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.

The Planning Report recently interviewed Los Angeles Director of City Planning Vince Bertoni, allowing the planning director of the country’s second-most populous city a chance to explain the state of planning in the city as it responds to a paradigm-shifting series of years in the State Legislature.
To summarize, Bertoni makes the case that the city of Los Angeles was on the cutting edge of zoning and planning reforms before the state stepped in.
When asked how the Los Angeles Department of City Planning is adapting its policies and plans to the host of state housing bills that have been passed over the last few years by the legislature, Bertoni specifically addresses AB 2097, which removed parking minimum near transit, and AB 2011, which legalized the construction of affordable housing on lots zoned for commercial uses:
In Los Angeles, those impacts are going to probably be indirect because, quite frankly, LA has already led the way on these two issues. For example, utilizing commercial land for residential uses has been allowed in Los Angeles for decades, but that’s not the same in the rest of the state of California. When the Terner Center looked at the 50 most populous cities in California, 40 percent of them prohibited it, so this is going to be big throughout the state.
And:
When it comes to the issue of parking and parking minimums, we have already reduced parking in many areas of the City through our Transit-Oriented Communities incentives. But this is a bold move for the State. Don Shoup, a UCLA professor, has written multiple books about how we need to look at parking as sometimes a barrier to vital cities. The bill’s author, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, was visionary in bringing this legislation forward.
Other planning-specific details covered in the interview include the city’s consideration of an Affordable Housing Housing Overlay Zone and the city’s brief trouble with state regulators earlier in 2022 during the city’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment process.
FULL STORY: LA City Planning Director Vince Bertoni on State Housing & Planning Paradigm Shift

Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25,% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

Placekeeping: Setting a New Precedent for City Planners
How a preservation-based approach to redevelopment and urban design can prevent displacement and honor legacy communities.

How the ‘Direct Vision’ Design Approach Saves Lives
Designing large trucks to ensure better visibility for drivers can reduce fatal crashes and improve workplace safety.

San Diego Swaps Parking Lane for Kid-Friendly Mini Park
The block-long greenway will feature interactive play equipment and landscaping.

Tracking the Invisible: Methane Leaks From LA’s Neighborhood Oil Sites
Environmental advocates are using infrared technology to monitor and document methane leaks from neighborhood oil sites, filling regulatory gaps and pushing for stronger protections to safeguard community health and the climate.
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.
Caltrans
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland