Why Hollywood and the Housing Industry Need Each Other
Making movies and developing real estate are uncannily similar processes. In Los Angeles, they work at cross-purposes, to everyone’s detriment.
Imperial Valley Hopes for Lithium-Fueled Development Boom
The presence of lithium could lead to major developments in one of California’s more forlorn corners.
Book Review Roundup: A Literary and Scholarly Tour of California
California has been the subject of a slew of books recently. Here are some of the best.
Cities Look to Self-Certification to Break Permitting Logjams
Pressured to rebuild Pacific Palisades, the City of Los Angeles may adopt a rare policy to help developers and builders sidestep lengthy permitting processes that can delay production of new housing
Housing Crisis Caused by Much More than Zoning
USC demographer professor of planning Dowell Myers does not dispute these phenomena. But, according to a newly published study “Misalignment of Housing Growth and Population Trends: Cohort Size and Lagging Measurements Through Recession and Recovery,” they are actually tangential to deeper economic causes that have led to what he describes as not just a local housing crisis but, indeed, a national housing crisis
We Can’t Control Wildfires; We Can Only Reduce Vulnerability
There are times when Mother Nature – especially when abetted by climate change and drought – will do as she pleases. In those cases, all cities and residents can do is try to minimize the damage
We Don’t Have A Wildfire Crisis. We Have An Everything Crisis.
On the Palisades Fire, as observed from the edge of the evacuation zone
Warehouse Law May Duplicate Local Regulations
With the signing of Assembly Bill 98 last month, they may get it. But, it will potentially come at the cost of curtailing one of the state’s few post-pandemic economic development success stories. It may also give the state’s planners serious headaches.
Not Enough Shells For California’s Hermit Crabs
Populations change even if they don’t grow. That’s why California needs more housing even though the population is stagnant
Las Vegas’ Opportunity to Learn from California
Nevada officials want Las Vegas to expand even further, by opening federal land to development. As too many places in California illustrate, that’s a recipe for sprawl, but not for a better city
Western Joshua Tree Law May Slow Development In Desert
The state passed a law protecting the species after the Fish & Game Commission deadlocked on listing it. Critics say the mitigation fee of $300 to $2,500 per plant will make housing projects infeasible
California’s Housing Crisis Meets California’s Insurance Crisis
Insurance in wildfire areas is becoming harder to get — which should be a good thing for the state’s growth management policies. But it’s getting in the way of meeting the state’s housing targets
Searching for the Missing Middle
Los Angeles-based planner Max Podemski authors A Paradise of Small Houses, celebrating the history and future of working-class housing from row houses to triple-deckers to the dingbat
Costco Gets Creative with Mixed-Use Big Box
Using a clever combination of local and state housing incentives, Costco is getting into the housing business in South Los Angeles
Redevelopment Bill Dies But Housing Bills Move Forward
The vast majority of bills related to housing, planning, and transportation improvements are charging ahead this session. May 24 was the last day for bills to pass out of their respective houses of origin.
Solano County Braces for Vote on “California Forever” Development
Around 250,000 voters in Solano County will decide whether to welcome as many as 400,000 new neighbors. It is likely to be a serious test of “yes in my backyard” sentiment in California — or, in the case of Solano County — yes in my pasture, field, or rangeland.
Will Waymo Help Urbanism — Or Hurt It?
For nearly as long as I’ve followed planning and transportation, the running joke, recited in conference sessions and at happy hours, has been that self-driving cars are at least five years away — and always will be.