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.
Read the 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.
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.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
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.
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One Hundred Miles
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