For all the appeal that “streamlining” would seem to offer, Gov. Jerry Brown's housing proposal has drawn stiff criticism – including some from traditional proponents of affordable housing. >>read more

Like a monster that’s been hiding in the basement for decades, rent control is rearing its head in the Bay Area. Whether it is an ugly countenance or a smiling face is a matter of perspective. >>read more

What do touchdowns, trade shows, room service, rivers, and dorm rooms have in common? In San Diego, quite a bit.

Spooked by the possible relocation of the San Diego Chargers football team, the city is doubling down on opportunities not only to retain the Chargers but also to pursue a host of other initiatives related to tourism and economic development. The matters may be resolved through one of two competing measures that are expected to appear on upcoming ballots. >>read more

Coastal California has long been known for harrowing natural hazards: wildfires, drought, floods, the occasional tsunami, and, of course, earthquakes. It has also developed some serious human-made hazards too: chronic poverty, sea level rise, crime, pollution, riots, fragile energy grids, stratospheric housing costs, among others. 

The state is, as urban theorist Mike Davis put it, steeped in "the ecology of fear." Armed with new data and strategies, cities are trying to ease their anxieties. 

"Resilience" refers to cities' ability to weather and recover from discrete "shocks," such as earthquakes, and chronic "stresses," such as poverty and the predicted effects of climate change. California has become Ground Zero in the resilience movement.
 
Four California cities - Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco - have appointed "chief resilience officers" as part of a worldwide experiment in hazard mitigation and bureaucratic reform sponsored by New York-based nonprofit 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), project of the Rockefeller Foundation. >>read more

On the morning of Wednesday, November 9, while the nation takes stock of its future, its second-largest city will be doing the same. By then, the proposed Hollywood Palladium Residences may be one of two things: a proud testament to a progressive city's embrace of smart growth, or a 28-story symbol of the hubris of Los Angeles' planning and development community. >>read more

For years, National Football League teams have been trying to find places to play in the Los Angeles area. Soon enough, 700 of them could move to Moreno Valley, with room to spare.  

In what may be the largest single commercial development in the history of California - or possibly the universe - the World Logistics Center will, as currently envisioned, cover 40 million square feet, most of which will be dedicated to storage, transshipment, and other functions related to the logistics industry. It will be more than twice as large as New York City's much-heralded Hudson Yards project. >>read more