SB 827, announced last week by California State Senator Scott Wiener, would revoke density maximums, parking minimums, and set permissive height limits along transit corridors all over the state.
Sasha Aickin, former CTO of Redfin, spent the weekend mapping out the footprint of SB 827, proposed by California State Senator Scott Wiener last week. The informal mapping exercise, not official or sanctioned by Senator Wiener, provides a visualization of the broad reach of the proposed bill. In a written post that accompanies the new map, Aickin says "[n]early all of San Francisco would be set for upzoning to 85/55 foot heights, as would significant portions of Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, Oakland, Berkeley, and Sacramento. More surpising [sic] to me, though, is the impact on smaller cities like Bakersfield, Santa Cruz, and San Bernardino, which also have a large amount of 85/55 foot upzoning."
Wiener agrees with the assessment of many on social media over the past week that the new bill represents an aggressive approach to the state's housing affordability crisis.
The bill is part of a package of bills designed as a "housing-first" policy for the state of California that would follow up on previous bills approved in 2017. Planetizen covered the new bills when Senator Wiener announced the package earlier this month.
Read the full story: What would SB 827 really look like?
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority