SB 375
Tea Party Activists Disrupt Planning Meeting
A police sergeant displayed his mediation skills at a regional planning meeting by temporarily replacing the facilitator after 20 tea party activists disrupted the meeting.
Why Infill Development May Be Bad for Your Health
A new study has created unexpected tensions between public health advocates and smart-growth-oriented urban planners.
Brown's California Reorganization Separates Transportation and Housing
Jerry Brown has proposed a huge governmental streamlining to make the state more efficient. But in the process he is proposing separating transportation and housing -- now housed in one agency -- and putting them in separate agencies.
Tea Party Creates Headaches For Planners
Tea Party activists have spoken out at regional planning meetings in California to protest what some consider conspiratorial plans to crush civil liberties under the guise of smart growth.
New City Planned For Unlikely Corner of California Desert
Travertine City would house 35,000 residents on the shores of the Salton Sea, California's largest - and most unpleasant - body of water. Developers claim that it will be a model of sustainability. "
Tea Party Sinks Planning Meeting
Public outreach on SB 375, California's climate change bill, began last month in the San Francisco Bay Area. But the East Bay Tea Party had other plans.
Jerry Brown: Planning By Wandering Around
The California governor made an unscheduled appearance in front of the state's Strategic Growth Council -- unstaffed -- to find out what they're up to.
Groundbreaking Climate Change Plan
Once a bastion of sprawl, the San Diego region is now embracing one of the most significant regional planning efforts in the nation's history. It is the first region in California to draft a Sustainable Communities Strategy, as mandated by SB 375.
Regional Planning Begins To Meet CA's Stricter Emissions Standards
Two Bay Area planning agencies have jointly released what they call their "Initial Vision Scenario", a first step in implementing the Sustainable Community Strategy required by state law (SB 375, 2008) to reduce climate emissions from transportation.
Infill Developers Herald The End Of Sprawl
Infill development has been championed largely by architects, planners, and activist groups like the Congress for New Urbanism. Now developers have finally banded together in the Infill Builders Assoc. to insist that infill can be good business.
Regionalism Takes A Step Forward In CA With SB 375 Targets Approved
NRDC land use expert Amanda Eaken blogs about the approval by the Air Resources Board of the regional targets required by SB 375 to reduce global warming caused by transportation. An overlooked result may be the new powers resting with MPOs.
California Set To Adopt Emissions Targets From VMT Reduction
The fruition of a lengthy state planning process required by SB 375 may come as early as Sept. 23 when the CA Air Resources Board may adopt targets for 18 metropolitan regions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehicle miles traveled.
How could Ventura transform?
A short documentary exploring the development challenges that the City of Ventura faces.
Southern CA MPO Snubs Air Board By Reducing Emissions Targets
The Southern California Association of Governments rebuffed the CA Air Resources Board by deliberately setting lower targets for greenhouse gas emissions per SB 375, the 2008 law intended to reduce GHG emissions from transportation.
November in California: Sea Change for the American Dream?
Columnist Dan Walters looks at issues coming before California voters this November that could revise the traditional "American Dream" within the state -- or undo efforts to change it.
Reversing California's Sprawl with SB 375 and TOD
A new report from the Urban Land Institute finds that California's VMT-focused Senate Bill 375 can potentially reverse the state's sprawl. Transit-oriented development is seen as a strong strategy.
Remaking Southern California Cities
A video created for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) presents a serious look at what infill development would look like in Ventura and Fullerton.
Neighborhood to City: Project Is Too Suburban
Here's one you don't find often - a neighborhood may sue the city of Sacramento for approving an infill project they categorize as 'too suburban and car-oriented', while the city council woman extolls the infill qualities, citing SB 375 and AB 32.
Transitioning From Sprawl To Compactness
Regional planning in CA's sprawling Central Valley has turned to the huge challenge of increasing density. Fortunately, SB 375 will facilitate planners' efforts to double Fresno County density to 8 units per acre. Yet institutional obstacles remain.
Denser Neighborhoods Could Save Bay Area $31 Billion
Walkable, transit-accessible neighborhoods do more than just lower greenhouse gas emissions of their residents - they save them money too, states a new report, "Windfall for All", from the Bay Area's TransForm, a coalition of over 100 non-profits.
Pagination
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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.
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