California Planning & Development Report
Safe Streets Ballot Measure Runs Into Unexpected Opposition
Los Angeles's Measure HLA would compel the city to make serious upgrades for walking, biking, and other forms of active transportation, all in the name of saving lives. Its biggest opponent: the firefighters union.
TOD Opportunities Around America's First True High-Speed Rail Line
Brightline West hopes to break ground, in anticipation of a 2027 opening. Cities in the Inland Empire and High Desert areas of Southern California are looking to take advantage.
The Softer Side Of Shoupism
Journalist Harry Grabar takes Prof. Don Shoup's economic theories about parking (and over-parking) and illustrates them with compelling—and terrifying—stories about the role parking plays in America's cities.
Well Intended Housing Tax Could Wreak Havoc in L.A.
A new transfer tax that intends to fund affordable housing might end up crushing Los Angeles's multifamily market—at exactly the wrong time.
Why Infrastructure Costs So Much
A new book details what planners already know: cost estimates for major infrastructure projects are usually a farce. Another book foretells just how much new infrastructure will be needed in the coming waves of climate migration.
"Imagineering" Versus Planning
The conference of the California chapter of the American Planning Association took place across the street from Disneyland this week. What Disney does for fictional landscapes, planners must do for real landscapes.
Rise Of Electric Vehicles Makes Good Planning More Crucial Than Ever
There may be plenty of reasons to hail the rise of electric vehicles, including California's policy to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. But what may be good for the air is not necessarily good for cities.
Stopping Climate Change Requires Doing, Not Studying
A $1.1 billion donation to Stanford seeks to mitigate climate change. As impressive as that gesture is, the real solutions to climate change lie in hearts and minds around the world—and not in Palo Alto, California.
How California Planning has Changed—and How it Hasn't
In the newest edition of his classic book Guide to California Planning, Bill Fulton says there is still tension between the state's suburban planning system and its urban reality.
The Waning Influence Of NIMBYism
After two generations, for reasons large and small, opponents of growth and housing in California are steadily losing power. That's good news for planners and planning.
On Housing, Cities' Traditional Political Labels No Longer Apply
Historically liberal cities belie their supposed concern for human welfare by rejecting new development. Meanwhile, more conservative cities have seized the moment to become more progressive, innovative, and inclusive.
Will SB 9 and SB 10 Make Any Difference?
In dramatic fashion, the movement to undo single-unit zoning is going statewide in California with the passage of SB 9 in California. It's an emotional, moral victory for housing advocates—and a ton of work for the state's planners.
An Oasis In The Desert
A redesign costing a mere $12 million transformed the main street of the desert city of Lancaster, Calif., from an ordinary retail strip to a genuine place. If Lancaster can do it, any city can.
The (Nearly) Glacial Timescale of Planning
Planners are used to taking a few years to develop plans, and maybe a few more for development to take hold. For some of California's biggest projects, it's more about decades than years.
Los Angeles' Merchant of Sprawl
Los Angeles is mourning the death of billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad. For all of Broad's many civic contributions, he made his fortune in a decidedly anti-urban way.
Housing Crisis Creates Perverse Opportunity For Wall Street
Opponents of Blackstone and other finance firms that have been buying up housing are quick to blame them for the housing crisis. But it's the other way around: the failure to plan for and develop enough housing has attracted the firms.
'Zoom Towns': Paradigm Shift or Age-Old Pattern?
In California, housing prices have shot up in resort areas like Lake Tahoe and Big Bear and in suburbs like Mountain House and Rancho Cucamonga. Are urbanities fleeing, or are young adults doing what young adults have always done?
Pandemic, Equity Dominate 2020 Planning News
Even with the world shut down, many California planning issues continued to be debated online, fought over in court, enacted in city halls, and realized on the ground. And yet, racial equity and the pandemic are the defining stories of 2020.
Evaluating CEQA: The Controversial Law Turns 50
The California Environmental Quality Act, commonly referred to as CEQA for short, has been influencing planning and development in California for 50 years, creating a constant source of controversy and criticisms from both sides of the debate.
Amy Coney Barrett's Only Property Rights Ruling, Careful, Narrow, Deferential
A month ago, Barrett dismissed a challenge to Chicago's deal with the Obama Center by rejecting a very expansive claim of a "taking" under the 5th Amendment and by showing great deference to the city.
Pagination
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.