Outgoing Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's plan to add 10,000 residents to its downtown hasn't succeeded in its original goal -- to boost the city's revenue from sales taxes.
" ''Though downtown has added 4,000 housing units in the last eight years, filled up its office towers, including seven at City Center...retail has lagged,''...''Instead of a regional mall, City Center has 60,000 square feet of mostly fast-service restaurants and small shops...A more recent mixed-use development from Forest City...also drastically scaled back its retail ambitions. In 2000, at the height of the dot-com boom, the project was to include 100,000 square feet of retail. Plans now under way call for 9,000 square feet of retail...That sort of organic retail growth can add character and bring excitement to a neighborhood. But it does not bring the kind of sales tax revenue that big-box retail...can bring the city.''"
"This is more than a matter of minor inconvenience for the new downtown residents. California's post-Prop 13 economy works so that cities tend to go in the red on residential neighborhoods -- paying out more for services than they get back in tax revenue -- but make that money back on commercial districts. Without the promised added retail, Oakland is actually in worse shape financially, budget by budget, than we were before all the new downtowners moved in."
FULL STORY: Undercurrents: Brown Leaves Oakland With Legacy of Improper Planning

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

Has President Trump Met His Match?
Doug Ford, the no-nonsense premier of Canada's most populous province, Ontario, is taking on Trump where it hurts — making American energy more expensive.

Study: London ULEZ Rapidly Cleaning up Air Pollution
Expanding the city’s ultra low-emission zone has resulted in dramatic drops in particle emissions in inner and outer London.

San Jose Mayor Takes Dual Approach to Unsheltered Homeless Population
In a commentary published in The Mercury News, Mayor Matt Mahan describes a shelter and law enforcement approach to ending targeted homeless encampments within Northern California's largest city.

Atlanta Changes Beltline Rail Plan
City officials say they are committed to building rail connections, but are nixing a prior plan to extend the streetcar network.

Are Black Mayors Being Pushed Out of Office?
The mayors of New York, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh all stand to lose their seats in the coming weeks. They also all happen to be Black.
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