Lafayette provides a case study of the San Francisco Bay Area housing market.
"Despite last-minute protests from a group of affordable housing advocates, lawmakers have greenlighted a high-end housing development that replaces a plan for 315 moderate-income apartments proposed for a grassy hillside near Highway 24," reports Jennifer Modenessi.
The decision ends years of debate over the development proposal and provides an example of the challenging of delivering new housing supply around the Bay Area—not just in San Francisco where the housing crisis discussion usually focuses.
"The approvals allow developer The O'Brien Land Company to build 44 clustered single-family homes and a number of public amenities at the former quarry site on the city's eastern edge. The million dollar residences in the Homes at Deer Hill development replace the Terraces of Lafayette apartments, which O'Brien and landowner Anna Maria Dettmer pitched more than four years ago," adds Modenessil in describing how the project has evolved.
The article includes more details about the political debate that surrounded the decision.
FULL STORY: Lafayette OK's Deer Hill homes development
Lawsuits: Not Just for Development Opponents Anymore
Details of the "Sue the Suburbs" movement wielding a new legal tool to counteract the traditionally obstructionist methods of land use regulation in California.
San Francisco Housing Advocates: 'Sue the Suburbs'
Renters' advocates in San Francisco are building a political and fundraising base to legally challenge suburbs that aren't pulling their weight in constructing the housing to meet the demands of population growth.
ADUs account for nearly 28% of Bay Area housing permits
In Hillsborough, 56 of 58 homes permitted in 2025 were ADUs.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association