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By Stephen Smith, on July 10th, 2012
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll know that I spent this afternoon on the phone with folks in California, looking into the recent SNCF-CHSRA bombshell. To summarize: SNCF, the highly experienced French national high-speed rail operator, apparently had a plan for California’s HSR network, but was turned off by the highly politicized [...]
By Stephen Smith, on June 22nd, 2012
Inclusionary zoning – everyone wants to talk about it! Dave Alpert at GGW started the discussion with his pro-IZ piece, and hot on the heels of Emily’s post earlier today, I got an email from a California developer who wishes to remain anonymous:
This is the dirty secret of California’s Density Bonus law: it’s [...]
By Stephen Smith, on June 14th, 2012
Minimum parking requirement reform bills have been floating around the California legislature for a while – last year it was AB 710, and this year it’s AB 904, both authored by East Bay Asm. Nancy Skinner.
This email blast to members from the American Planning Association’s California chapter doesn’t take an official position and [...]
By Stephen Smith, on October 7th, 2011
California Assembly Bill 710 was introduced to earlier this year to tackle the problem of municipalities requiring onerous amounts of parking for new development, widely recognized as one of the main impediments to transit-oriented development and infill growth. The bill would have capped city and county parking requirements in neighborhoods with good transit to one space [...]
By Stephen Smith, on October 4th, 2011
California has, since the ’70s, had some of the strictest environmental laws in the country, but urbanists have recently been frustrated by what are known as CEQA lawsuits, named after the 1970 California Environmental Quality Act that serves as the basis of the challenges. CEQA battles have certainly hindered their fair share of highway and [...]
By Stephen Smith, on April 9th, 2011
Remember my response yesterday to Randal O’Toole’s Cato article on parking, when I said that I could easily write a three-part series? Not a joke! (Though I might spare you and leave the trilogy unfinished. Maybe.)
Today, I’d like to take on O’Toole’s comments on California, which he argues is too dense and hostile [...]
By Stephen Smith, on April 8th, 2011
1. Maps of sprawl and gentrification in Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago, and Boston. At first the picture looks bleak for cities, but Jesus – even downtown Detroit is growing! (More here.)
2. A real, live Texan (just kidding – he lives in Austin) replies to O’Toole on parking.
3. Why aren’t (more) urbanists cheering on [...]
By Stephen Smith, on January 25th, 2011
1. Systemic Failure praises Gov. (again) Jerry Brown’s efforts to do away with California’s redevelopment agencies and “enterprise zones” (there’s a euphemism if I’ve ever heard one), which the author claims promote autocentric development with public funds. He then cites a few examples of redevelopment agencies pushing such plans in San Jose. If he [...]
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