California Planning & Development Report

Bill Fulton says that California's new smart growth and climate change law doesn't really contain any new ideas, and it's unlikely to make a huge difference in California's growth patterns all by itself.

Paul Shigley reflects on the impact of a Starbucks closing in downtown Redding, a small town in northern California.

The Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair excited an entire generation about suburbia. At a meeting of the Citistates Group, policy wonks wondered whether it's possible to create a new vision of a Carbon-Free Futurama.

Although water is a natural resource and often discussed as such, the real issue for California is how water gets used. Bill Fulton argues that California has plenty of water. What it needs is political will to make the best use of the water.

When you live near raging wildfires, you begin to understand why the State of California spends nearly $1 billion a year on firefighting. You also start to see why some state lawmakers say it's time for more local responsibility.

It has been a long time since the State of California was a public policy innovator. But a draft plan for implementing a greenhouse gas reduction law places California right on the cutting edge.

A recent L.A. Times series suggests that we should build more Southern California freeways for long-distance commuters, and prevent additional job development in employment-heavy areas. Bill Fulton suggests a different approach.

Exeter, California, may lie off the beaten path and be little-known outside the southern San Joaquin Valley. But its thriving, spotless downtown would be the envy of most cities.

Election Day provided a big boost for proponents of redevelopment in California. A statewide measure to restrict use of eminent domain lost badly, while voters in San Francisco and Napa County showed support for redevelopment projects.

In California's Inland Empire, abandoned houses are plentiful- the fallout from the subprime mortgage mess. Bill Fulton reports on what some cites are doing to keep the abandoned houses from dragging down neighborhoods.

High gas prices and slowing construction rates in exurban areas may mean that the era of "driving until you qualify" for affordable housing may be over soon.

North Carolina bills itself as the "good growth state." But as North Carolina's population heads toward 10 million, the state's low-density pattern of development is straining the infrastructure.

There is very, very little new housing construction in most of California, where the number of housing starts is down 75% from the boom year of 2005. One result is layoffs for planners, building inspectors and plan checkers.

Despite planners' love-hate relationship with it, Las Vegas is a hotbed of great city-making, according to this post from California Planning and Development Report.

The Sacramento region has become a national model for smart growth planning. But what, asks Bill Fulton, will it take to make the region sustainable for decades to come?

Public officials and scientists are starting to say that adaptation to climate change is just as important as trying to stem climate change. One way to adapt is to embrace smart growth principles that reduce energy usage, according to this article.

California water quality regulators continue to levy ever-tougher standards for stormwater runoff. But the standards could impact development and cities in a way that is not best for the environment at large.

California's redevelopment agencies are feeling pressure on numerous fronts these days. Some may go out of business next year. Still, state lawmakers are considering giving the agencies authority to buy out subprime mortgages.

Twenty years ago, Los Angeles voters chose Tom Bradley's "world city" vision over a slow-growth councilman's carping about overdevelopment. Voters may face the same choice - and one of the same candidates - in 2009.

Although Tucson has only about 6 percent of the population of metropolitan Los Angeles, residents of the Arizona city fear California-style sprawl and water problems. So where are Tucson residents looking for answers? That's right, California.