspire a revolution in land use regulation.
Prop 13 Imprisons Californians in Their Homes
Los Angeles is actually ruled by stasis.
Why California Should Not, Cannot Solve Its Housing Crisis By Building New Cities
A recent essay advocates for the development of a new city in California to alleviate the state’s housing crisis. The argument needs a few tweaks.
The Metaverse Lands in Downtown Los Angeles
The more excited we get about the virtual world, the more the real world will suffer.
Let’s Retire Our Ideological Labels For Cities
Cities can be open to change and open to new residents, in whatever configuration suits them best. Or they can be closed, choosing to serve their own and hope that other people will find refuge in other places. Neither position bears on a city’s attitude towards peace and love–just on the number who can be loved.
The YIMBY-NIMBY Debate Gets ‘Uninteresting’
Labels like “YIMBY” and “NIMBY” may be crude—but so what? One of them wants to solve America’s housing crises. The other does not. Un-housed and under-housed people cannot wait for a perfect ideology to come along.
CP&DR’s Top Stories Of 2021
What is it about duplexes that make them such a popular topic? And why did only one CEQA case make the top five legal stories of the year?
Lancaster’s BLVD Delivers
An unlikely strip of urbanism in an unlikely place, The BLVD is a model more urban cities in California could learn from.