The City of Santa Monica isn’t exactly Mont-Saint-Michele. But, for all intents and purposes, there’s only one way in and one way out. Though it has only 93,000 residents, tens of thousands of commuters drive into Santa Monica every day to work as disruptors in Silicon Beach, salespeople at stores, and domestic help for wealthy households. A huge share of them so do via the 10 Freeway. Probably no one knows this better than the mayor of Santa Monica, Gleam Davis. She has to deal with the twofold specter of traffic and housing prices. It is the classic coastal California problem and it is, arguably, more acute in Santa Monica than it is anywhere else. That’s why I was not surprised to hear Davis issue one of the most cogent descriptions of the concept of jobs-housing imbalance the other morning on a panel alongside the mayors of Beverly Hills and Culver City and the mayor pro tem of West Hollywood at the Westside Urban Forum . I was astonished and delighted to hear her and, to an extent, her counterparts enthusiastically call for more housing development as the solution. (Disclosure: I am the board president of the Westside Urban Forum, a nonpartisan group that sponsors discussions about urban issues in Los Angeles.) Davis described clearly how new units in Santa Monica — at a variety of price points — will enable people who commute into Santa Monica to live in Santa Monica. They can thereby abandon their drives from mid-Wilshire, downtown Los Angeles, El Monte, or points beyond, and they can forever bid farewell to the parking lot that is the 10. All at once, Santa Monica can reduce housing prices (by increasing supply) and reduce traffic (by eliminating commutes). I say I was astonished because this kind of talk, for all its sensibility and all its obviousness to most planners, is nothing short of toxic in many circles. Santa Monica has plenty of residents who, though they consider themselves politically liberal, insist on nothing but the most conservative, restrictive policies towards growth. These residents have pared back the city’s general plan and launched ballot measures to curtail growth. Davis, to her credit, did not even try to walk a middle ground. She embraces development, and for the right reasons. Davis’s remarks made me wonder, though, if the debate over housing is just going to keep spinning in circles, like so many wheels on the freeway. Anti-growth factions often seem immune to pro-growth arguments, and they almost always retreat to dire predictions about traffic. These days, the challenge for planners, and elected officials, isn’t really about planning anymore. Most planners, I suspect, agree with Davis. Planners learn about the jobs-housing balance on Day One of planning school. They know what the plans should look like, and they know what patterns development should follow — at least according to our current best predictions about demographic, social, and technological trends. The challenge, then, is the one that Davis has embraced directly: that of communicating. What’s amazing about Davis is that she had the confidence to present these ideas in public, explaining them clearly to thoughtful people in the hopes of persuading them. Elected officials do that all too seldom these days. Planners, I think, do so even less often. No matter what planning visions they hold, they have little incentive to stick their necks out. Aside from pure obstinacy, I think stakeholders ignore the principle of jobs-housing balance because they cannot envision it. They see what happens on their block and on their commute, and they’re oblivious to the living patterns, traffic patterns, and motivations of their fellow human beings. It’s not hard to do, I suppose, when you know your neighbors largely through car windows. The best thing I’ve seen so far is an animation by statistician Mark Evans using data from the American Community Survey. It tells you pretty much everything you need to know about where housing in the Los Angeles area should be. The map of people who commute into Los Angeles County from surrounding counties looks like something from a medical school textbook, wherein evil bacteria are consuming one of your cells. It’s probably the brain cell that would otherwise keep you calm in traffic. Some of those invading cells — from Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange counties — make their way as far as the Westside, meaning they drive the entire length of Los Angeles County to get to their jobs. Meanwhile, the “cell” eats itself as people from the fringes of the county’s developed areas converge on its job centers every morning. There’s no way you can look at a map like that and still believe that housing creates traffic. The distance it takes to get to housing is what causes traffic. Building more housing in job-rich places would turn those invading bacteria into friendly cells. We need planners and elected officials who are willing to teach this lesson — rather than resign themselves to being lectured by people who think they live in castles.

In the most visible symbol of his campaign to increase housing production in the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom met with dozens of California mayors from cities identified as having deficient housing plans at Long Beach City College to discuss policy solutions for meeting state housing goals. The meeting comes on the heels of the governor’s State of the State address, in which he called out major cities resisting compliance to the state's aggressive new affordable housing laws. The governor has already sued the city of Huntington Beach for its alleged failure to build affordable housing – and 47 other California cities have similarly failed to comply with statewide standards. However, his address struck a note of compromise: “I don’t want to sue 47 other cities,” he said after the meeting, according the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “Quite the contrary, I want to work and collaborate with all of the representatives in those communities, and I want to understand the challenges and struggles they face.” (See prior CP&DR coverage .)  Trump Administration Seeks to Cancel High Speed Rail Funds The U.S. Department of Transportation may try to cancel $929 million awarded to California High Speed Rail , and asked the state to return $2.5 billion of already-spent funds. This announcement follows through on President Donald Trump’s recent Twitter threat to recall federal funding for the project awarded in 2010. Initial plans for the rail project, approved by voters in 2008, promised to link Los Angeles to San Francisco with a four-hour bullet train. However, lawsuits, delays, and a ballooning budget have since plagued the project. In his recent State of the State address, Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to significantly downsize the initial project, refocusing on the short-term goal to complete one 171-mile segment of track in central California. On Twitter, Governor Newsom resisted Trump’s threats to revoke funding, writing, “This is California’s money, and we are going to fight for it.” However, the 2010 grant agreement outlines several possible scenarios to revoke a grant, including if the grantee “fails to make adequate progress” or “fails to complete the project or one of its tasks.” According to the Associated Press, the Department of Transportation said it was “actively exploring every option,” to get back the already-spent funds. (See prior CP&DR commentary .) AIDS Healthcare Foundation Sues over Hollywood Development AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the organization that sponsored Los Angeles’ failed slow-growth ballot measure in 2017, filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) over their approval of a $1 billion residential project in Hollywood at the historic Crossroads of the World. The proposed project was one of the catalysts that inspired AHF’s slow-growth campaign. The Crossroads project, unanimously approved in January, includes plans for three high rises buildings with 905 new apartments, 308 hotel rooms, and 190,000 square feet of retail space. Though the project creates space for affordable apartments, it would demolish 84 rent-controlled apartments. AHF’s lawsuit claims that the project violates the California Environmental Quality Act, the Community Redevelopment Law, the Planning and Zoning Law, and the Los Angeles Municipal Code. “We believe that the city and the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles has shown deliberate indifference to the serious negative impacts and resulting gentrification that this enormous luxury project will have in Hollywood and along Sunset Boulevard,” Michael Weinstein, president of AHF, told the Associated Press. "To paraphrase famed actress Gloria Swanson: we hope they’re ready for their close-up.” (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Delta WaterFix Could be Scaled Down to One Tunnel Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to downsize the Delta WaterFix project from two tunnels to one. WaterFix's initial $16.7 billion plans proposed a twin tunnel system diverting some of the Sacramento River near Courtland and piping it underground to the Delta pumps. The tunnel system aims to resolve the current pumping system's “reverse flow” inefficiencies that waste water and compromise the Delta’s endangered fish populations. The tunnels would also ensure that Southern California cities maintain access to drinking water in the event of an earthquake or rising sea levels. Environmentalists and government officials have long opposed WaterFix, arguing that diverting water would leave the estuary saltier and less conducive to growing crops. The system also faces funding challenges: it relies on the support of Southern California water agencies, and federal funding remains uncertain. Newsom's single-tunnel plans will likely save billions of dollars, and attempts a compromise between agricultural and environmental interests. According to the Sacramento Bee, Newsom said in his announcement, “We have to get past the old binaries, like farmers versus environmentalists, or North versus South." He also appointed Joaquin Esquivel as new chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, whom he hopes will “bring this balance." Report: High Housing Costs Exacerbate Segregation in Bay Area  The California Housing Partnership published a report showing that the rising costs of Bay Area housing has dramatically increased racial segregation throughout the nine Bay Area counties. The report, co-authored with U.C. Berkeley researchers and funded by the San Francisco Foundation, analyzed census data from 2000 to 2015 in each of the counties. Researchers found that increased housing prices have disproportionately affected minorities: a 30 percent increase in median rent corresponded with a 28 percent decrease in low-income minority households, but no significant change in the number of white households. The data showed that low-income African-American and Latino populations have increasingly moved from historically ethnic neighborhoods in San Francisco and Oakland toward cities at the edges of the region, like Antioch, Fairfield, and Vallejo. For these populations, the move has often resulted in a decrease in quality of life: displaced families ended up paying a higher share of their income on rent, and had reduced access to resources like grocery stores and high-quality schools. “Rising housing prices have effectively reinforced and re-created long standing patterns of housing segregation,” Dan Rinzler, one of the report’s authors, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “There’s almost nowhere that’s actually affordable to low-income people of color.”  Quick Hits & Updates  Complementing the introduction of Sen. Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 50 to promote transit oriented housing development, Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) proposed an aggressive bill to that would prevent local jurisdictions from enacting certain limitations on the production of housing. Senate Bill 330 would block high-cost regions from placing limits on new housing construction, and prohibit limits on the number of new units for a given piece of land. Among other proposals, it would also prohibit parking requirements for new developments in these regions, eliminate local fees on low-income housing development, and prohibit demolition of rent controlled apartments.  The Oakland Raiders and the Oakland Coliseum are close to reaching an agreement to maintain their presence in the city through 2019 and possibly 2020, according to reporting from The San Francisco Chronicle. Under the deal, the Las Vegas-bound team would pay $7.5 million this year, with the rent rising to $10.5 million if their Las Vegas stadium isn’t ready for the 2020 season. A federal appeals court rejected environmental objections to President Trump’s proposed border wall. The state of California and environmental advocacy groups sued the Department of Homeland Security, objecting to the construction of prototype walls and the replacement of fencing in San Diego and Imperial counties. However, the court overrode these objections, citing an immigration law that allows the Department to install additional physical barriers and roads near the border. Petaluma officials plan to file a petition to the California Supreme Court to review its pleas to reclaim funds from a redevelopment agency dissolved in 2011 by former Governor Jerry Brown. These funds amount to $8.6 million in assets: about $6 million for economic development, and the rest for affordable housing. The city of Petaluma’s reclamation pleas have been twice-denied by lower courts. The Oakland A’s  are facing new opposition from two separate interest groups against its proposed waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal. Save the Bay, a local environmental organization, has raised questions about environmental impacts of the development plans. The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and the bar pilots association expressed concerns about land and water traffic around the terminal, as well as the effect of bright lights on pilots navigating the narrow estuary. Voice of San Diego is threatening to sue San Diego State University for withholding public records outlining its plans for its proposed Mission Valley campus. The group is seeking substantive proof behind the university’s claims that costs of the expansive construction project – which includes a new stadium, river park, and student housing – would not impact student tuition. The Los Angeles Ethics Commissioners voted to recommend that the city council enact limits on political contributions. Their recommended rules would restrict many developers and businesses from donating to LA officials, and would restrict money raised by politicians who request donations for preferred causes. The recommendations now face approval by the LA City Council Rules Committee. A nonprofit advocacy group sued UC Berkeley , claiming that the university failed to analyze the environmental impacts of increasing student enrollment. According to the lawsuit from Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods, the increase in student enrollment has worsened homelessness, traffic congestion, and violated the California Environmental Quality Act, among other charges. In 2005, UC Berkeley set a 2020 Long Range Development Plan, accounting for an increasing in 1,650 students. However, the actual increase over the past 13 years has been 8,302; a fivefold increase over planned numbers. Gov.  Gavin Newsom met with the mayors of Fresno, Merced, and Bakersfield to confirm his support of a high-speed rail between Merced and Bakersfield. This came just a day after the Governor’s State of the State address, during which he announced plans to scale back the state’s multi-billion dollar high-speed rail project. According to the mayors, Newson confirmed that the San Joaquin Valley line will still reach completion by 2027, and will eventually connect to Silicon Valley. (See prior CP&DR commentary .) A study published in Nature Communications estimates that Northern California climates will feel closer to Southern California climates 60 years from now. The study examined 540 North American cities and illustrated their future climates with comparisons to towns today. The study equated future San Jose to today’s Pasadena, Santa Cruz to today’s North Hollywood, and San Francisco with Palos Verdes Estates in Southern California. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to downsize the Delta tunnels project in his first State of the State address. Newsom called to reduce the twin-tunnel project, designed to re-engineer the troubled estuary to a single tunnel. This reduction will save billions of dollars for the project but will need to re-enter environmental reviews before it moves forward. In his address, the governor also named a new chair of the state’s water board. The California Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Justice Small Grants Program is open to community-based nonprofit groups and federally recognized tribal governments to support environmental justice-related projects in areas of the state that have been disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and hazards. Applications must be received by March 21. Staff from California Climate Investments (CCI) administering agencies have released a best practices document generated from conversations that took place during the March 2018 Community Leadership Summit: Best Practices for Building Successful Projects . The document also incorporates some additional best practices and lessons learned throughout the implementation of CCI programs and projects. The identified best practices are organized into seven categories: Maintaining Relationships, Program and Project Design, Decision-Making, Community Preparedness and Partnerships, Running Community Meetings, Communication, and Confirming Support & Measuring Success.  The Central Sierra Environmental Resources Center (CSERC) sued Tuolumne County’s Board of Supervisors over recently-approved updates to its General Plan. The plan set long-range policies and goals for land-use planning and development through 2040. CSERC claims that aspects of the plan fail to meet requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, as well as state planning and zoning laws.  A Los Angeles Times investigation found a tie between a real estate company seeking to replace portions of the LA Times headquarters and a councilman voting on its status as a historic landmark. According to contribution records, Omni Contracting Inc, which bought portions of the downtown property in 2016, made a donation to Families for a Better Los Angeles just two months before a vote on the status of the property. Families for a Better Los Angeles is a campaign committee linked to Councilman Jose Huizar, who sided with Omni to oppose the headquarters’ designation as a historic site.  State officials told the City of Encinitas that it must “amend or invalidate” its anti-growth ordinance or risk violating California laws. Proposition A, which Encinitas passed in 2013, requires a public vote every time a developer proposes changes in zoning, and sets a citywide building height limit of 30 feet – the equivalent of two stories. This continues the State Department of Housing and Community Development’s recent efforts to push for more housing statewide. (See prior CP&DR  coverage .) A Santa Barbara judge refused to approve a deal limiting Hollister Ranch beach access to a designated few. The deal, struck by Hollister Ranch and coastal officials last year, would have restricted beach access to landowners, their guests, visitors with guides, and those who could boat or paddle two miles into the access point. The judge’s ruling represents a victory for the coalition of advocates who challenged the deal last year and the larger public’s right to access state beaches. A San Francisco Chamber of Commerce poll revealed growing support for expanding housing near transit hubs. According to the poll, 74 percent of the 500 respondents would support a state bill to prevent cities from restricting apartment construction within a half mile of a transit station. Notably, the poll did not mention the bill by name, but outlined details from SB50 proposed by Senator Scott Wiener. Wiener and advocates of the bill are encouraged by growing citywide support to increase housing options. The San Diego City Council updated its placemaking law, giving community projects like pedestrian plazas or murals automatic approval, as long as they comply with city codes. The city chose to review its permitting process after a controversy in 2015, when the city fined community project organizers and forced them to remove their installation at a traffic intersection. Now, several community projects will install parklets, banners, and murals in vacant lots and crosswalks. The city will review the effects of the eased restrictions this coming April. The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a $120 million program to incentivize improvements in the way publicly subsidized housing is built. The program draws funds from the Proposition HHH Homeless Housing bond, and seeks innovative, cost-effective development proposals for 1,000 new units of homeless-supportive housing. This is the city’s latest response to slow progress and inefficiencies in current uses of Proposition HHH funds.

The U.S. Senate passed a massive public lands package to protect and promote wilderness, recreation, national parks, and national monument areas, including major expansions of California national parks. The measure, which combines more than 100 public-lands bills, permanently reauthorizes the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which expired last fall. It will also create 700,000 acres of new conservation and recreation area nationwide. In California, the package includes Sen. Dianne Feinstein's landmark Desert Protection and Recreation Act, which expands both Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks, adding 4,518 and 35,292 acres to each respectively. This is a particular victory for supporters of Joshua Tree, which vandals damaged during the 35-day government shutdown. Another key measure designates six new Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Areas. Further provisions in the bill include designating Inyo County Bureau of Land Management Land as the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area, adding eight new Bureau of Land Management wilderness areas, expanding the San Gorgonio Wilderness, and protecting 81,800 acres of Imperial County wilderness. BART, Amtrak Consider Partnership to Expand Bay Area Rail  BART and Amtrak announced joint plans to consider a new $15 billion transbay line from Sacramento to San Francisco, including a new Transbay Tube with separate tracks for both Amtrak and BART services. The project would add a second San Francisco-bound regional line to Amtrak’s existing Capitol Corridor service, which runs through Oakland and Hayward to San Jose. The current trip from Sacramento to San Francisco Capitol Corridor passengers to transfer to a bus or BART at Oakland stations. But, according to David Kutrosky, managing director of the Capitol Corridor, that hasn’t diminished demand for the ride. “Even with these transfers in the East Bay, the Sacramento-to-San Francisco trip is the most popular on the line, averaging about 750,000 trips per year,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. Bart and Amtrak are considering two endpoints for the proposed line: either at the San Francisco Transbay Transit Center, or at a location further south, such as the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets. As part of initial planning, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has commissioned a study to assess the viability of a potential high-speed rail line, and to compare the merits of a cross-bay tunnel or bridge. In November, BART submitted a $50 million bid to fund the line.  CARB Releases Draft Climate Change Implementation Plan  The California Air Resources Board released its January 2019 Draft California 2030 Natural and Working Lands Climate Change Implementation Plan. The plan , a multi-agency collaboration, outlines several key objectives to improve air and water quality, wildlife habitat, and recreation on working and natural lands. Objectives include integrating climate goals into state-funded land programs; increasing conservation, restoration, and management of these lands through State programs; and identifying future policy to use natural and working land to meet long-term climate objectives of net zero or negative carbon emissions. The agencies committed to implementing the plan include CARB, the California Natural Resources Agency, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Strategic Growth Council. To track progress toward 2030 goals, CARB also released a Natural and Working Lands Inventory that quantitatively estimates existing carbon levels stored in the state’s land base. Water Boards Approves New Protections for Wetlands, Waterways  The State Water Board released and adopted its final draft of the State Wetland Definition and Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State. The draft intends to increase protection and restoration of the state’s fragile undeveloped areas, including wetlands, rivers, bays, and estuaries. Overall, the new policy aims to prevent net loss in the quality, quantity, and sustainability of waters of the state. Notably, the draft broadens the state’s definition of wetland to include non-vegetated areas in more arid regions, like mudflats and playas. The expanded definition ensures that waters of the state will remain protected even where the federal definition of waters is limited. The draft also strengthens regulations on discharging dredged or fill materials, and provides a consistent framework for monitoring wetland water quality. The Definition and Procedures provide much-needed protection to what remains of undeveloped wetland areas: land development has erased nearly 90 percent of state wetlands, including 95 percent of coastal wetlands. The State Water Board adopted the procedures in Sacramento Feb. 5. State Accepts Applications for $40 Million in Affordable Housing Support The California Housing Finance Agency is accepting applications for its Multifamily Mixed-Income Program . The program, created as part of 2017’s Senate Bill 2, offers $40 million in funding to statewide developers of multifamily, mixed-income housing projects. For many developers, $40 million would cover only a fraction of construction costs. But representatives of the state ’ s housing authority claim that the reward should supplement other funding sources, including state loans and tax credits. Additionally, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a one-time $500 million addition to the program in his 2019-20 state budget proposal. The state estimates that the project would produce 750 to 1,124 homes annually. Applications are due April 30, and state officials will announce rewards this summer. Projects with the lowest subsidy requests will receive preference, as well as projects that designate at least 10 percent of the units for “missing middle” incomes of 80 to 120 percent of area median income. Quick Hits & Updates  The California Air Resources Board released a plan to reduce air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley. The plan increases emission regulations and offers $5 billion in incentives to residents and business owners to replace their high-emission vehicles and equipment. Air quality in San Joaquin Valley cities consistently rank among the worst in the nation, and most fail to meet federal air regulations. Under the plan, Valley officials hope to meet federal standards by 2024. The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a plan, 13-0, to open a 154-bed homeless shelter on Sunset Avenue in the heart of Venice. The $5 million facility would be temporary with a modular tent structure holding 100 beds, and nine trailers for youths. The shelter is part of Mayor Garcetti’s Bridge Home program, which aims to place at least one homeless shelter in each of the 15 council districts. The project is exempt from CEQA but does need approval from the California Coastal Commission. Caltrans released a report, Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments , which highlights the negative effects of climate change on the state’s highway system and infrastructure. The report primarily discusses areas in Northern California and the Central Valley that were impacted by extreme temperatures and frequent wildfires recently. Caltrans plans to issue a total of 12 reports for each region in the state. According to data from San Francisco Planning Department analysis, the city loses more than one existing affordable housing unit for every two it creates. On average between 2008 and 2018, the city lost more than 400 rent-controlled units while an average of 650 new affordable units were built each year. The report also found that less than 18 percent of all new units created in the last 10 years were considered affordable. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti invited community organizations to apply for $2.5 million in street improvements and community outreach to reimagine public spaces in their own neighborhoods. The Great Streets Challenge, now in its third round, is designed to transform streets and urban corridors across Los Angeles into vibrant, walkable spaces that reflect the unique character of their communities.  The Santa Clara City Council approved the Bay Area’s first farm-centered housing community in a 361-home, 1.7-acre project dubbed the “Agrihood". The project, which sets aside 165 of its apartments for low-income seniors, is the long-sought compromise between officials seeking affordable housing development and residents pushing to preserve the site’s agricultural legacy. It follows in the model of a similar 2015 project in Davis dubbed The Cannery. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority is considering a reservation-and-pricing system to drive down the 1000 Lombard Street block. Currently, the iconically crooked stretch of road draws two million visitors per year, and 27,000 cars on an average weekend day. Residents will vote on either a five dollar fee at all times, or five dollar weekday and ten dollar weekend fees. With spaced reservations, the SFCTA expects only eight cars on the block at a time. A recent CoreLogic report showed that the Bay Area housing market surged in early 2018, but downshifted significantly in the last three months of the year. According to the data, the median home rate increased by 17 percent and hit an all-time high in June at $875,00, but fell by 10 percent in the following six months. Further, home sales bottomed out in December 2018, hitting their lowest rates in 11 years. The California Imperial Irrigation District (IID) asked for $200 million in federal funding to restore the Salton Sea as part of multi-state negotiations for Colorado Drought Contingency Plans. California Senator Dianne Feinstein expressed support for the IID’s request to restore the badly polluted and depleting inland lake, urging Trump officials to use funds from the recently-passed Farm Bill to fund the restoration. The federal government set a January 31 deadline to reach an agreement to reduce dependency on the Colorado River for water. Santa Rosa city officials received more requests to build secondary home “granny units" in the last year than the previous decade combined. This change results from the City Council’s 2017 decision to ease regulations on building and leasing secondary homes in the wake of the 2017 Santa Rosa fires. New data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency shows that the value of an acre of Sacramento County land for single-family housing has increased by 135 percent since 2012. The land value increase in Sacramento County overshadows its home value increase, which rose by 85 percent in the same period. A California Department of Water Resources survey of Sacramento County found that areas in Yolo County have sunk significantly since 2008. Most notably, the town of Arbuckle has sunk 2.14 feet compared with baseline measurements. The County’s Subsidence Report assesses that these changes can be attributed to aggressive groundwater pumping throughout the years of the statewide drought, during which groundwater levels reached all-time lows. Borre Winckel, President and CEO of the Building Industry Association of San Diego, condemned the city for its failure to meet goals for housing production, citing a recent report showing that San Diego housing production slowed in 2018. Winckel also noted that the city has only built about 7700 new units annually, which is about half of the new units required to meet the housing production goal for 2020.

In yesterday’s state of the state address, Gov. Gavin Newsom elaborated on his aggressive plans to promote housing statewide in his first term.  Newsom had already pledged some $1 billion in subsides and planning support in an announcement a few weeks ago. And, two weeks ago, he sued the City of Huntington Beach for allegedly flouting its Regional Housing Needs Assessment allocation. In that suit, he gets an assist from Senate Bill 35, which significantly increases cities’ obligations under RHNA and gives the state the power to impose penalties.  Diplomatically, Newsom insisted that "as a former mayor, the last thing (he) wanted to do was start my term by suing a city. But they left (him) no choice.” Newsom proposed what will certainly be an excellent piece of political theater: a meeting of all 47 cities (plus, possibly, Huntington Beach, unless their lawyers advise otherwise) for a “candid conversation.” Newsom noted that he doesn’t intend to sue all 47 of them. It’ll be interesting to see how Newsom injects “political courage” into cities that have, in many cases, deliberately suppressed new housing/ But Newsom continues to do events around the state designed to highlight his desire to cooperate with cities. On Tuesday, Feb. 19, he planned to tour affordable housing projects in Long Beach with the local mayor. Potentially fulfilling a decades-old dream of infill developers, Newsom pledged to loosen California Environmental Quality Act requirements that often impede the development of high-density urban housing. In doing so, he took an implicit jab at his predecessor and the legislature for approving CEQA exemptions for sports stadiums. Newsom’s strategy is, rather than decry exemptions outright, to essentially level the playing field for housing. A canny move — especially when paired with support from the trade unions that will, presumably, built a great deal of the hoped-for infill housing.  Finally, Newsom made vague commitments to uphold "commitments many of us made after Prop 10 failed last year.” He referred to eviction controls and regulations that don’t hurt small landlords (meaning he may soak large landlords), but he didn’t explicitly refer to rent control. To be sure, Newsom will likely do whatever he can to avoid a repeat of Prop. 10 and, therefore, will surely call on the legislature to reform of Costa-Hawkins, lest voters strip it of that power once and for all. (See prior CP&DR coverage of Newsom's announcements about high speed rail.)

I tend to equate the creation of new cities with idealistic oddballs, overzealous autocrats, ambitious developing economies -- or all three. Think of Brasilia, Brazil; Shenzhen, China; or the proposed NEOM in Saudi Arabia. They are unusual places, developed under unusual circumstances. That’s why Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement to create a brand-new city in the mature democracy of California came as a shock to me.  Don’t get me wrong. Newsom isn’t going to build out California City or plan the utopia of Jerrytropolis in Colusa County. In fact, he’s not building anything at all, at least not anything that isn’t already underway.  Today in his state of the state address, Newsom didn’t exactly kill California's long-awaited high speed rail system — as some reports had indicated. Instead, he radically recast its purpose and reset its goals.  With the self-consciously blunt, nearly Trumpian preface of “let’s be real," Newsom proclaimed that “the project, as currently planned, would cost too much and take too long….there simply isn’t a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A.” Instead of building the statewide system, he lent his enthusiastic support to the completion of the 119-mile initial operating segment between Bakersfield and Madera, plus a little more to Merced.  In the midst of what seemed like a defeatist announcement — Newsom swears that he loves high speed rail just as much as the next guy does (or, rather, the previous guys: Arnold and Jerry) — Newsom equated the completion and operation of the initial segment with the revival of the Central Valley. Of course, the cities of Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced, and others along the line already exist. But Newsom imagines them as one living, breathing metropolis, joined by the fastest technology on wheels. I say “breathing” literally, since Newsom hopes that the train will help alleviate the Valley’s terrible pollution.  For a member of San Francisco’s elite, Newsom issued one of the most passionate endorsements of the Central Valley I’ve ever heard: "some critics will say this is a 'train to nowhere' But that’s wrong and offensive. The people of the Central Valley….have suffered too many years of neglect from policymakers here in Sacramento. They deserve better.” (See prior CP&DR commentary .) In short, high speed rail is no longer about transportation. "High-Speed Rail is much more than a train project,” said Newsom. "It’s about economic transformation and unlocking the enormous potential of the Valley.” Newsom isn't talking about agriculture. Ag isn't a "potential" economic engine; it's the existing economic engine. If Newsom is talking about potential, he's necessarily talking about urbanism.  When life gives you almonds, make almond milk, right?  Newsom’s support for the initial segment is especially heartening to planners in the Valley’s cities. Ever since the approval of high speed rail, planners in the valley have been working on station area plans that, in many cases, work in concert with downtown plans. They are relying on the train’s actual economic impacts as well as on its psychological impacts.    Without connections to Los Angeles and the Bay Area, the economic impacts may be limited, but planners can still hope for the psychological impacts to justify and motivate the type of redevelopment they envision. Newsom outlined a strategy for rail-based revitalization: "We can align our economic and workforce development strategies, anchored by High-Speed Rail, and pair them with tools like opportunity zones, to form the backbone of a reinvigorated Central Valley economy.” Newsom, who is, let's face it, the embodiment of the "coastal elite," conceives of the Central Valley -- California's proverbial "flyover state" -- as a place people travel within rather than just through.  To terminate high speed rail entirely — as many critics have wanted — would have, I think, devastated those cities. Now, they can go full steam ahead. Meanwhile, San Francisco's new Transbay Terminal and Los Angeles's planned overhaul of Union Station will have to patiently wait their turn.   As a piece of urbanism, Newsom’s revised experiment in high speed rail will be fascinating, and perhaps revelatory. As a piece of politics, it was a brilliant move.    Support for high speed rail has been slipping with every new billion in projected costs , now somewhere in the area of $77 billion to $9 trillion gazillion. (Some people called Newsom's announcement " shocking ;" but how shocking is it to pare down a project that's underfunded by tens of billions of dollars?) Gov. Brown got pilloried for it, and so did Gov. Schwarzenegger, to a lesser extent. Even fans of high speed rail — myself included — blanched at the price tag. Of course, Newsom has pledged to continue the environmental work on the whole system and "to push for more federal funding and private dollars.” But “pushing” is an easy promise to make.    As the new guy, Newsom gets to have his cake and eat it too. (Preferably in the dining car midway between Fresno and Merced.)  He gets to proclaim his moral support for the full system while being the candid pragmatist about the budget woes. He gets to champion a project that’s already underway and that he had nothing to do. He gets to mute a project that would have become an albatross for him were he to cheer for it like his predecessors did, while, at the same time, he tries really, really hard to find funding for it. He gets to defend the Central Valley against the haters while hailing the creation of a vibrant new urban area that already exists. He gets to shepherd the completion of a modest project rather than the failure of an ambitious one.  And he gives planners in Fresno, Bakersfield, and Merced a reason to come to work tomorrow. They’re not exactly designing the next Brasilia, but at least they can rest assured that they’re not designing the next California City either.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority revealed plans to explore a new transit project connecting the Valley and Westside through the Sepulveda Pass, one of the region’s most congested corridors. Initial plans outline four alternatives, which all could expedite the key north-to-south commute to less than thirty minutes. The four alternatives include combinations of aerial lines and tunnel lines through the Santa Monica Mountains, and one proposes an aboveground monorail system. The alternative with the highest expected ridership is an 18-minute aerial-and-subway combination. This would also likely be the most expensive; tunneling through the Santa Monica Mountains will present significant costs and engineering challenges. Conversely, the plan with the lowest projected ridership is also the most cost-effective: the monorail option can handle steeper mountain grades than a rail line and wouldn’t require human drivers––but would make for the slowest ride at 26 minutes. Metro is expected to receive $2.54 billion for the Sepulveda Pass project through Measure M, the sales tax increase passed in 2016, and has secured $3.3 billion through other sources. The project is slated to finish 2033, but the city hopes to open the line in time for the 2028 Olympic Games. $100 Million Affordable Housing Plan Proposed for San Jose  San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo released a detailed new spending plan to expand the city’s stock of affordable housing. The plan, which still requires approval by the San Jose City Council, proposes spending $100 million on 11 developments that will add 1142 low-income units to the city. However, even a full approval of all proposed construction would still put San Jose only 20 percent of the way toward its goal of 10,000 affordable units by 2022. To address this gap, Liccardo  is looking for alternative inroads toward affordable housing. Liccardo recently asked the city to revisit whether pre-existing rent controls are placing limitations on new housing projects. He’s also looking for philanthropic and corporate support, including funding from the Partnership for the Bay’s Future, a group led by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the San Francisco Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. Finally, he has met with Governor Gavin Newson, who has made housing an explicit component of his platform. "The more the merrier,” Liccardo told KQED of his multi-pronged approach. "I'm the first to recognize what we have is a multibillion dollar problem, and $10 million here and there isn't going to solve it, but every bit helps." Tuolumne County Approves 20-year General Plan Tuolumne County supervisors approved a comprehensive update to its 20-year General Plan outlining policy related to the county’s future growth and development. The approval came four days before two outgoing supervisors were replaced by their successors, provoking criticism of the board’s decision to approve the plan before the two incoming supervisors could provide input. Critics also said the proposed development neglected to take necessary steps to protect the county’s scenic areas. Beyond their environmental and historical significance, those areas contribute heavily to tourism, which is the county’s top industry. “It appears to have been written by and on behalf of the development community and with little consideration for the environmental community and the unique resources in this county,” said Tom Parrington, of the Central Sierra Audubon Society, according to the Union Democrat. Proponents emphasized the importance of continued development in the county, emphasizing that the plan would increase the availability of affordable housing in the area. County supervisors told the Union Democrat the plan would “have the opportunity to evolve,” noting it can be amended up to four times a year. Civic San Diego Moves to Reduce Parking Downtown Civic San Diego’s Board of Directors approved recommendations to limit parking spaces in future downtown developments. The new standards eliminate minimum parking requirements for new building projects. They set a parking maximum at one spot per multifamily home, and stipulate “unbundled parking,” which requires units and spots to be leased or sold separately. Currently, the downtown standard requires one space per unit and no parking maximums. The proposal is supported by research from the consulting firm Chen Ryan Associates on behalf of San Diego Civic, which shows low parking demand in multifamily units throughout the downtown area, and recommends zero parking requirements for units near transit stops. The changes follow Mayor Faulconer’s push for housing solutions that increase unit development and decrease dependence on cars within the city. The San Diego City Council will vote on the proposal in March. Report: Bay Area Exhibits Uneven Diversity  The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) released a diversity ranking of Bay Area cities based on 2017 census data. Suburbs topped and bottomed the list: Vallejo and Suisun City are the most diverse cities, while San Anselmo and its Marin County neighbor, Ross –– both close to 90 precent white –– claimed the bottom-most rankings. Comparisons with past rankings reveal shifts in population diversity in the Bay Area’s most central cities: San Francisco dropped from 17th most-diverse in 2000 to 24th in 2017; with a substantial reduction in the city’s African American population and a growing white majority. Oakland, the third-most diverse city, has also seen a drop in its African-American population, from 30 percent to 23.6 percent. Increasingly, diversity has moved to the outskirts of the Bay Area. ABAG spokesman John Goodwin told SF Gate, “When you look at the most diverse cities, they are pretty much in the same areas, where housing costs are less expensive, and that is on the periphery of the Bay Area.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the founding of a new coalition to raise $540 million to address the Bay Area’s housing crisis. The group, dubbed the Partnership for the Bay’s Future, includes pledges from Facebook as well as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Genentech, the San Francisco Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and other philanthropies, corporations, and foundations. Once raised, $500 million of the fund will be committed to community development projects, and $40 million will be awarded through grants to jurisdictions with affordable housing plans. This initiative comes amid mounting political pressure to hold tech corporations accountable for their impact on local housing prices and availability: in November, California Governor Gavin Newsom called for tech companies to lend $500 million to developers of middle-income housing. This fund also echoes Microsoft’s recent $500 million pledge to expand affordable housing in Seattle. Critics of voluntary tech initiatives consider them an insufficient alternative to higher taxation on high-earning corporations. “I do think that corporate contribution and philanthropy is important,” Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation and new member of the partnership, told the Los Angeles Times, “But I also think we need to have a really tough conversation about taxation and how that fits into this equation.” (See prior CP&DR commentary .) Clippers Seek CEQA Exemption for Arena in Inglewood The Los Angeles Clippers have applied for a program that streamlines environmental litigation in hopes of accelerating construction of a new arena in Inglewood. The program, established under 2011’s AB 900, allows California Environmental Quality Act lawsuits brought against “Environmental Leadership Development Projects” (ELDPs) to be expedited through the court system. To qualify as an ELDP, projects must be infill developments valued at least $100 million that meet specific sustainability and environmental impact targets. The Clippers’ planned site, dubbed the Inglewood Basketball and Entertainment Center, centers on an 18,000-seat arena, with surrounding practice areas, office space, hotel, and other structures. This plan faces competition from the Madison Square Garden Company’s existing bid for the site, which also faces environmental lawsuits. The proposed project joins Inglewood’s multiple ambitious construction plans, most notably a $5 billion mixed-use development with a stadium for the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. Similarly, the City of Inglewood is seeking to construct a transportation system to connect NBA and NFL venues with the Crenshaw/LAX Line and Downtown Inglewood. If the Clippers’ project is approved, a construction timeline forecasts completion in 2024. (See prior CP&DR coverage .) Los Angeles to Sell Off Land in Owens Valley The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) has proposed a land sale in the Owens Valley that would ease tensions dating back over 100 years. DWP proposed selling 57 units of leased commercial property back to local residents. It would be the first private land ownership in Owens Valley since the early 1900s, throughout which L.A. County appropriated of 89 percent of Inyo County land. The DWP’s proposal, in which they would retain water rights, faces approval from the Los Angeles City Council in a few months. Lots among the 57 targeted properties could be sold by the end of this year. Owens Valley residents expressed enthusiasm for the plan, which they hope will jumpstart investment in local business and positively impact the economy. Critics cite historical DWP failures, including a 1997 attempt to sell back 75 acres that set the minimum bid far above market value for locals to purchase. The DWP’s current charter requires a competitive bid in auction for all commercial properties. However, the Brown Act will require the new proposal to grant lessees right of first refusal before the lease goes out to bid. Residents are hopeful that this will open opportunities to gaining a fair market price for land ownership.  San Francisco Considers Tax on Vacant Retail Space San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin proposed a new tax on commercial property owners with prolonged vacancies. The tax aims to penalize landlords who keep their storefronts intentionally vacant to extract the highest rent possible from potential tenants. Peskin’s proposal, which would fine store owners $250 a day after a six-month vacancy, responds to a recent rise in empty lots in once-vibrant commercial neighborhoods. However, the proposal may unintentionally target owners facing external market pressures, such as competition from online retailers. In response to such concerns, Peskin said that he would work with the Department of Building Inspection todevelop criteria for discovering bad faith vacancies, including assessing whether landlords are actively showing spaces to potential renters. Peskin proposed to direct funds generated from the tax to provide relief for tenants and businesses displaced during seismic retrofit work. The proposal will face approval from the Board of Supervisors to earn a spot on the city’s November ballot. Housing for a Healthy California Program Releases Final Guidelines The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has just released the Final Housing for a Healthy California (HHC) Program Guidelines . The Guidelines incorporate feedback from participants through public comment letters, and additional conversations and research during the public outreach period. AB 74 was signed into law in September of 2017, which authorized HCD to develop and implement the HHC program. The goal of the HHC program is to reduce the overutilization of emergency departments, inpatient care, nursing home stays, and use of corrections systems and law enforcement resources for people who are chronically homeless or homeless and a high-cost health user. The HHC program will provide funding on a competitive basis to deliver supportive housing opportunities through grants to counties for capital and operating assistance or operating reserve grants and capital loans to developers. Two separate Notices of Funding Availability will be released in spring 2019, one for each article. Quick Hits & Updates San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced her intention to place a $300 million bond for affordable housing on the ballot by March 2020. Breed also requested officials move up the date to vote on a $600 million bond that would update public safety infrastructure –– including police and fire stations  –– to better withstand earthquakes. The reorganization of the city’s bond schedule would delay a $255 million bond for parks and open space until November 2020. Orange County received an additional $149 million in funding from the federal government for its first modern streetcar, which will begin running in 2021. The streetcar will run 4.1 miles from Santa Ana’s train station to the transit station in Garden Grove. The project is set to cost $408 million; a total of $217 million will come from federal funding with additional funding from the state. San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced the Housing Preservation and Expansion Reform Act, which would implement higher fines for illegal demolitions and require approval for housing expansions that increase square footage by more than 10 percent. The legislation comes after illegal demolitions of several homes in San Francisco, including a Willis Polk-designed home at Lombard St. on Russian Hill. Peskin told the San Francisco Chronicle the bill would outline what constitutes a “demolition” and preserve affordable housing in the city. Oakland’s Mayor and City Council proposed an ordinance that would require hundreds of apartments to be seismically retrofitted to comply with earthquake safety codes. The ordinance targets “soft-story residential buildings”: multi-unit, wood-frame structures with weak first stories built before 1991. The city estimates that Oakland has 24,000 units in 1,400 to 2,400 soft-story buildings. The program will inspect and classify Oakland homes, then allow residents six years to make the fix. BART reported a decline in use of airport commuter trains to San Francisco and Oakland international airports, citing competitive pressure from ride-hailing services. BART estimates that it has lost 10 percent in fares from SFO, and 6% of its rides from Oakland airport, amounting to over $4 million in total losses. The new Richmond commuter ferry to San Francisco took its inaugural trip on January 10, with 164 riders aboard the 225-person capacity boat. The ferry offers six trips to and from Richmond each weekday, and plans to expand services pending the outcome of a lawsuit against Regional Measure 3, which will increase bridge tolls to pay for alternative transit. The Burlingame City Council unanimously approved a new master development and policy plan. The new plan boasts less stringent zoning laws, allowing for taller and denser residential projects, increased residencies in commercial and industrial areas, and increased development near the Millbrae BART and CalTrain stations. The council also approved an urgency ordinance to update regional zoning regulations to greenlight development projects while the plan comes into effect. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors appealed a Superior Court’s late December decision to reject its Climate Action Plan. The December ruling took issue with the county’s carbon offset credits, which allowed housing developers to purchase carbon credits to offset local greenhouse gas emissions. This appeal is the latest response in a continuous legal battle between the Sierra Club and San Diego County over its Climate Action Plan, which has failed approval three times since 2012. On Jan. 24 the Natural Resources Agency released for public comment the draft Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program Guidelines. These guidelines and more information on the program can be found on the Department of Conservation’s webpage, and will be open for public comment through Feb. 8. San Diego officials are proposing zoning changes near new trolley stations along Morena Boulevard that would allow 10-story housing projects and change the street grid between I-5 and the University of San Diego. The proposal is the Morena Corridor Specific Plan and would increase density of housing projects while providing new protected paths for bicyclists and pedestrians, an artisan district, a linear park, wider sidewalks, public plazas and green spaces.  The existing area is mostly blighted, auto-oriented industrial area. San Diego City Council is expected to consider the plan for approval this year. The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved  new rules on short term rentals such as Airbnb. The new law goes into effect in July, and allows Angelenos to only host STR in their primary residence, not in secondary homes or investment properties. A primary residence is defined as a place where the host lives at least half of the year. The host must register with the city, pay lodging taxes, keep records for city inspections, and make sure they have working smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and information on emergency exits.

CP&DR Vol. 34 No. 1 January 2019

In the most aggressive move of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s brief but ambitious campaign to solve the state’s housing crisis, the attorney general’s office filed suit against the City of Huntington Beach for its alleged failure to accept its fair share of new housing. The suit is based on the Department of Housing and Commity Development’s finding that the city’s 2015 housing element was deficient; it had been in compliance two years earlier, but the city then "significantly reduced the number of new housing units able to be built” by cutting the city’s capacity by 2,000 units. The suit was filed under Senate Bill 35, the 2017 law that requires cities to comply with Regional Housing Needs Assessment numbers and that gives the governor’s office expanded powers to compel cities to comply. City officials dispute the state’s contentions, claiming that the city has not been able to update its housing element because of pending litigation from activist groups. Since then, the city has failed to pass a housing element that complies with RHNA. (See related CP&DR coverage .) Sacramento Mayor Pledges Financial Support for Possible MLS Soccer Stadium Sacramento Mayor Darrel Steinberg pledged tens of millions of dollars in city funds to help spur the development for a stadium for a sought-after Major League Soccer team. The funds would pay for infrastructure improvements to accommodate a 20,000-seat stadium for a team that would be owned by FC Republic Group and most likely be built as part of the redevelopment of the rail yards north of downtown Sacramento. Steinberg promised that no city funds would go towards the stadium itself, nor would general fund monies be used. He intends to create financial incentives by giving the team the rights to electronic billboards advertisements and by waiving development fees. Steinberg’s announcement came shortly after billionaire Ron Burkle, owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, announced that he would take a controlling interest in the team if MLS awards Sacramento a franchise.  Draft EIR Envisions L.A. Union Station for High Speed Rail The Los Angeles Metro released a draft environmental impact report for its overhaul of Los Angeles’s Union Station . The DEIR addresses the forecasted increase in ridership, expand regional rail connectivity, and create potential opportunities for transit-oriented development. "Link US" plans to transform LAUS into a modern transit and mobility hub offering an improved passenger experience to meet the region’s long-term transportation needs. Key components of Link US include: New rail communication, signals, and tracks; new run-through tracks over US-101 and new loop track; new expanded passenger concourse, platforms, escalators, and elevators; accommodation of High-Speed Rail with a new lead track, optimized throat and railyard. The project will transform LAUS from a “stub-end,” or dead-end station, to a “run-through” station by extending tracks south over the US-101 freeway. Currently, as a “stub-end” station, all commuter and intercity trains enter and exist LAUS through a five-track “throat” or station entry tracks located north of the station. This results in a 20-minute or longer idle time for trains at the station platform area. Transforming the existing stub-end tracks to run-through tracks is anticipated to reduce train idling times. Fresno County Sued for Hosing Discrimination A lawsuit filed against Fresno County alleges discrimination against low-income residents of color after failure by the county to adhere to state housing policies and local land laws. Many county residents involved in the lawsuit live in areas like Lanare, Cantua Creek, Calwa and other low-income, unincorporated neighborhoods with sizable Latino populations in south Fresno. Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the residents, told the Fresno Bee these communities have long faced “resistance” against their requests for improvements upon basic infrastructure like sidewalks, safe drinking water and street lighting. The lawsuit also emphasizes the county’s failure to meet multiple deadlines for improving infrastructure in the last three years. In response to the lawsuit, county officials told the Bee it is already working to review a general plan that would address the concerns of the residents. Draft documents for the plan, which also deals with outdated zoning ordinances, will be made available to the public later this month. ARB Releases Climate Plan for Natural and Working Lands The Air Resources Board released its Draft California 2030 Natural and Working Lands Climate Change Implementation Plan . The plan is a multi-agency joint collaboration by the California Natural Resources Agency, California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and Strategic Growth Council. The plan aims to integrate management objectives wherever possible, coordinating all natural and working lands programs under a united approach that will move the state toward its combined goal of maintaining a resilient carbon sink and improved air and water quality, water quantity, wildlife habitat, recreation, and other benefits. The objectives of this plan are to expand the use of natural and working lands for climate mitigation and adaptation by integrating climate goals into state-funded natural and working land conservation, restoration, and management programs; significantly increase and improve conservation, restoration, and management of California's natural and working lands through State programs and other means, to enhance their resilience to worsening climate change impacts, sequester carbon, and reduce GHGs; identify next steps for taking a more comprehensive approach to addressing the policy challenges facing the state's natural and working lands, including their contributions to achieving carbon-neutrality and meeting the state's long-term climate objectives. Los Angeles Metro to Recommend Congestion Pricing Policy Los Angeles Metro CEO Phil Washington announced his plans to recommend “some form” of congestion pricing to the agency’s board of directors. This announcement to the agency’s congestion, highways, and roads committee followed his mid-December endorsement of congestion pricing. Washington argued that charging drivers during peak periods would both ease traffic and reduce the city’s carbon emissions. Washington also recommended reallocating toll funds to accelerate public transportation projects and subsidize free fare on Metro public transit. Committee chair John Pasana highlighted the popularity risks of charging commuters new fees. UCLA urban planning professor Michael Manville endorsed the plan, citing the historical success of congestion pricing in cities like London, Stockholm, and Singapore. Addressing criticisms that the policy unfairly benefits wealthy drivers, Manville suggested setting aside revenue to assist poorer commuters. No United States urban area has yet attempted congestion pricing, though New York Governor Andrew Cuomo suggested that a similar plan may be approved for New York City this year.

The City of Sacramento has finally realized that the tired adage “if you build it they will come” does not necessarily apply to light rail. A full three decades after the opening of the city’s first light rail line, the city council recently passed an ordinance banning certain types of businesses from opening within a quarter-mile of a rail station.

It’s pretty clear that comprehensive legislative reform of the California Environmental Quality Act isn’t going anywhere. Despite his contention that CEQA reform is “the Lord’s work,” former Gov. Jerry Brown didn’t come anywhere close in the last eight years, and his successor Gavin Newsom has stayed away from big-time CEQA reform in the housing package he unveiled only days after his inauguration. The conventional wisdom is nobody wants to buck labor interests, which often use CEQA to extract concessions from developers that they cannot obtain any other way.

California’s multibillion-dollar budget surplus would not, at first glance, seem to reflect a state in ruins. But, in calling for a multi-pronged “Marshall Plan” to alleviate the state’s housing crisis, newly inaugurated Gov. Gavin Newsom has acknowledged the plight of millions of California’s who endure inadequate housing or spend too much for it — or both.