Regional Housing Needs Assessment
New Research Builds Evidence for Zoning Reform
Cityscape has published a collection of new research building support for zoning reforms as a tool for mitigating the effects of the housing affordability crisis.
Meeting Housing Goals by Loosening Commercial Zoning
Torrance, a city on the coast of Southern California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, recently adopted a zoning overlay that will relax commercial zones to allow more residential development.
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.
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.
New Plans for Palo Alto: Updated Zoning and 6,000 Housing Units
The city of Palo Alto, a city central to the geographic and economic might of Silicon Valley, is planning a significant overhaul to its plans for the future, making space for over 6,000 new housing units in the next eight years.
Should ADUs Count as Affordable Housing?
Without regulations or monitoring systems to ensure accessory dwelling units are rented at affordable rates, citing ADU construction toward affordable housing goals is a disingenuous way to avoid building multi-family housing.
Coronado Openly Flouts California Housing Law
The affluent island town has failed to submit a housing element that meets the state’s requirements for affordable housing production.
How California’s Newest Housing Laws Could Affect Housing Production
While it’s too soon to assess the full effects of recently passed legislation on housing production in the state, planners and housing advocates express cautious optimism that the new laws could help alleviate the state’s housing shortage.
California Attorney General Wants to Get Serious About Housing
A bill sponsored by the AG’s office would give the state’s top attorney more power to intervene in lawsuits related to the state’s housing laws.
Lawsuits Follow Housing Plan Failures in the San Francisco Bay Area
The Regional Housing Needs Assessment drama continues in California.
Bay Area Towns Weigh ‘Infantilizing’ Proposals to Avoid State Housing Mandates
In another desperate bid to avoid rezoning for affordable housing, some Bay Area towns are pushing housing for developmentally disabled adults as an alternative—but the proposals are likely illegal, disability rights advocates say.
Bay Area Cities Largely Miss Housing Element Deadline
Only four Bay Area cities have won the state’s approval for their housing elements, which are required to meet the state’s ambitious housing production targets.
San Francisco Housing Plan Gets State Approval
The city cleared a major hurdle as its housing plan, which paves the way for 82,000 new homes by 2030, is certified by the state.
Santa Barbara Expands ADU Program to Boost Housing
The city hopes that permitting larger ADUs and making adaptive reuse easier will help it meet its state-mandated goal of building over 8,000 new housing units by 2031.
Orange County Project Could Go Forward Under ‘Builder’s Remedy’
The nation’s largest home builder could receive approval for a 530-unit development under an obscure state law as the city of La Habra’s zoning laws hang in limbo after the state rejected its proposed housing plan.
San Francisco Plans for 82,000 New Housing Units
California housing regulators have granted preliminary approval for the city of San Francisco’s housing element as mandated by the state’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation process.
L.A. Planning Department Adjusts to State Housing Laws
Los Angeles Director of Planning Vince Bertoni was recently interviewed the effects of new state planning and housing laws in the state’s most populous city.
First Full Builder’s Remedy Application Filed in Santa Monica
In the time that it took Santa Monica to bring its housing plan into compliance with state requirements, a developer filed over a dozen preliminary applications under the obscure ‘builder’s remedy’ policy.
Palo Alto Includes Industrial Rezonings in its State-Mandated Housing Element
Palo Alto, a Silicon Valley city with a history of exclusionary zoning tactics, has produced a new Housing Element that calls for more than 6,000 housing units to be built in the city by 2031.
How the 'Builder's Remedy' Is Disrupting Planning and Development in California
The state of California has long looked the other way while cities blocked growth. With the state now enforcing growth plans, more and more cities are faced with losing local control of zoning. Introducing the “Builder's Remedy."
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
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
