California

Testing New 'High Tech Security Screening' for Transit Users
Union Station in Los Angeles is featuring the latest in surveillance technology, meant to deter terrorists. The concern might also be that such technology is yet another impediment in the transit user experience.

Is Brownfield Development Health Risk Tolerance Out of Whack?
Is the bar for health risks in brownfield development set too high? Environmental attorney Richard Opper thinks so and argues the case in this opinion piece.

San Francisco's Muni Has a New $21 Billion, 20-Year Capital Plan
Some surprises and lots of blue-sky thinking are revealed in the new capital plan for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Coastal Cities Setting the Sustainable Development Standard
Although no U.S. region has yet to even get halfway to sustainability goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement, certain U.S. cities are doing better than the rest.

Five Big Ideas About the Future of Transportation and Land Use in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Magazine provided Los Angeles Director of City Planning Vince Bertoni an opportunity to speak in his own words on the ways planners are preparing for the future.

California's Housing Bills Fall Short
Three bills at the top of the Democratic leadership's housing agenda will have little impact on the state's chronic housing shortage according to multiple analyses, and wouldn't affect the outcome of a Bay Area mega-development controversy.

$604 Million Makeover Coming to San Francisco's Market Street
The changes in store for the main corridor through San Francisco's central business district connect to a larger story about accessibility for people with disabilities.

'CarsonWatch': New Housing Justice Coalition Fights Trump Agenda
National organizations are mobilizing around housing as a human right.

100-Year-Old Law Explains Why There Are So Many Trucks on the Highway
A powerful lobby is more in interested in protecting its monopoly than lessening congestion and pollution.

The New 'Mission Moratorium': Bikeshare
Neighborhood groups in the Mission District of San Francisco, already a hotbed of gentrification and displacement controversies, are opposing the expansion of the city's bikeshare system into a large, transit-adjacent area of the city.

Santa Monica Mayor: High Inclusionary Housing is Worth the Risk
Mayor Ted Winterer and Mayor Pro Tem Gleam Davis elaborate on the city’s new Downtown Community Plan, which includes what may be the state's highest inclusionary housing requirement.

Cannabis Company Buys Tiny California Town
Purchased for $5 million, Nipton, California is slated to become "the country’s first energy-independent, cannabis-friendly hospitality destination."

New Community Plan Poises Downtown L.A. for Transformation
In addition to a contemporary vision for Downtown, the plan debuts a new approach to zoning that could help transform the entire city.
Rail Redundancy Shouldn't Be Self-Destructive
Los Angeles Metro's new Gold Line light rail extension is attracting riders from the regional Metrolink commuter rail line that serves San Bernardino. The editorial board of the Daily Bulletin suggests that's not necessarily a problem.

California Cities Continue to Criminalize Homelessness with RV Bans
Coastal cities are taking a no-tolerance approach to RVs on their streets, even as they otherwise strive to mitigate and prevent homelessness.
New Bridge in Fresno Makes Way for High Speed Rail
Though the news about the California High Speed Rail projects seems to oscillate between good and bad every month, there's at least one tangible sign of progress for the project: a new bridge in Fresno built to make room for the powerful trains.
User Fees and Sales Tax Dollars Finance $1.9 Billion Four-Lane Freeway Widening
A 16-mile express lane and general purpose lane will be added in each direction of the San Diego Freeway in Orange County. A $629 million TIFIA loan will be repaid by toll-paying motorists, while all taxpayers pay most of the remainder.

Editorial: Ambitious Plans Don't Work Without Political Leadership
The Los Angeles Times critiques the political culture in Los Angeles. In this case, it's the failure of a road diet project that provoked the criticism, but these lessons apply to the city's bicycle plans and homeless housing plans, too.

San Francisco Creates 'Office of Cannabis'
A "one-stop shop" for marijuana businesses will open in time for the statewide legalization of the industry this January.

Water Controversy in the Palm Springs Desert
The city of Los Angeles is weighing in on a proposal to pump groundwater from the desert near Palm Springs.
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