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.
VOSD Podcast: Housing Is Everything for California’s Big Cities
In this bonus episode of the VOSD podcast, Andrew Keatts interviews journalist Josh Stephens about his book “The Urban Mystique” and some of the most pressing California housing issues.
Eli Broad, Urbanist
The great irony of the philanthropist’s life was that he made his billions on sprawl — and then poured it into making Los Angeles a more urban city.
The Phony Debate Over Wall Street and the Housing Crisis
Over the past few years, concerns about “Wall Street ownership” of houses in California has grown increasingly serious, with the The Blackstone Group being the poster child for a handful of finance companies that buy up single-family homes, often in disadvantaged areas, only to kick out tenants and increase rents.
The Future of Cities, Urban Life, and Social Cohesion with Josh Stephens
The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the rise of remote work, has brought significant speculation about the future of cities. In order to understand these shifts and trends, we spoke with urban planning expert Josh Stephens.
What Is Opposition To Duplexes Really About?
The only difference, then, between a duplex and a blissfuly detached single-unit home is the age-old anxiety about new residents who might not be quite as wealthy as the incumbent residents.