Long Beach City College offers a Safe Parking Program to enrolled students who need a safe place to spend the night. Other schools are skeptical.

With nearly three out of five of California’s community college students facing housing insecurity, sleeping in their cars on campus becomes the safest option for many. Yet most of the state’s colleges don’t allow the practice, writes Briana Mendez-Padilla in a deep dive for CALmatters, pointing out one school that did launch a Safe Parking Program: Long Beach City College.
“To help these students, multiple legislative measures have tried to create safe parking options similar to Long Beach City College’s,” but legislators killed one proposed bill Assembly Bill 1818, in August. Some community college districts opposed the bill, which would have required the creation of safe parking pilot programs, citing concerns about liability risk and cost.
In Long Beach, students can park in a designated lot next to the campus safety building, where they can access bathrooms and nearby showers. “For the 2022-23 academic year, the program had a total of 24 students. Twelve of them found transitional or permanent housing. For fall 2023, 21 students enrolled in the program, two obtained permanent housing and 19 of them continued into spring 2024.”
Other schools aren’t as welcoming. “On Oct. 25, 2023, Cal Poly Humboldt students received a mass announcement stating that the university would begin enforcing a parking policy it had previously overlooked and would be evicting students who were found sleeping in their vehicles overnight.”
Assemblymember Corey Jackson, who introduced AB 1818, says he will reintroduce it next year.
FULL STORY: Homeless students can sleep safely in their cars at this California college. Other campuses say no

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Four Reasons Urban Planners Can’t Ignore AI
It’s no longer a question of whether AI will shape planning, but how. That how is up to us.

Bend, Deschutes County Move to Restrict Major Homeless Encampment
City and county officials are closing off portions of an area known as Juniper Ridge where many unhoused residents find shelter, hoping to direct people to housing and supportive services.

High Housing Costs Driving Down Transit Ridership in LA
When neighborhoods gentrify and displace lower-income residents, transit ridership suffers, new research shows.

Iowa Legalizes Accessory Dwelling Units
A new law will allow property owners to build ADUs on single-family lots starting on July 1.
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.
City of Mt Shasta
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada