One of the peculiarities of architects is their love of design method - and their love, equally great, of talking about it. The problem is, almost nobody really gives a toss about design method. Sometimes, however, design method is genuinely interesting, such as the five-year process to design and approve the Viewpoint School, a private academy for 1,200 students in the City of Calabasas. >>read more

Two bills that give the state the ability to control local tax increment financing advanced at the state Capitol during June. If the bills become law, state officials would have more control than ever before over local projects that rely on tax increment financing. >>read more

Some of the most desirable office jobs are leaking overseas, and no one seems to know how to plug the hole in the employment dike. If the globalization trend continues as expected, it could dampen demand for commercial development and affect economic development strategies throughout California, especially in the Bay Area. >>read more

A State Auditor's report questions reserve fund accumulations and spending practices at independent water districts. The auditor also selected eight districts for closer scrutiny and found that five of them "may have trouble defending to their ratepayers and taxpayers the need for some portion of their accumulative resources." >>read more

There is little question that, in most parts of California today, the idea of “smart growth” is winning the political battle. The land-rich areas of the Inland Empire and the Central Valley remain suburban holdouts, but in most of the ret of the state, the core ideas – higher-density housing, mixed-use development, and even improved transit service – are gaining political acceptance. >>read more

A state appellate court has upheld an environmental impact report for a 96-unit condominium project in downtown Oceanside. The court rejected arguments that the environmental impact report failed to analyze a reasonable range of alternatives, did not address the project's impact on neighboring residents and did not require adequate mitigation of biological impacts. >>read more

The City of Los Angeles may not revoke a building permit issued to a religious congregation that relied on the permit to commence a demolition and construction project, a divided panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The court ruled that under the doctrine of equitable estoppel, the congregation had a vested right with which the city could not interfere. >>read more

A governor's executive order intended to speed development of power plants superceded the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and local measures for implementing CEQA, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. The appellate court held that an executive order signed by then-Governor Gray Davis "effectively repealed" portions of CEQA and the CEQA Guidelines that were inconsistent with the order while the directive was in effect, from February 8 until December 31, 2001. >>read more

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the constitutionality of a city's ordinance regulating the location of adult businesses and requiring nonconforming businesses to close or relocate. The ruling came in a case from Spokane, Washington. However, a number of jurisdictions in California have enacted similar ordinances. >>read more

The California Supreme Court has accepted for review two land use cases involving local and regional restrictions on logging. The state high court also dismissed a case involving attorneys' fees in a California Environmental Quality Act case. >>read more

A proposal to expand the authority of the Delta Protection Commission and alter its membership is setting up a classic local-versus-state confrontation. Some state officials say greater oversight of land use decisions is needed to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's natural resources and farms, while locals say the state is trying to intrude on local control.

As you drive west from Santa Barbara along the Pacific Coast, fighting your way through the commuter congestion of Goleta and the scrum of caffeine-addled students buzzing around the University of California campus, you quickly leave suburbia behind. Almost without warning, Highway 101 deposits you in a corner of California that time seems to have overlooked. >>read more

There is a hole in downtown Livermore where a downtown should be. Knowing this and seeing a rare opportunity to create a new downtown out of whole cloth, the city opted for a pleasant, small-town downtown with nice old buildings intermixed with some new ones, residential neighborhoods within walking distance, some retail, new pocket parks, and professional offices, all under the shady canopy of newly planted street trees. Basically, what Livermore wants is what nearly every California city has opted for. >>read more

Two bills that would alter the housing element process are speeding through the Legislature. The bills address the regional housing needs allocation process, land inventories, and by-right development. Neither piece of legislation, however, tackles the sticky issues of enforcement and production. >>read more