Approximately one-third of new housing units constructed in California's metropolitan counties between 2000 and 2009 were built in infill locations, according to a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency. 

There's been a lot of redevelopment news around the state this week:

DOF at your service:

Santa Barbara ordered to sell parking lots and train depot.

Modesto can't use redevelopment funds to pay off bonds for downtown projects.

Exploiting a subtle difference between AB 32 and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2005 Executive Order that preceded the bill, environmentalists have successfully persuaded a San Diego Superior Court judge to strike down the environmental impact report for the sustainable communities strategy adopted by the San Diego Association of Governments.

While perhaps not surprising news to LAFCO wonks like Peter Detwiler, two recent decisions illustrate the special role that local agency formation commissions play in influencing local government and special district activities.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal has struck down the environmental impact report for a large development project in Santee, saying the EIR failed to deal with several water supply issues, including a discrepancy between the EIR and the water supply assessment as to how much water the project would consume.

Five years ago, the planning and development world in California was flush with money. With 20% of the nation's planners and at least that percentage of real estate developers, the state was awash in plans. Big general plans were paid for by flush general funds. Redevelopment agencies had plenty of money to update their redevelopment plans and then subsidize the resulting projects. Ambitious specific plans to accommodate flashy new projects – both infill and greenfield – were paid for by developers itching to build.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the conversion of a mobile home park from rental to ownership status is subject to the Coastal Act and also to the Mello Act, which lays down procedures for replacing affordable housing in the coastal zone.

Now that Ray LaHood has finally announced he is stepping down as President Obama's Secretary of Transportation, speculation has immediately focused on whether outgoing L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will succeed him.

Wendell Cox, my favorite anti-anti-sprawl researcher, is at it again. This time, he's on New Geography, taking on the oft-quoted forecast of Southern California's future housing market by Professor Arthur C. Nelson of the University of Utah, which found that future demand will be mostly for multifamily housing and small lot (under 5,000 square feet)  detached homes.