California
![Brick "USC University of Southenr California" sign at entrance to campus](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_464095112_Editorial_Use_Only.jpeg.webp?itok=tgQS8q34)
Berkeley Noise Pollution Precedent Blocks Los Angeles Housing
Opponents to a new university housing project cited a recent Berkeley case in which noise pollution was successfully used to deny an exemption from environmental review.
![View of natural gas power plant with two tall smokestacks on Northern California coast](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_86965690.jpeg.webp?itok=G02CQ4YJ)
Making Natural Gas Power Plants Cleaner
Carbon capture and storage has long been associated with coal-burning power plants. Calpine Corp. hopes to apply the controversial technology to existing natural gas power plants, beginning with a pilot project to start this month in the Bay Area.
![View from rear of white Waymo autonomous taxi van in Mountain View, California](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_283859820_Editorial_Use_Only.jpeg.webp?itok=mAudOnWn)
Advice for Autonomous Cars
Drivers for Uber and Lyft in San Francisco express their concerns and advice for self-driving taxi services.
![A tent covered in blue and black tarps sits on a downtown Los Angeles sidewalk with the white ziggurat-topped L.A. City Hall looming in the background](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/shutterstock_1850025757.jpg.webp?itok=vdrv1JYG)
Los Angeles Wants to Transfer Public Land to Marginalized Groups
A systematic reparations plan has begun in the city of Los Angeles, though it’s still too early to tell about the scale and impact of the plan.
![View of plain building staircase with light coming in from window on landing](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_329315836.jpeg.webp?itok=RS5KQXFP)
Editorial: Legalize Single-Staircase Buildings in California
A state bill that would allow multifamily buildings to only include one staircase could help boost the housing supply and encourage more spacious and well-designed apartments.
![California State Capital](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/shutterstock_774849805.jpg.webp?itok=aeVN2eah)
California First in the Nation to Limit Embodied Carbon in Buildings
California’s Building Code accomplished a first-in-the-nation step to mitigate carbon emissions from the construction and maintenance of buildings, by limiting embodied carbon in some commercial and school buildings.
![Cruise (owned by General Motors) self driving vehicle performing tests on the city streets](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_286453728_Editorial_Use_Only.jpeg.webp?itok=yEgIHCxl)
California Approves Autonomous Cars Over Local Concerns
Despite repeated calls from San Francisco officials to slow the deployment of self-driving cars, a state commission approved expanded access to San Francisco streets.
![Google street view of late Victorian home in Harvard Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, with one-story commercial building next door.](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-10%20at%201.03.05%20PM.png.webp?itok=z22R6E5y)
How One L.A. Developer Uses the Law to Build Apartments
California’s density bonus law lets developers skirt some zoning regulations to build multifamily housing.
![Apartment buildings in San Diego, California](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/shutterstock_74510131.jpg.webp?itok=Pyh3bsLP)
San Diego Planning Commission Rejects Voluntary State Density Law
The density-enabling mechanisms of the California law Senate Bill 10 are too much for San Diego’s citizen planners.
![Close-up of Caltrans logo on white passenger train](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_442054433_Editorial_Use_Only.jpeg.webp?itok=q5HGZHS5)
The ‘Three Pillars’ of Carbon Reduction, According to Caltrans
The California Department of Transportation released its draft carbon reduction strategy last month to apply for Carbon Reduction Program funds included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Road pricing plays a prominent role.
![Rendering of people walking on grassy lawn and gravel walkway under 6th Street Bridge in Los Angeles](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/Hargreaves-Jones-6th-Street-Viaduct-01_2022-06-17-Aerial-scaled.jpg.webp?itok=jLyPYJUT)
New Park Breaks Ground Under L.A.’s Sixth Street Viaduct
The park will connect to the Los Angeles River bike path and transit projects coming to the area.
![Silicon Valley](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/shutterstock_571551943.jpg.webp?itok=wiBz92Wi)
State Regulators Reject Palo Alto’s Housing Element a Second Time
More analysis and more equity will be required for Palo Alto to finally adopt a Housing Element that complies with state laws.
![View of vast oil drilling field with black oil derricks near Bakersfield, California](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_185791473.jpeg.webp?itok=VQfT3zrT)
The ‘Necessity of Oil and Gas Drilling’
The California Supreme Court on Aug. 3 unanimously overturned a successful 2016 Monterey County ballot measure that banned new oil and gas drilling. According to plaintiff Chevron USA, the justices recognized the ‘necessity of oil and gas drilling.’
![View from middle of street with streetcar rails and high-rise buildings on either side in San Francisco, Bay Bridge visible in background](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_197719114.jpeg.webp?itok=JJuB5pX2)
San Francisco Will Lower Speed Limits on 23 Streets
A 2021 state law allows cities to reduce speed limits next to ‘business activity districts.’
![An airplane flies over the Cabrillo Freeway (State Route 163) as it passes through Balboa Park and into the downtown area of San Diego, California.](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_146416674.jpeg.webp?itok=4H_jskD8)
San Diego Park Funds to Finance Freeway Exit Ramp
City staff say the damaged ramp’s location in Balboa Park makes it eligible for funding from a regional park improvement pool.
![Muni bus with bike on front bike rack on San Francisco street](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_284914148_Editorial_Use_Only.jpeg.webp?itok=Xh-Ne_ZJ)
Strategies for Speeding Up Bus Service
A new report will highlight solutions for making bus service faster, more reliable, and thus more attractive to riders.
![Close-up of person holding up phone and looking at their smart watch displaying fitness data](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_119105017.jpeg.webp?itok=It-5HsDZ)
Using Cellphone and Fitness App Data for Park Planning
Data from smartphone apps and fitness trackers are helping planners to better understand park usage patterns and plan for new and improved parks.
![Man painting "HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT" mural in black paint on bright yellow fence](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_367068777.jpeg.webp?itok=aCrnaFli)
California Ballot Measures Would Aid the Mentally Ill and Drug-Addicted Homeless
Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed in March a two-part ballot initiative to tackle homelessness, focusing on mental illness and substance abuse, which would provide 10,000 beds in new, voluntary treatment facilities—but one funding source is controversial.
![Group of children running toward the camera on a green lawn](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_229647792.jpeg.webp?itok=e_kv-bWt)
Community-Based Organizations Advancing Park Equity
July is Parks and Recreation Month and CBOs should be recognized for the important role they play in supporting parks and recreation in communities across the U.S.
![Fenced-in oil pump in residential neighborhood](/files/styles/small_400/public/images/AdobeStock_298778008.jpeg.webp?itok=PZTK-kYS)
Election 2024: California Oil Drilling Referendum
Environmentalists gear up for battle to reject a referendum funded by Big Oil on a law passed last year that would ban oil and gas drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, nursing homes, and hospitals.
Pagination
Placer County
City of Morganton
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Dongguan Binhaiwan Bay Area Management Committee
City of Waukesha, WI
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Indiana Borough
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