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Across the country, stakeholders are protesting and decrying the development of data centers, which are being built at a torrid pace. But, those protests rarely prevail. Not so in Monterey Park. There, voters resoundingly approved a measure--86% to 14%--to ban the development of data centers, including at least one that was nearly shovel-ready. It may be the first official battle in the resistance against data centers, and it surely will not be the last.

Ballot-box zoning is not as frequent as it used to be – especially since SB 330 amended the Housing Accountability Act in 2019 to suspend local governments’ ability to restrict the overall amount of housing in their community, a frequent topic of previous ballot measures. Nevertheless, several measures will be on the ballot around the state in June. Here’s a rundown:

In the latest skirmish of a 40-year war, the appellate court has shot down Santee’s strategy to end-run a ballot initiative by approving the controversial Fanita Ranch project as an urgency “Essential Housing Project”.

SCAG's draft SB 79 map

It’s almost impossible to turn down a housing project in California these days, especially one that has affordable units included. But last week the small Orange County city of Fountain Valley did it anyway. Now we’ll see if they get away with it.

This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to California Planning & Development Report. You can subscribe to CP&DR by clicking here. You can sign up for CP&DR’s free weekly newsletter here. Concord Approves 12,000-Home Redevelopment of Navy Base An agreement between the US Navy and New York-based developer Brookfield Properties to redevelop the 12,800-acre abandoned Concord Naval Weapons Station into 12,272 housing units (3,000 affordable), parkland and other facilities gained unanimous approval by the Concord City Council. The development agreement sets a 40% local hire construction goal and includes a 75-acre first responder training facility, a 4-acre veterans community center, a sports park, a 5,038 acre park, 16 acres for permanently supportive housing and 10 acres for food bank expansion. In addition to $628 million over nearly 30 years promised by Brookfield, the city has promised a down payment of $4.6 million to the Navy and four guaranteed deferred payments of $10 million plus interest for land, beginning in 2033 and ending in 2036. The naval station, which opened in 1944 and closed in 1999, has been marked for redevelopment since 2006. Though the agreement has been approved the developer’s specific plan is not expected to be presented until summer 2029, with the entire construction projected to span 30 years. San Diego Seeks to Postpone SB 79 Upzoning in Low-Resource Areas The City of San Diego may delay implementation of many provisions of Senate Bill 79, which will dramatically increase housing allowed near trolley stations and some major bus stops, raising potential capacity from about 494,000 units to 861,000 units. in compliance with a provision that allows cities to delay certain provisions of SB 79, city planning officials have proposed that 16% of land near transit stops would be upzoned immediately. These are largely areas with abundant amenities and higher average incomes that can accommodate new housing. Roughly 26% of transit-adjacent land in low-income or “low-resource” neighborhoods would not see the changes until 2031 and 52% of land with issues like wildfire risk, historic buildings, or sea-level rise concerns would likely be delayed until 2027. Zoning would not change in lower-income areas until 2031. City planning officials have argued that some areas need more infrastructure planning before major growth occurs. (See related CP&DR coverage.) Modesto to Add over 12,000 Acres to Sphere of Influence The Modesto City Council voted 5-1 to advance the largest of three growth alternatives for its 2050 General Plan, expanding the city’s sphere of influence by 12,240 acres. The map allots 4,650 acres for mixed-use development. Opponents criticized the inclusion of areas within and around Wood Colony, a historic Old German Baptist farming community founded in 1869, arguing that development pressures could permanently alter its agricultural character. Supporters, including business groups, police union representatives and property owners, said the expansion is needed to attract commercial and industrial development, strengthen city revenues and increase housing supply. Former Mayor Garrad Marsh argued the proposal would accommodate an 80% increase in housing despite a steady decline in California’s population decline over the past decade. Sacramento Seeks Major League Baseball Team, Envisions Stadium District The city of Sacramento in cooperation with civic and business leaders has launched the “Sacramento Pitch” campaign to bring a permanent Major League Baseball franchise to the Sacramento region. The proposal centers on a 50-acre stadium site in downtown West Sacramento with claims of nearly $2 billion in public and private financial backing, with $1 billion that city officials expect to generate through financing, hotel taxes and other revenue sources. A potential challenge for Sacramento’s bid is attendance at the Athletics’ temporary home, Sutter Health Park, where the team averaged 9,487 fans per game last season and 10,634 this season, both ranking last in the American League despite the ballpark’s 14,014-seat capacity. Western Lands Lose Protections Enacted by Biden Administration The Trump Administration has overturned a Biden-era policy that facilitated the protection and preservation of hundreds of millions of acres of public lands across California and the West. The rollback of the Public Lands Rule on the Federal Register was first proposed in September, citing “inappropriately elevated conservation” and laws which prevented logging, drilling and mining on Bureau of Land Management property. The Public Lands rule applied to about 15% of California’s total land, which will now be subject to several initiatives that serve to increase development, ignoring ecological safeguards. CP&DR Coverage: Cities and Counties Push Back Against Newsom On Housing Elements The Department of Housing and Community Development surprised 15 mostly small jurisdictions around the state with a “Notice of Violation” – a final warning to adopt their overdue housing elements or face dire consequences, including lawsuits from Attorney General Rob Bonta and heavy fines for non-compliant housing elements, which are allowed under SB 1037 from 2024. Most jurisdictions pushed back, saying they have been going back and forth with HCD on their housing elements, some only days before the Notices of Violation were issued. Others said approval of their housing elements was imminent. Of the 15 jurisdictions, 13 are located in San Joaquin Valley counties, all of which have individual councils of governments. The other two are Half Moon Bay in San Mateo County and Montclair in San Bernardino County. Quick Hits & Updates The Department of Housing and Community Development released its California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Rezone Exemption Memorandum. Recent legislative changes enacted last year through Assembly Bill (AB) 130 and Senate Bill (SB) 131 made significant reforms to CEQA to accelerate the development of housing, including housing affordable to lower-income households. These measures create and expand CEQA exemptions aimed at reducing delays and legal challenges that have historically impeded housing production, particularly in higher-need areas. The Sacramento City Council voted on April 29 to deny appeals against a proposed six-story, 68-foot-tall apartment and retail project in East Sacramento, allowing the development to move forward despite opposition from neighborhood groups. Critics argued the project conflicts with local zoning rules, poses traffic and infrastructure challenges, and threatens the character of the historic Casa Loma Terrace neighborhood. The ACLU of Southern California filed a complaint against the City of Riverside over the rejection of a $20.1 million state HomeKey+ grant that would have created permanent affordable housing. The proposed redevelopment of a Quality Inn would have created 114 units of permanent supportive housing for veterans and people with disabilities, along with long-term services and affordability protections. Advocates allege city council members made biased remarks and relied on stereotypes about future residents, potentially violating state anti-discrimination laws. The ACLU argues the decision worsened Riverside’s affordable housing shortage and disproportionately harmed vulnerable populations. Governor Newsom announced the following appointments: Jonathan Klein has been appointed Executive Director of the Housing Development and Finance Committee; he previously served as Founder and Principal of Community Finance Solutions Inc. David Zisser has been appointed Deputy Director of Housing Policy Development at the California Department of Housing and Community Development; he previously served as Assistant Deputy Director for Local Government Relations and Accountability at the department since 2021. San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood is promoting the Slashing Housing Appeals & Delays Everywhere or SHADE Act, legislation aimed at speeding up housing approvals by preventing shadow analysis from being used as grounds for appeals under the California Environmental Quality Act. Mahmood argues that San Francisco’s unique shadow-review rules have delayed or stalled more than 2,000 housing units over the past decade, though all challenged projects were eventually approved. At the 2026 National Planning Conference in Detroit, Los Angeles-based planner James Rojas received the APA President’s Award for his innovative community-centered planning work as the creator of Placeit, an interactive design and public engagement process that uses art and interactive engagement to help residents better understand and shape urban spaces.

At a time when the Legislature is considering extensive measures to rein in the California Environmental Quality Act, a union representing the state’s attorneys has written a so-called “exhaustion letter” letter argument that CEQA analysis is required for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2025 “Return To Work’ executive order.

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The City of Fairfield is seeking an innovative professional planner with strong technical skills and a proven track record for leading and mentoring teams. This position offers the opportunity to help shape Fairfield during a period of growth, General Plan implementation, housing production, and major development activity. Fairfield, the heart of Solano County, is a diverse and growing community located halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento. Home to just under 123,000 residents, Fairfield offers a strong quality of life. Fairfield’s Community & Economic Development Department is dedicated to implementing the community’s vision through collaborative planning, robust economic development, and safe and resilient construction. The Planning Division is responsible for guiding private development, advancing long-range planning efforts, and implementing the City’s adopted land use policies and regulations. The salary range is $147,090 - $178,789, with a competitive benefits package. To apply, please visit our website at: Peckham & McKenney www.peckhamandmckenney.com Contact Tara Schultz at (626)644-1398 if you have questions regarding this recruitment. Filing Deadline: June 19, 2026

This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to California Planning & Development Report. You can subscribe to CP&DR by clicking here. You can sign up for CP&DR’s free weekly newsletter here. Developer Proposes 3.91 Million Square Feet for L.A. Area Oil Refinery Catellus-Deca, LLC on behalf of Phillips 66, has filed an application to redevelop the century-old decommissioned Phillips 66 refinery site in the Los Angeles County city of Carson after months of speculation over what would become of the site. The original site spans across two facilities, one in Carson and the other in Wilmington, connected by a five-mile pipeline. The proposed project at the Carson site, called Diamond Gateway, would cover 223 acres with 3.91 million square feet of building floor area comprising industrial buildings and two on-site parking lots for truck, trailer or electric vehicle parking. Plans for the Wilmington portion called Five Points Union, are still in progress, and would feature retail, outdoor space, and indoor sports complexes. The proposal also suggests possible “community benefits (such as financial contributions toward city initiatives and projects that support infrastructure throughout the city).” The project must be approved by the Carson City Council. A larger portion of the 659-acre refinery is in the City of Los Angeles; proposals for that property have yet to be issued. Concord Naval Air Station Takes Step Forward with $628 Million Proposal The Concord Local Reuse Authority, the U.S. Navy, and developer Brookfield have reached an agreement to transfer about 2,422 acres of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station for redevelopment after years of stalled talks. The term sheet establishes a price and payment structure before final contracts are written to finalize sale of the base opened in 1942, which played a logistical role during World War II and subsequent conflicts before being closed in the early 2000s. At full build-out, the Navy will receive $628 million over 30 years. The move could give planners and officials a financial pathway and clarity for what could one of the largest land reuse projects in California. (See related CP&DR coverage.) San Francisco to Vote on Measure to Expand City's Affordable Housing Fund The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has proposed a charter agreement for the November 2026 ballot which would expand the city’s Housing Trust Fund contributions from $52 million a year to $125 million by allocating a portion of future property tax growth every year to support affordable housing production and preservation. The Housing Trust Fund, which was established in 2012 and is set to expire in 2043, was approved by voters to support creating, preserving and supporting existing affordable housing projects. Under this agreement, funding for the program would be extended through 2058. This amendment comes on the heels of a proposed ordinance which would cut the percentage of affordable housing units market rate developers are required to include from 15% to 5%. Remote Workers Choosing to Leave, Avoid California on Net The California Legislative Analyst’s Office studied the effects of remote work, which has remained significantly more common in California than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly three times as many people work remotely when compared to 2019, and although remote work rates initially fell after pandemic restrictions eased, they have stabilized since 2023. While heavily remote jobs have increased 16 percent in the rest of the U.S., the number sits at just 7 percent in California. Since the pandemic, California has experienced a net loss of workers in heavily remote jobs, with fewer remote workers choosing to move to California--for a net loss of over 37,000 in 2021. That pattern holds for California's urban areas, which had a net inflow of remote workers pre-pandemic. California has long benefitted from a range of location-specific industries which have changed in the face of increased remote work. Employers can now hire nationally, while workers are less tied to relocating to California for opportunities in key industries. CP&DR Coverage: L.A. Invokes SB 79 Delay Tactic Continuing its resistance to SB 79, the Los Angeles City Council voted March 29 to pursue an upzoning plan designed to delay implementation of the state law. But the council chose the least aggressive of three alternatives put forth by the Planning Department, and it remains unclear whether the plan will be met with the approval of the Department of Housing and Community Development. SB 79 hits Los Angeles hard because the city and L.A. Metro have expanded the rail transit system so rapidly. Approximately 150 transit stations in the city appear to qualify for SB 79 treatment, including some 17,000 parcels, most of which are zoned for single-family housing. The city is trying to delay SB 79 implementation, citing active ongoing efforts to upzone near transit stations, a plan which is technically an expansion of the Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP). Quick Hits & Updates The UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation developed the Terner Housing Policy Simulator to help policymakers evaluate how housing reforms may affect different local markets. Using data on zoning, land values, construction costs, and historical development trends, the tool estimates how likely developers are to build multifamily housing under various policies and economic conditions. The findings show that reforms that significantly boost housing production in one city may have limited impact in another. The Sacramento City Council unanimously rejected appeals against a proposed six-story mixed-use apartment development in Sacramento, clearing the way for a 332-unit housing project with retail space and parking along Alhambra Boulevard. Opponents argued the project was too large for the neighborhood, while supporters argued that Sacramento urgently needs dense infill housing. A citizen-led initiative in Grover Beach gathered enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, where voters would decide whether to lower local building height limits and require 33% of mixed-use developments be devoted to commercial space. The measure would reduce maximum heights from 55 feet to 40 feet for mixed-use buildings and from 40 feet to 33 feet in industrial zones, limiting many projects to three stories instead of four. The Placer County Board of Supervisors approved a five-year extension of the North Lake Tahoe Economic Development Incentive Program, continuing incentives through 2031 to encourage redevelopment and new lodging projects in the Tahoe Basin. The incentive program includes three primary components aimed at funding Tourist Accommodation Units required for lodging units, transient occupancy tax rebates to offset hotel costs, and offsets for infrastructure costs. California Forever is negotiating with Suisun City to buy several city-owned Main Street properties and nearby parking lots in downtown as part of a broader investment in the waterfront district. The company says it has no fixed redevelopment plans yet and is looking for community input on what to do with the acquired property. The purchases tie into California Forever’s larger proposal, which would annex 22,873 acres for new housing, industry, entertainment, and manufacturing developments. (See related CP&DR coverage.) The Strategic Growth Council unanimously approved guidelines for two grant programs, the Transformative Climate Communities Round 6 and Community Resilience Centers Round 2, opening up $153.4 million in awards available for communities. TCC provides funding to communities directly impacted by pollution to create a roadmap for environmental repair through local community-driven projects, while CRC funds centers and resources for climate and other emergencies. Guidelines and pre-proposals are available on their website, with deadlines in June 2026. The California Department of Housing and Community Development released a series of Housing Law Fact Sheets to assist local decision-makers and staff, elected officials, planning bodies, and other stakeholders in understanding and implementing key state laws that make it easier and faster to produce housing at all income levels across the state. The entire collection of Housing Law Fact Sheets is available on HCD’s Enforcement Authority webpage, and the individual fact sheets are linked under each of the listed laws. The San Diego Sports Arena site redevelopment project Midway Rising received support from California’s Department of Housing and Community Development, who confirmed the developers can use the state’s density bonus law to exceed the area’s long-standing 30-foot coastal height limit. That ruling strengthens plans for a massive mixed-use project featuring 4,254 total residential units, a 16,000-seat arena, 130,000 square feet of commercial space, 8.1 acres of parks, and 6.4 acres public space. President Donald Trump promised a plan to house up to 6,000 veterans at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration campus, but the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs budget request includes no funding for new housing units. Instead, the proposal calls for about $500 million in infrastructure upgrades, parking expansion, and building repairs, raising doubts about how housing goals will be met. Veteran advocates say the plan could displace roughly 330 current residents in treatment programs without clear alternatives for where they would go during construction.

This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to California Planning & Development Report. You can subscribe to CP&DR by clicking here. You can sign up for CP&DR’s free weekly newsletter here. Shortly after the election of San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, he nominated Sarah Dennis Phillips to succeed Rich Hillis as planning director. Dennis Phillip was both a conventional choice and an offbeat. Offbeat, because she was coming from over a decade in the private sector, working for mega-developer Tishman Speyer. Conventional because she had previously spent a similar amount of time in San Francisco city government, in planning and community development. Her appointment complemented Lurie's dedication to development and increasing the city's housing supply. A year later, Dennis Phillip has presided over the implementation of the city's "Family Zoning Plan" and is attempting to reform the department amid renewed public enthusiasm--or at least tolerance--for new housing. She spoken with CP&DR's Josh Stephens. You've been on the job for about a year now. What are your overall impressions so far? I think there are two overriding impressions. One, how amazing and evolved the San Francisco planning staff is. I left planning in 2013, for other career opportunities. We've always had really qualified staff, but the way staff practice their jobs now, that staff has really risen to the moment. They understand the challenges facing us. They understand how time impacts housing in our public realm projects, and they understand what the city wants. They're not just here regulating, they're looking at how they get to yes, to build, to get to the exciting outcomes that San Franciscans want. As we understand the affordability crisis, they've really taken that to heart. They've seen that themselves, not just because their boss told them to and not just because they just got out of college. There are plenty of people who started the same year I started here in 2005 and are still here — over 20 years — and those same humans have evolved in a really strong way. I think it's emblematic in some ways of our city And then the other one is, I forgot how brutal the politics are here. That's real, and it's a bit daunting. What lessons do you draw from Tishman-Speyer and bring into your current job? It was an incredible opportunity. I don't think everyone who works in the development sector has the opportunity to work with a firm that prioritizes design almost as much as planners do — that's endemic with Tishman Speyer and that's fabulous. What I brought back here is an understanding of the myriad ways that a project can get impacted and go south. There is not just "oh, the rents aren't high enough" — there are a hundred different ways that a project can go sideways, some of which are in the city's control: capital priorities shifting, capital partners going south, different ways you structure a joint development agreement. So many pieces along the financing and the construction side of things have made me understand the vulnerability of development, which definitely shapes my attitudes here as we regulate it moving forward. Tell us about the mayor's agenda. Which aspects are you most excited about, which are proving to be the most challenging? I came in last July, almost a year ago, with the number-one priority being we need to get the Family Zoning Plan over the finish line before we hit the deadlines mandated by the state housing element law. I'm proud of what the team built — they built it long before I got here, it had been in development for about two years before I arrived. What we brought over the finish line was largely baked by the time I arrived, but the politics of getting it approved, and the outreach needed so that the public really understood what we were doing, was a big part of those final six months. The family zoning plan wasn't the priority — that is the vehicle. The priority is housing. We need more housing for all San Franciscans, and the family zoning plan is a big part of that. There are other initiatives happening that I'm really excited about, including an expanded housing trust fund that'll create $125 million annually out of the city's budget for permanently affordable housing, and adjusted inclusionary housing percentages that allow regular market rate housing to move forward at the same time that we're financing affordable housing through that trust fund. Another priority is downtown revitalization — not recovery. I think we are past downtown recovery, but we still can make our downtown a lot better. Not just filling vacancies, but creating an amazing public realm, making it a place that people come to 24 hours a day for entertainment, for art. The third priority, which came straight from the mayor, is improving our permitting process, improving our permitting technology, and creating permitting that is oriented towards customer service. How much of that feels in your grasp versus technically challenging, or needing buy-in from staff, the supervisors, or the public? Under this mayor, there's a big chunk of it that is within our grasp. One of the things we are working on now is unifying our planning department and our building department. The people who issue rules and the people who issue building permits and inspect projects are different departments — that is not great. There are a lot of bumps in the handoff along that process. By putting us together — and we are midway through merging them — by early 2027 we hope we will be one unified department working towards housing and land use approvals together. The concept of a unified department has been talked about in San Francisco for a long time, but there hasn't been the leadership to pull it off, and the mayor has given myself and our director of the building department the authority to make that happen. A second example is our new technology permitting system. We are on a very old, disparate set of tech tools for permitting. this mayor has made it an imperative that we get on one unified system together. We started that system in March this year, we have about 10 permits up and running on it, and over the next two to three years we will fully migrate to a system that all permitting agencies in the city will be using together. You're obviously in the AI capital of the world. How has that affected the city itself in terms of rising rental rates and new influx of people? And how are you thinking about AI as a planning tool? It's a super interesting question. In terms of a business sector, AI has been the force driving our recovery. We're in a very good place from where we were in 2022, 2023, in large part due to not just the growth of AI firms and the leasing that they've done, but through the energy and ancillary support that's brought to other industries around San Francisco. At the same time, the fears that our entire country have around AI, particularly at a time of a tight and tightening job market, are even more acute here because it is so present at our front door. So there's some existential dread. We've regained our population losses, which is great. We are now seeing energy around developing new housing. We hadn't seen a lot of housing proposals in the city post-COVID, but that is starting to change because capital is following AI's impact on San Francisco, and they're starting to invest in housing projects to support the growing population. In our office, our staff are relatively nimble in figuring out ways AI can supplement their jobs. They've done some creative things in identifying and cataloging our historic resources, for example. As a city, we're a little creaky — like all bureaucracies. Executing AI in your work comes with union concerns, because people want to make sure it's supplementing their jobs, not replacing them. And we have privacy concerns, because we are stewards of public data and need to be careful about how we use it. The city is working on an emerging tech pool where we have prequalified technology partners, including AI partners, that we can develop smaller tools with — but it's a pilot and we haven't really started yet, so we'll see how that turns out. Let's get bigger and talk about the state. How do you feel about dealing with state laws? I probably can't parse out exactly which ones I like versus which ones are challenging because with so many in California, I sometimes still have to remind myself — wait, is that 2011 or 423, which one is it? By and large, I'm glad they exist and they are generally helpful. But they are most helpful when they push us towards an outcome while allowing us our own way of getting there. SB 79 describes what I was hoping for exactly — it said, “you are either going to have these types of heights and densities near your transit station, or you can show us your own way of getting there and we can tell you if we agree.” Our Family Zoning Plan basically qualified as our alternative plan under SB 79. It was one more tool we could use to explain to residents why it was important that we adopt the plan: “If we don't do it our own way, the state will do it for us.” There was some tension with some planning commissioners when you were appointed. How has that played out? That's been fine. I mentioned the politics here are kind of nasty — a knife fight in a phone booth, as our city attorney used to say. Our planning commissioners are lovely humans. Rich Hillis is my predecessor and he had a 4-3 vote on his appointment, and I joke that I was unanimous because those three recused themselves. We spoke pretty immediately after that outcome, particularly Catherine Moore, who's somebody I've worked with in a professional capacity for a long time and have a lot of respect for, and I think the respect goes both ways. Their challenge there was the process and not the person, and I'm comfortable with that. Process is, interestingly enough, one of the things we're trying to work through here in San Francisco — our planners are in favor of less process if it's the right outcome. And we've worked together swimmingly over the last nine months. San Francisco has had its share of contrverisal projects recently: the tower in the Outer Sunset; the Nordstrom's parking lot; and now the Safeway redevelopment in the Marina. What do those controversies mean to you? Are they a big deal or are they describing headlines but just part of the day-to-day for your office? Different meanings for each of them. The Nordstrom parking lot, dare I say, was a catalyst for much of the state laws that you asked me about. While it didn't turn state legislation on its head alone, the disapproval of that project and the grounds the appeal was upheld on, and just the utter shock that we could be that worried about growth on such a likely and positive development site, really helped catalyze a lot of the change at the state level that has been, as I've noted, generally helpful. The Outer Sunset tower has died. But even the noise around that one did bring to the fore a whole lot of housing supporters who were quiet before. It was just so loud that folks were like, wait, do I really care if there's a tower there? I know that's a crazy tower, but maybe I want more housing. Marina Safeway is challenging for us because we worked with the community in the Marina and the broader San Francisco community on the family zoning plan for what we felt was the right kind of density for that site. This project was filed just after that plan was adopted but before it became effective. We had been coming off a multi-year process, working with communities, telling them that yes, we need more housing, but we'll work with you on the shape and form of that housing. And then a project came in that was dramatically different. So that's a hard one. How do you characterize attitudes towards housing and development in the city today — what is the vibe? I think we are smack in the middle of an evolution. San Francisco has been for a very long time — certainly when I moved here in 2000 — a town with a lot of conflicted feelings about growth, even as it was an economic powerhouse through the first tech boom. “Manhattan” has always been a dirty word here in San Francisco. That's a long-standing attitude that is evolving. I don't think we're through the evolution — I think we're smack in the middle of it. The surveys around the family zoning plan showed that a strong majority, somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of residents, support that plan. And it was hard-fought — even though many people supported it, it was an incredibly tough approval process. So you can see that tension between high support but still those no-growth attitudes fighting against each other. The number of people who identify as pro-housing is incredibly large and well recognized. And attitudes towards growth are somewhat affected by what we saw post-COVID in our downtown — people realized they didn't want an empty downtown, and that if growth and more intensity is what it takes to get it back to activity, they can be in support of that. Where do you draw intellectual inspiration from — books, histories, people, mentors? I'm an economics geek. he overlay of the economy with the city is fascinating, not just because money has driven cities — through transfer of capital and growth — but because the other part of economics is humans and how humans want to see those things move. I'm a big fan of Edward Glaeser's books. I read The Economist weekly because it helps me understand what's going on throughout the world. I've had the benefit of some amazing mentors. Dean Macris, the planning director when I came here, who let me walk in as a very green planner and walk up to the podium and launch some exciting initiatives right from the get-go. John Rahaim, an incredibly thoughtful, design-focused planning director who I still consult with regularly. And Carl Shannon, who was my boss at Tishman Speyer, who showed me how you can be a capitalist with heart — Carl cared about affordability and design probably more than making money. And I would also say, given the brutality of land use politics, my inspiration for getting through challenging and thorny topics is running with my dog and playing my violin. I'm terrible at the violin — I only started a year ago — but there's nothing like being terrible at something when you've got a really hard job to get your head out of it. This interview has been edited and condensed.