Blogs

Populations change even if they don't grow. That's why California needs more housing even though the population is stagnant. 

Nevada officials want Las Vegas to expand even further, by opening federal land to development. As too many places in California illustrate, that's a recipe for sprawl, but not for a better city. 

Using a clever combination of local and state housing incentives, Costco is getting into the housing business in South Los Angeles

We shouldn't be afraid of autonomous taxis as a safety issue -- they're safer than we crazy drivers are. But can they make our cities better? 

The difference between California and, sadly, many other states is that our decline is taking place by choice.

The Los Angeles firefighters union's opposition to Measure HLA has actually isolated them from ... well, practically everybody else.

Or then again, maybe not -- based on the reactin Josh Stephens got from Realtors in Newport Beach.

One Vancouver-based professor says no. But there's evidence that keeping densities low helps either.

The proposed Solano County new town got more publicity than any planning story in recent memory -- despite being barely a proposal. But maybe California could learn a little from the visionary nature of the whole enterprise. 

The widely ridiculed "La Sombrita" bus shelter in Los Angeles provides a warning for planners and designers about the dangers of over-promising and under-delivering.

A well intentioned ballot measure to raise affordable housing funds from big-dollar real estate transfers could kill the housing Los Angeles needs most.

A restaurant critic wonders if they deserve blame for furthering gentrification in San Francisco. It's an interesting, and utterly counterproductive, question.