The San Francisco Planning Commission voted to allow developers to build taller buildings in exchange for including extra affordable housing only on 215 identified "soft sites" or on properties with less than five percent of parcel covered such as gas stations and parking lots. The density bonus plan, proposed by Mayor Ed Lee, would allow an extra two stories or 25 feet in exchange for 30 percent of the building being below-market-rate housing. Buildings that are 100 percent affordable can build an additional three floors. This will hopefully add an additional 16,000 housing units in the next twenty years. Supervisor Katy Tang told SF Gate, "This is a much better piece of legislation" than earlier drafts or the state bonus law, she said. "This represents San Francisco values." >>read more

Whereas a Berkeley resident can cross from exuberance of Telegraph Avenue into the heart of the Cal campus in a few steps, UCLA is an auto-oriented campus surrounded by a moat of driveways, green space, and city streets. Its neighbors are some of the wealthiest and orneriest an institution could ever have the misfortune to live next to. The university, for all its academic heft, retreats from the city, and the city from it.

UCLA was an ironically illustrative venue for a talk by Michael Storper, lead author of "The Rise and Fall of Urban Economies," that I attended recently. Contrary to its expansive title, Storper's study concerns only Los Angeles and San Francisco. Given that both are booming Pacific Rim metropolises, it may be hard to figure out which is the "rise" and which is the "fall." >>read more

Having failed in their bid to relocate to Los Angeles, the San Diego Chargers will pursue a new stadium and convention center in downtown San Diego. The proposal flouts Mayor Kevin Faulconer's proposal for the team to remain in Mission Valley in a replacement for Qualcomm Stadium. The Chargers' project will go before voters, and free the Qualcomm center for UC San Diego and San Diego State University. The Chargers' project may receive public funds from a voter-approved TOT increase that can receive tax money from hotels. The Chargers will receive $100 million grant and $200 million loan from the NFL for not sharing the Inglewood stadium that will be occupied by the relocating Los Angeles Rams. There seems to be voter reluctance on grand expenditures, but the team hopes the center can bring economic activity year round such as Comic Con, Super bowls and other large events. The Chargers have indicated that they may pursue the "Tuolumne Tactic" to avoid CEQA review by proposing a ballot initiative for voter approval; this would permit the City Council to approve CEQA exemptions even before a popular vote takes place. >>read more

The February 9 Legislative Analyst Office report on California "serious housing shortage" ends on a decidedly depressing note: "Bringing about more private home building - would be no easy task, requiring state and local policy makers to confront very challenging issues and taking many years to come to fruition." The report, which focuses on low-income housing, follows a a March 2015 companion that officially - if obviously - summarized the state's skyrocketing housing costs. >>read more

Charles Lester, former Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission was dismissed from his role after nearly five years Feb. 10. The 7-5 vote took place behind closed doors after seven hours of public testimony, the majority of which supported Lester. Supporters of Lester say  pro-development commissioners were hoping to oust him. >>read more

Embattled California Coastal Commission Executive Director Charles Lester released a twenty-page memo (pdf) detailing his accomplishments and reasons for remaining in his position. >>read more

A report by the Los Angeles Times indicates that transit ridership in the Los Angeles area has steadily declined since the Great Recession. >> read more