Insight

Forty years ago, the Watts riots shattered the postwar illusion of California as a middle-class paradise. Combined with other events, the Watts riots led to the political demise of Gov. Pat Brown, the rise of Ronald Reagan, and - sometimes overlooked - the end of California's investment in massive public works projects designed to benefit the middle class. >>read more

For more than twenty years, the quintessential formula for the Orange County business park has remained more or less the same: the high-rise office building that affords a good view and a sense of feudal superiority over the masses on the freeway below; the Beverly Hills pasta restaurant to put on the calories at lunchtime and the health club to burn them off after work; and the parking garage where the cars are stored 12 hours a day. >>read more

Four weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an expansive view of eminent domain by a 5-4 vote, President Bush went on national television to nominate D.C. Circuit Court Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to replace retiring justice Sandra Day O'Connor. O'Connor was in the minority on the eminent domain case, but she has been a key swing vote on many property rights cases. If Roberts is confirmed, will he move the court in a more conservative direction? Or will he maintain the moderate course of O'Connor? >>read more

A few weeks ago, property rights advocates lost three big court cases. It's not unusual for June to be an important month for legal opinions because the U.S. Supreme Court wraps up its work before going on summer hiatus. But it is usual for property owners to go oh-for-June. >>read more

Most government budget crises get bailed out by increasing tax revenue, and the current situation in California appears to be no exception. With tax receipts on the rise throughout California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was able to throw several billion dollars into the kitty as part of the "May revise" - the annual revision of the governor's budget proposal to the Legislature. >>read more

Six months after his re-election, President George W. Bush is seeking to place his distinct imprint on federal urban policy. >>read more

The news reports about Measure 37 come blasting out of Oregon almost every day now. Faced with 75 land use claims totaling more than $100 million, Clackamas County in suburban Portland decided to settle the easy ones first - permitting small landowners to subdivide their property into a few additional lots. The City of Eugene is considering an ordinance that would require some development to be torn down after a property changes hands. >>read more

It's no secret that Wal-Mart is running into resistance from communities all over California. But is Wal-Mart getting discouraged?

The San Joaquin Valley will likely lose a considerable amount of farmland to urbanization over the next 40 years no matter what policies the region adopts. However, different policy scenarios can substantially reduce the amount of farmland loss, according to a new report that I helped prepare for the Public Policy Institute of California.

Are the stars aligning on growth policy in Sacramento, for better or worse? It feels a little funny to be writing this story yet again. I have been writing it for 16 years, yet the state growth policy universe has changed little. This time, though, there might be something to it. >>read more

The day after he was elected to a second term, President Bush conducted a press conference in which he highlighted four issues as the cornerstones of his second-term domestic policy agenda: tort reform, education, the tax code, and Social Security. This list is hardly surprising. But for the planning and development community in California, the list is notable for what is lacking: environmental policy.

California's population growth never seems to change much - a half-million more people per year, give or take. But where all those people come from and what the growth means for the future of the state are always changing.

There is no more peculiar animal in California housing than the mobile home park. It's a place where residents own their dwelling but rent the land on which the dwelling is located. The dwelling is theoretically moveable, but it's not going anywhere. So the landlords and the residents are stuck with each other -- and in a constant struggle that involves government regulation, property rights and California's sticky affordable housing problem.There is no more peculiar animal in California housing than the mobile home park.