Everything in the world here is under construction. So said my wife as we attempted to maneuver through downtown Portland recently. It seems that you can't walk more than a few blocks in the central part of Portland without encountering temporary construction fencing, cranes, pil

While the newspapers today are full of stories about Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed "temporary" sales tax increase, the papers are not mentioning a proposed permanent shift of money away from local redevelopment agencies.

There's a national debate going on nowadays about how the issue of cities, metropolitan areas, and growth is lacking from our national debate. Recently, for example, UCLA planning professor Randall Cran e argued that cities are the most important issue that the presidential candi

If Californians – and Americans -- are going to cut greenhouse gas emissions, they're going to have to drive less. But is wonking on policy really the best way to make this happen? Or do we have to create a compelling alternate vision for the next generation's lifestyle – a kind

I get no pleasure out of writing that the most important corner in downtown Redding is soon going to have a vacancy. The corporate honchos in Seattle decided that the Starbucks at the corner of California and Placer streets in downtown Redding will close. The Starbucks with a dri

Is California running out of water? Or are we just running out of political will?

A bomb detonated in my front yard at 3:30 a.m. on June 21. Actually, it was an explosive from the sky in the form of lightning, and it was the start of an electrical storm that continued for 11 hours.

The Calaveras County Community Development Agency is in the political cross-hairs after the county grand jury issued a scathing report that questions the agency's hiring practices, the director's management style and the use of consultants. Sound familiar? Not the details, but th

Joel Kotkin is at it again. In yesterday's Los Angeles Times Sunday opinion section , the enfant terrible of L.A. urbanism dissed the "suburbs as slums" thesis of Brookings' Christopher Leinberger. But in once again coming to the defense of "suburbs", he has revealed that he can'

The California Air Resources Board's release of a draft scoping plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions strikes me as important for several reasons. The plan provides a starting point for how California will dramatically reduce its output of gases that cause global climate cha

The city with the best vacation downtown is the Rodney Dangerfield of beach towns. It gets no respect, and it is often overshadowed by its more glamorous neighbor. Still, Carpinteria has the best downtown for a vacation in California. We'll tell you why.

I've always known that there are limits to celebrity in the world of urban planning. You write a book or two, people get to know your name, they ask you to come and give a speech, you make ‘em laugh, and maybe – maybe – they'll give you a couple of bucks for showing up. In a smal