California

Does Oakland Have a Future as a Public City?
The city is experiencing significant growth and development, but it has a complicated history of booms and lags and its civic future is uncertain.

Nancy Pelosi Not the Only Powerful California Woman Disrupting the Trump Administration
No issue is more important to California's air and climate regulators than ensuring that the state retains its ability to set tailpipe emission standards. Mary Nichols, the head of the Air Resources Board, has threatened to ban tailpipes.

Free Transit Rides for Students Possible in Sacramento
The Sacramento City Council could ensure that more students arrive at school every day, as future lifelong transit riders, by offering free public transit.

Plans for TOD Housing at Berkeley BART Station
The city is behind plans to turn parking lots around the North Berkeley BART station into much-needed housing.

How Much Should Electric Vehicles Be Charged in Lieu of Gas Tax?
Currently, electric vehicles pay a $17.50 annual registration fee in Illinois. A bill to double the 19 cents per gallon gas tax, unchanged in almost 30 years, would also increase the EV fee over 57-fold to $1,000.

New on Netflix: How Street Vendors Create Vibrant Cities
Street vending has been a contentious issue in many places, but this part of the informal economy is important to the social and economic well-being of cities.

Report: Ballot Measure Intended to Spur Affordable Development Had the Opposite Effect in L.A.
L.A. voters approved Measure JJJ in 2016 in the hopes of encouraging more affordable housing as a trade-off for discretionary approval. The result has been no development at all.

Mulling the Idea of Ending Right Turns on Red Lights
San Francisco might follow the lead on New York City when it comes to right turns on red lights.

Eleven Units of Affordable Housing Coming to S.F. Bay Area Suburb
A new apartment building is going up in Danville, California, but the affordable housing it will provide is a drop in the bucket compared to the state’s massive housing needs.

From April to May in L.A.: From a Green New Deal to Transit Service Cuts
Can Los Angeles convince drivers to cut the number of automobile trips in half while also transit frequency on several light rail lines?

Transit Needs Improvements Sooner Rather Than Later
The Los Angeles transit system is losing riders, but L.A. Metro has been slow to implement changes that could keep people using it.

State Preemption and Electric Scooters
The great battle between local control and state preemption shifts focus again in California. This time micromobility, electric scooters and the like, are on the front line of the conflict.

As EV Sales Soar, Transportation Emissions Continue to Increase
California has embraced electric vehicles like no other state, with success reflected in increased sales and registration data, yet transportation emissions have increased for the last four years, primarily from light-duty vehicles.

Oakland's Adaptive Bike Share Program
The pilot program seeks to make bike share more inclusive by providing bikes designed to make biking easy and accessible for disabled riders.

Ban on Living and Sleeping in Vehicles Approved in San Diego
A recently reinstated ordinance prohibits people from living out of their cars. The city says it wants to people to use "safe parking lots" where other services are available.

Four Bus-Only Lanes Under Consideration Around Los Angeles
The transit planning agency in Los Angeles is preparing to make a major addition to the city's number of bus-only infrastructure.
Proposed Tower In San Jose Distracts From Good Urbanism
A group has proposed a monumental tower to advertise San Jose and Silicon Valley to the world. The city would be better off focusing on its streetscape rather than its skyline.

Google Expanding its Presence in San Jose
Google has expanded its footprint in North San Jose to cover 1.27 million square feet. Local officials are saying that the company's acquisitions ensure the long-term financial stability of the city.

Uber and Lyft Worry They'll Be Forced to Share Ride-Hailing Data After Sharing Scooter Data
A fight over the travel data of shared use mobility companies is just starting in Los Angeles.

Trump Pulls $1 Billion from California High Speed Rail Project
The California High Speed Rail Project is a political pawn in a contentious back and forth between the Golden State and the Trump administration.
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