A longtime Los Angeles journalist has joined the cause of a sweeping anti-growth initiative that has city leaders on high alert.
In an exclusive interview with Jill Stewart, who left LA Weekly to become campaign director for the potential ballot measure at the Coalition to Preserve LA, The Planning Report delves into her arguments in favor of the controversial Neighborhood Integrity Initiative.
Stewart decries the current state of planning in Los Angeles, which she says relies heavily on General Plan amendments, as the result of a deadly combination of blindness, inertia, and "soft corruption." The initiative would put a moratorium on General Plan amendments—also known as "spot-zoning"—until the city rewrites its General Plan.
"The City Council does not want to do the work of creating a new General Plan," she asserts. "They’ve allowed the one from the 1980s to fester and be unworkable."
Instead, Stewart argues that the city has slid into a practice of "smoke-filled-room development" in which "individual councilmembers control development in their areas, through buddy-buddy relationships with developers, behind closed doors… Then they blame local neighborhoods as NIMBYs."
City leaders, including Mayor Garcetti, have said publicly that the initiative would stifle Los Angeles' economy and undermine city's commitments to affordable housing.
But Stewart takes issue with the turn in planning toward density and transit-oriented development, which she says purport to improve affordability and equity while in fact undermining communities.
"I put that theory on par with the urban planning theory that crowding poor people together into high-rise public housing was a good idea," she says. "It was a social disaster."
Furthermore, she argues that the data doesn’t support the efficacy of TOD in reducing either congestion or driving.
"The Environmental Impact Reports show again and again that it is not going to get people out of their cars," she says, adding, "It’s a fantastic thing, to be able to drive your car. That’s not cool to say, but that’s what the vast majority of people are thinking."
Agree or disagree, anyone invested in the future of planning in Los Angeles should consider the interview essential reading. In fact, planners in other cities might pay attention, too—Stewart notes: "I think the Coalition to Preserve LA hopes to move beyond LA, because there are a lot of cities screwing themselves up based on these theories."
FULL STORY: Stewart: Neighborhood Integrity Initiative Is LA's Response to Unplanned Density and Insider Deals
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How California Transit Agencies are Addressing Rider Harassment
Safety and harassment are commonly cited reasons passengers, particularly women and girls, avoid public transit.
Significant Investments Needed to Protect LA County Residents From Climate Hazards
A new study estimates that LA County must invest billions of dollars before 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, and climate-induced public health threats.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
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.