Riverside is pegging its hopes for downtown revitalization to the arts, historic preservation and even an infusion of University of California students.

Gov. Gray Davis completed the 2001-02 legislative session by signing several bills backed by affordable housing advocates, a coastal access bill opposed by some of his friends, and a bill that takes a modest step toward more coordinated state planning.

Sidebar to the featured story in the Novermber 2002 edition of CP&DR, "Governor Signs Housing Bills, Rail Bond."

Although there are many tactics used to control growth, ultimately, there is only one measure of importance in protecting farmland: efficient urban land use. In examining four communities in the Central Valley, we found large disparities in land use efficiency.

In a case that touched on redevelopment law, the California Environmental Quality Act and general plan compatibility, an appellate court has upheld San Francisco's handling of a project on the site of the historic Emporium department store.

The City of Los Angeles was correct to treat as one project a builder's various proposals for 21 new houses on existing parcels on two streets, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court rejected the builder's contention that the city could not demand an environmental impact report on the 21 houses, five of which have already been built.

Opponents of a proposed recycling center were too late in filing a lawsuit regarding a city's failure to prepare an environmental study on the city's sale of land to the recycling company, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

The owner of appropriative water rights to a creek cannot exercise those rights in violation of state regulations intended to protect fish and wildlife, the Third District Court of Appeal has decided.

When a public agency acquires a property via eminent domain, only a trial court judge -- and not a jury -- can decide whether a business should receive compensation for loss of goodwill, a state appellate court has ruled.

The California Coastal Commission's decision to allow Malibu property owners who are building new houses to exchange existing public view corridors on their property for dedication of an off-site public access to the beach has been upheld by the Second District Court of Appeal.

In the years following passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972, counties and cities across the country found themselves forced to comply with restrictions on the release of municipal sewage and industrial waste. For the most part, they accomplished this by cracking down on polluting factories and by investing billions of dollars in advanced mechanical filtration and chemical disinfectant technology.

Over the years, there has been quite a bit of talk about splitting California into two states. The idea is that Northern California and Southern California do not have a lot in common and should not have much to do with each other. The idea has not gotten much of anywhere. But maybe that's because the reality is somewhat different than people's perception. Maybe California is divided into West and East.

Make sure to check this month's installment of CP&DR's listing of the up-and-coming land use stories in the Golden State.