Morris Newman
Oakland Mulls Cannabis as Land Use and Then Forgot What It Was Thinking About
Submitted by jstephens on 3 August 2010 - 9:07pmWhether or not Prop 19 passes, the Oakland City Council is already considering legalizing marijuana for fiscal reasons.
In Defense of RFK Learning Center
Submitted by jstephens on 22 July 2010 - 11:12pm
Some thoughts on the LA Times' Christopher Hawthorne’s rather brutal drubbing of the recently completed Robert F. Kennedy Education Center (three schools encompassing K-12) on the former site of the Ambassador Hotel near downtown Los Angeles.
Walt Whitman Takes a Drive Down Interstate 5
Submitted by jstephens on 14 July 2010 - 3:07pm(Editor’s Note, in regard to the following blog post: The California Planning & Development Report disclaims any belief, credence or even any wish-it-were-true feelings in regard to spiritualims, ghosts, spooks, spectres, poltergeists and similar phenomena—even if one of our correspondents of longest standing, Morris Newman, seems to be crediting his most recent work products to the honored dead. If he’s just in a temporary funk, we can try to overlook it. If this line of supernatural thinking continues however, an exchange of memos may be in order, if you know what we mean.)
Russia To The Rescue
Submitted by jstephens on 10 July 2010 - 12:00pmThe Associated Press reports that a Russian billionaire is coming to the rescue of a state park in Sonoma County affected by budget cuts. Viktor Vekselberg, head of Russian-based Renova Group, signed an agreement last Tuesday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to provide "substantial financial support" to keep Fort Ross open. Fort Ross was the site of a Russian settlement in the 19th century. The foregoing is all true.
Low-Income Development Comes With An Embarrassment of Riches
Submitted by jstephens on 3 June 2010 - 6:48pmBy Morris Newman
Dammit, it’s not fair! Residents of affordable housing get all the lucky breaks. Just look at all the money they’re getting from all directions: local government, the local power company, the feds, the green-building lobby. Case in point: the Casa Dominguez development in East Dominguez Hills, an unincorporated area of south Los Angeles County, even has a child care center and a medical clinic, on site.
Tipper and Al: When the Passion Froze Over (A dramatic conjecture in one act)
Submitted by jstephens on 3 June 2010 - 9:24amBy Morris Newman
TIPPER and AL GORE have retired for the evening. They lie supine under the covers and are wearing pajamas, each with their respective monograms on the chest pockets.
Al: “Honey, something's been on my mind....”
Tipper: “If it's dirty, please write it down. You know I don't like to hear smutty language.”
Al. (chuckling): “No, hon, nothing like that. Those fires are banked for the night. I'm just wondering if we blew enough insulation into this house.”
Tipper (lecturing tone): “Albert, we have 300 cubic yards of insulation in this house. Plus we live in Tennessee, not Wasilla. It’s never below 50 degrees.”
AL: “I know, I know. It's just that this house is so… freakin' gi-normous. Sometimes I don't see you for days.”
Tipper: “It’s true. But, then again, it’s not even the biggest on the block!” (coyly): “Did you miss me?”
How Can a Broke State Fund Housing for People Who Are Merely Poor?
Submitted by jstephens on 21 May 2010 - 9:15pm(Please note that the word “draconian” does not occur once in the following post concerning the ongoing budget debacle. Readers susceptible to cliché-induced seizures (CIS) can read this article without ill effect.)
By his own characterization, the governor's latest proposal attempts to close the $19 billion shortfall in the coming year's budget almost entirely through cuts. For CP&DR readers, it's probably unnecessary to explain that many of these cuts affect – or have effectively eliminated – services for low-income people, not limited to affordable housing, health care and early childhood education. Hell, we can't even afford our prisons—an irony well deserved by the Lock-'em-Up State.
West Village at UC Davis: Down Home In Eco-Topia
Submitted by jstephens on 3 May 2010 - 5:45amDon't be fooled by the peaceful, pastoral look of West Village, a proposed housing development on the campus of UC Davis.
“Shucks,” the conceptual site plan seems to say, “I'm just a little old country town. See my bib overalls?”
I'm not falling for it. West Village may be bucolic and all, but this 220-acre project, intended to provide rental housing for students and for-sale housing to faculty, shows an uncompromising commitment to sustainability. Although pastoralism is not always the same thing as environmentalism, in this case it comes with some hard-minded environmentalism.
Low-Cost Housing Goes Affordably Green in Chula Vista
Submitted by jstephens on 8 March 2010 - 5:48amHey you, Mr./Ms. Conventional Apartment Developer! Yes, you. Don’t attempt to ignore me by rolling up your construction–loan documents and sticking them in your ears.
Death Knell for Suburbs? Or a Cracked Bell Tolling from Academia?
Submitted by admin on 1 March 2010 - 8:56pmFirst it was the climate crisis. Then it was the economy. Now the experts are sounding the alarm over... the future of the American suburbs? This time, you pointy-heads, you’ve gone too far! You can’t have my tranquil, SUV-lined streets! I’m telling Rush Limbaugh and Sen. Inhofe about this.