Voters appeared to be in both an anti-tax and an anti-growth mood in June. >>read more

A little more than a year after hurricane Katrina turned New Orleans into a real-life Atlantis and focused scrutiny on flood-imperiled cities nationwide, California voters will be asked this fall to spend billions to prevent a Katrina-size disaster in the heart of their own state. >>read more

The south Orange County city of Lake Forest is poised to approve a plan that would not only permit 5,400 housing units, but would help tie together what are now two distinct parts of town. >>read more

A final rundown of city- and county-level ballot measures from all over the state. >>read more

My first impression of San Pedro occurred 15 years ago during a tour organized by the Los Angeles Conservancy. A middle-aged man, who had been a sailor during World War II, became animated as we stood beside the old city jail in the municipal building. >>read more

After suffering two generations worth of economic decline and malaise, the East Bay city of Pittsburg is trying to reinvent its downtown as a residential, office and retail district. >>read more

Endangered species issue complicates development in Coachella Valley, a judge declares the inclusionary housing ordinance unconstitutional in the City of San Diego, and activists halt development in both Pebble Beach and Santa Monica. >>read more

So, the smart growthers have their candidate for governor. No statewide public figure in California has been more closely identified with "smart growth" and "New Urbanism" than Phil Angelides. This affiliation didn't matter in the Democratic primary. And it probably won't matter in the general election, either. But it will matter if Angelides is elected. >>read more

Opponents of a school consolidation plan in a Santa Cruz County school district did not provide evidence showing that the consolidation was not exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled. >>read more

An extraordinarily complicated takings case stemming from the City of Capitola's mobile home rent control ordinance has received new life, even though the city has won numerous rounds in federal and state court. >>read more

WASHINGTON _ The Supreme Court's splintered decision on wetlands protection is likely to result in more litigation for federal agencies and new attention to California water boards' expansive jurisdiction over the state's waters. >>read more

A state appellate court has upheld an exemption from environmental review for a 14-story residential building proposed in San Diego. >>read more

A state District Court of Appeal has rejected a property owner's contention that design review permits for two houses in San Mateo County were "deemed approved" because the county failed to act on his applications within 60 days. >>read more

An important case involving the delivery of water to farmers and fish appears to have sputtered to an end with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' short-order rejection of the farmers' claims. >>read more