California

Golden Gate

California Population Grows to 39,810,000 in 2017

California added 309,000 residents last year, an 8 percent drop compared to annual increases since 2010. The state added a net 85,000 housing units, accounting for losses to wildfires.

May 11, 2018 - SF Gate

Eastside Gold Line and Los Angeles skyline

Why Equity Groups Opposed California Legislation to Increase Housing Production

YIMBYs don't understand poverty, claimed one social justice group. Few, if any, connections with equity groups and too many with tech companies may have helped doom SB 827's chances of making it to first base in the legislature this year.

May 11, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

San Francisco Tunnel Boring Machine

Contractor Allegedly Lays 3 Miles of the Wrong Steel; Delays for S.F.'s Central Subway Ensue

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency ordered high-strength steel to ensure the long-term quality of the under-construction Central Subway. The contractor laid 17,000 linear feet of standard-strength steel anyway.

May 10, 2018 - San Francisco Examiner

Los Angeles Homeless

Homeless Shelters a Tough Sell With Neighborhood Activists

A plan to streamline approval of a wave of homeless facilities in the city of Los Angeles is running into an early snag with an emergency shelter proposed for a parking lot in the Koreatown neighborhood.

May 10, 2018 - Curbed LA

Are You Ready for a Sky Full of Autonomous Flying Taxis?

Some lucky people could be flying over traffic in autonomous drones within two years, according to a media blitz this morning.

May 8, 2018 - CBS This Morning

San Francisco

California as a Model for Housing Legislation

The Golden State may have the nation's most severe housing crisis, but there is one area of state housing policy where it shines, becoming a model for other states that want to advance accessory dwelling units, also called granny or in-law units.

May 7, 2018 - Next City

View of solar panels on roofs

California to Require Solar on New Residential Buildings

The California Energy Commission will decide on new energy standards for residential construction this week.

May 6, 2018 - The Orange County Register

Delay Sign

Op-Ed: 'Public Mood' Has Turned Against Cars in Cities

A survey of recent planning decisions demonstrates that cities are no longer necessarily looking to more and bigger highways to solve their traffic problems.

May 4, 2018 - The New York Times

California State Capital

Sacramento Debuts On-Demand Transit Service

Sacramento Regional Transit's SmaRT Ride service is an on-demand public option to compete with Uber and Lyft.

May 4, 2018 - The Sacramento Bee

Payday Loans

Report Details Racial Inequality in Four Cities

Five decades after the Fair Housing Act, racial inequality is still rampant in American cities. Trulia and the National Fair Housing Alliance collaborated on this report on four of them.

May 3, 2018 - Curbed Atlanta

Tailpipe

California and 16 States Sue EPA Over Decision to Rollback Vehicle Emissions Rule

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt had announced the rollback of greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards on April 2. While the auto industry supports the move, not all auto executives agreed.

May 3, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

San Francisco Skyline

The One Tech Company That's Engaging In California's Housing Debate

While tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Apple have approached the Bay Area's housing crisis gingerly the CEO of Yelp has thrown himself into the YIMBY movement. His activism says a lot about the real world and the virtual world.

May 3, 2018 - California Planning & Development Report

Los Angeles High Rise Construction

New Housing Law Empowers Renters Group to Sue Cities that Deny New Construction

The California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund, unlike other renters groups, sees increased housing production as key to bringing down rents. It is enforcing the Housing Accountability Act in cities that arbitrarily deny new construction.

May 2, 2018 - California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund

California

A Planner Goes To City Hall

Longtime planner and journalist Bill Fulton took on a side-project in the 2000s: a seat on the city council and then mayorship of the city of Ventura, California. Fulton's new book Talk City offers a real-time account of local politics.

May 2, 2018 - California Planning & Development Report

Train Buffs: Do You Know What a ZEMU Is?

In addition to commuter trains hauled by an electric or diesel-powered locomotive, there are EMUs and DMUs, and come 2021, for the first time in North America, there should be a ZEMU thanks in part to a $30 million California transportation grant.

May 1, 2018 - California Assembly Press Release

South Bay Area

Where the Economic Recovery Has Been Most Inclusive

Across racial and economic lines, not all cities are recovering equally.

May 1, 2018 - Color Lines

Construction

The Best Option in a Housing Crisis: Build More

Some oppose housing on the grounds that building in expensive cities just makes more homes for rich people. According to and, while there's some truth to that, adding housing beats the alternative.

April 30, 2018 - Vox

Gaslamp Quarter

$4.3 Billion Awarded to California Transformative Projects from Gas Tax and Climate Fund

Two difficult votes last year, both requiring super-majorities, are paying huge dividends to 28 transformative projects throughout the Golden State to improve rail and transit service and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

April 30, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

Carpool Lane Sticker

Electric Vehicles to Lose Important Perk in Southern California

One of the major reasons for purchasing an electric vehicle in California is the ability to use a carpool lane as a solo driver and use an express lane toll-free. The latter perk will soon disappear for solo-occupant EVs on two freeways.

April 30, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles, California

An Aerial Tram Could Carry Fans to Future Dodgers Games

A coach suspended from a cable (like a big gondola or ski lift) has been proposed by private company Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, to bring fans to Chavez Ravine in 2022.

April 30, 2018 - Curbed LA

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.