Insight
Cantil-Sakauye Brings Fact-Based, Moderate Approach to CEQA
Submitted by jstephens on 4 August 2010 - 4:58pmAs CP&DR’s Senior Editor Paul Shigley pointed out last week in his blog, retiring Chief Justice Ronald George of the California Supreme Court gained a well-earned reputation as a centrist and a unifier.
SB 375 and AB 32 Math Doesn’t Add Up
Submitted by jstephens on 7 July 2010 - 10:49pmNow that the California Air Resources Board has released its draft targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction under SB 375, it’s time to do some math. What follows is nerdy and a little dense, but it’s important – and planners need to be able to follow the bouncing ball on 375.
The bottom line is that the math doesn’t yet add up – and that’s because what AB 32 calls for and what California’s regional planning agencies think is realistic don’t line up with each other.
The Promise, and Perils, of Alignment
Submitted by jstephens on 18 June 2010 - 9:31amA couple of weeks ago, Shelley Poticha, the Obama Administration’s point person on smart growth, gave a high-profile talk to a big Urban Land Institute crowd in Los Angeles. Her message, plain and simple, was that it’s time for what she called “alignment.”
Stalled Federal Transportation Bill Puts Local Funding on Hold
Submitted by jstephens on 21 May 2010 - 7:06amWith state and local government revenues shrinking throughout California, planners are increasingly looking to the federal government – and especially transportation funds – to pay for local planning efforts, especially if they involve infill and transit-oriented development efforts. But the two major possible sources of funding – the transportation reauthorization bill and the climate bill – are both stalled with little hope of passage anytime soon.
The climate bill has been caught, at least for the moment, in the crossfire of the immigration debate. So let’s get back to that later and focus instead on the bill that ought to have no trouble passing: the transportation reauthorization bill.
Justice Stevens Leaves Distinct Legacy In Land Use Jurisprudence
Submitted by jstephens on 19 April 2010 - 10:44amSince Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement a few weeks ago, he has been hailed – and reviled – as the Court’s “great liberal voice” of the past couple of decades. But especially in land use, Stevens’ legacy rests with not only his ardent support of government regulatory power, but also his skill in mustering five votes, on a pretty conservative court, in favor of aggressive use of land use regulation.
Local Planning Funds Will Flow Through Water Bond
Submitted by jstephens on 9 March 2010 - 1:37pmThe old saying in government is that in order to understand what’s going on, you’ve got to follow the money. In local planning throughout California, that’s becoming increasingly easy to do. Local government revenues – property tax, sales tax, development fees, redevelopment funds – are in steep decline.
Deficit-Plagued State Continues At Full Speed On Environmental Regulation
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 9 February 2010 - 12:37pmThe distance between California’s growing budget problems and California’s ambitious environmental protection agenda continues to increase.
The consequences of the state’s chronic budget deficit – currently $20 billion per year or more with no end in sight – continue to chew up everything and everybody in its path: local governments, transit agencies, the prison system, welfare recipients, school districts.
Schwarzenegger Operates On CEQA With Scalpel, Not Hatchet
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 11 January 2010 - 2:05pmArnold Schwarzenegger has always been a Republican with a twist. As the governor enters his final year – attempting to deal both with economic woes and an ambitious environmental agenda – it appears that nothing has changed. He is going after the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in his own way. It’s legacy time for the governor. For better or worse, the Schwarzenegger approach to skinning CEQA may be part of his legacy.
Will $40 Billion Public Investment Create A Transit-Dependent L.A.?
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 22 December 2009 - 9:48amAlmost in spite of itself, Los Angeles has emerged as a city focused on transit. The big question now is whether L.A. can move from being a city focused on transit to a transit-oriented city.
Climate Change Adaptation Recommendations Result In Same Old Fight
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 9 November 2009 - 3:51pmIf predictions about the impact of global warming are even half right, a lot of us are going to be quite literally swimming – or at least wading – through our daily lives in 30 or 40 years. Yet in the current debate about how the state should approach “adaptation” strategies, all parties are crouched in their typically unhelpful postures.