California Planning & Development Report

It's no surprise when voters in the college town of Davis, California, say no to a housing development. But it is a surprise when Modesto says "whoa" to growth, and when development-averse Santa Barbara and Ventura reject new controls.

Paul Shigley reports that Duany spoke to planners at an event in Sacramento, and has a new issue: the broken process for getting things built.

Now that Ed Roski's new stadium in the City of Industry is exempt from CEQA, Bill Fulton wonders whether California can deny the same competitive advantage to others.

Although climate change is a predominant issue for California's land use planners, they concede they are just making up new practices and lack the tools they really need. Paul Shigley reports from the CAL APA Conference.

Bill Fulton visits Portland, and comes back with six practical lessons that other cities can take from the 'planner's nirvana.'

Bill Fulton consults on a boulevard in Los Angeles, and concludes that sometimes the dense, mixed-use approach is too heavy-handed, particularly when transit is lacking.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cultivates the image of a climate change warrior. But the state budget he signed this week portrays very different priorities.

California's SB 375 attempts to require cities to develop in a way that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. But some cities say the new law is misguided, and the state should focus on zero-emission vehicles instead.

Last week, with a $4.5 million budget deficit and no development activity, the Petaluma City Council took the drastic step of eliminating its entire planning department.

The old saying is that he who has the gold, rules. The fact that Orange County motorists have a toll road carving through a magnificent canyon while rich folks in Malibu get to live next to scenic hillsides proves the rule, writes Bill Fulton.

For the first time since the Carter administration, Washington is in the position of paying for seemingly everything. But how will the federal government's spending affect growth in California? Not in the way you might think, says Bill Fulton.

The California Environmental Quality Act is being set aside for a handful of stimulus projects, but even when the project is to the benefit of the community many see the sidelining as silencing much-needed input.

Once the object of grand plans, L.A. county's Palmdale Regional Airport has tried in vain to sustain regular service and ease congestion at LAX. United's pullout in December leaves the future of regionalization in doubt.

California is now offering buyers of new housing units a $10,000 tax credit. The tax break was pushed hard by homebuilders, who say the measure should boost housing starts.

Twice in the last month, planning expert Bill Fulton has ridden public transit to and from large public events. In both cases, transit was far more effective than driving.

An investment group that bought the Queen Mary had big plans to redevelop the parking lots and moribund area around the grand ship. The difficult economy, however, appears to be jeopardizing those plans.

The deepening of the housing market crisis is certainly a big deal in California. But the land use story of the year was the Legislature's passage of a measure mandating regional planning.

In a surprising last-minute change, a new plan that outlines how California will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions does not include a concrete target for reductions attributable to less-sprawling land use patterns.

Glendale, California, has recently established an Urban Design Studio within its planning department to help developers create more appropriate, aesthetically appealing projects.

The issues posed by homeless people in downtown Riverside, California, are not out of the ordinary. But they definitely do not help the city's efforts to revitalize downtown.