San Jose Mercury News

California Governor Gray Davis signed measures including one protecting coastal areas from land speculation.

A California bill awaiting approval is aimed at closing a state law loophole that, according to the bill supporters, that enables speculators to earn profits at the expense of taxpayers and not-for-profit groups.

The Home Depot takes its case directly to voters for a new store in Mountain View, California.

Old-growth trees on private land in California are vulnerable to logging. Will a 2002 ballot measure regulate logging on private land?

Though the dot com bubble may have burst, the housing crisis in Silicon Valley continues, with overcrowded conditions throughout the region.

Thanks to skyrocketing housing prices, San Quentin -- the oldest penitentiary in California -- may be razed and replaced with housing.

Disney is creating a resort in the center of the African forests -- in Florida.

How did the prosperity of the 1990s change the lifestyle of the nation? Highlights include longer commutes, bigger houses, and sprawling suburbs.

San Jose's downtown development needs courage to go beyond tired formulas and cliches.

A plan drafted with input from environmentalists and neighbors, aims to preserve wilderness and history in San Francisco's Presidio while allowing new development including hotels for bringing in tourists.

In Silicon Valley, a creative housing lottery has given some families the opportunity to own a home, though some participants walk away with crushed hopes.

Urban growth in Northern California is growaing at an alarming pace, according to a study by the California Department of Conservation.

Proposed legislation would establish penalties for California cities who are not in compliance with their housing element.

An editorial in the San Jose Mercury News suggests that more and more Californian's are favoring new transit oriented development ideas over the traditional autocentric commnunity.

President Bush may oppose a Clinton administration rule protecting national forests from logging and road-building.

Peninsula Open Space Trust, a private non-profit group is awarded two gifts of $50 million each to preserve scenic land along California's coast.

San Jose, CA, will reserve underused land for new apartments instead developing on vacant land. The decision is being praised for addressing the housing shortage while controlling sprawl.

A water shortage seems likely to compound the state's crippling electricity shortage.

Amid California's power crisis, the battle over the new Metcalf Energy Center heats up.

Roof gardens have been used in Europe for 25 years and can make a building more energy-efficient. Are they up to tackling the urban water runoff and urban heat island problems in U.S. cities?