A draft report from San Diego reveals that California's SB 375 law, which passed in 2008, was ineffective in reducing sprawl in the long term, Ethan Elkind writes for the UCLA UC Berkeley Legal Planet blog.
California's SB 375 law, which is meant to "reduce greenhouse gas emissions by lowering vehicle miles traveled," failed in San Diego because the city government dropped the ball:
"But at the macro level, (San Diego Association of Governments') draft plan simply doesn't take any aggressive steps to change the status quo. For example, SANDAG doesn't consider front-loading transit plans over highway projects as a possible solution to sprawl, and the agency doesn't appear to encourage aggressive local government policies to plan for more infill development. Instead, SANDAG appears to have taken a passive role, largely compiling existing local land use plans and forecasting based on them."
"All along, SB 375 supporters appeared to be counting on the goodwill of the basically toothless regional entities to be forward-thinking and push their local governments to change, either through incentives or by getting people excited about a more compact development footprint."
Read the full story: So Much for California’s Anti-Sprawl Law
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.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
This road in NYC is infamously dangerous — and Mamdani can't fix it
New York City's Ocean Parkway is known for reckless driving, but the power to implement safety measures lies with the state rather than the city.
One of Denver’s busiest corridors to gain BRT
The project will span 18 miles and contain 74 bus rapid transit stations.
275,000 bus trips are at stake on Seattle's ballot
If passed, the Seattle Transit Measure would trigger a 0.3% sales tax and raise an average of $138 million per year to maintain and expand Seattle’s bus services.
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