There's a downturn in the real estate development market. Does that mean we'll soon see cities in California cutting development impact fees as well?

When I was interviewing for a summer fellowship with Solimar Research Group, I asked the last question that a young professional fresh out of graduate school hoping to relocate to Southern California would be expected to ask. "Can I live in Ventura without a car?" I received a re

For a bill that's mostly about symbolism, it was a symbolic defeat. A local government-backed eminent domain bill cleared its first committee hearing on Tuesday, July 3, but the prospects for ultimate passage may have dimmed. The measure, ACA 8, survived the Assembly Local Govern

Walking to work at Solimar, I pass through downtown Ventura from my hillside apartment to the office on "The Avenue," a locally historic, blue-collar street on the west edge of downtown. Sure, I could drive, but it seems that just in the last few years downtown has been reinvigor

In only a year's time, global warming's context within CEQA has gone from the dullest blip on the radar screen to the hottest CEQA issue. Don't expect it to go away soon. Shortly after delivering our July edition to the printer, I received a copy of a letter that business and dev

Brewpub regionalism? That's the phrase that came to mind Saturday night as I listened to John Hickenlooper, the mayor of Denver, talk about how he operates. Nerdy geologist turned cool brewpub owner turned positive-thinking mayor, Hickenlooper is rapidly becoming a political lege

The toads of Davis have never figured out how to use the tunnel built a dozen years ago just for them. Or they can't find it. Or they've died out. Or they just don't want to.

Monterey County voters must be wondering what the point is. They keep voting on land use ballot measures, but the votes resolve nothing.

I was walking down Broadway in Oakland the other day. And I was terribly disappointed. I hadn't been on Broadway, downtown Oakland's most important boulevard, in six years. Since then, I had heard a great deal about dreams and schemes to "bring Oakland back," including Jerry Brow

One of the top 10 things that everybody loves is a top 10 list. Some people take such lists very, very seriously and get furious when, for example, their favorite Eagles' number doesn't appear on a list of top 10 songs from the 1970s. Most people take such lists with a few grains

Yes, it's been 37 years since Gov. Ronald Reagan signed the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) into law. But we're still arguing about the statute's most basic definitions. The California Supreme Court will get another crack at a very basic question — what constitutes a

LAS VEGAS _ Everywhere you go on the planning and development circuit these days, people are talking about mixed use. But does everybody really want to build it? Or lease it? Or live in it? Or finance it?