The Northern California wine country town of Napa is on its way to becoming a high-class resort, with many housing and resort developers breaking ground on big projects.
"Now investors are remaking the working-class town, building luxury hotels, spas and outdoor restaurants with pedestrian plazas along the long-ignored Napa River."
"The city has about a dozen wine tasting rooms that have sprung up in the last five years, and more are coming. Restaurants have opened or upgraded, drawing star chefs. Last year, restaurant sales taxes grew by more than 10 percent, becoming the city's largest source of sales tax revenue."
"Private investors have sunk more than $318 million into the downtown since 1999, not including real estate purchases."
"More than 650 hotel rooms are planned or under construction, and other projects are advancing as well, including the downtown's first mixed-use commercial/residential project, which will start construction in weeks on the river."
FULL STORY: Long-awaited luxury in the works for city

Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.

The New Parisian Hearse is a Bicycle
Sleek, silent, and sustainable, a green trip to the graveyard has hit the streets of the French capital.

How Smart Street Lights Can Help Cities Achieve Sustainability Goals
Switching to energy-efficient LEDs and using tech to program when and how street lighting operates can save cities millions in electricity expenses and bring down carbon emissions.

NOAA: Southwest ‘Megadrought’ to Persist
Roughly 40 percent of the 48 lower U.S. states are currently in some state of ‘abnormally dry conditions.’
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