The City of Berkeley and the University of California (UC) are at odds over a 15-year land use plan adopted earlier this year. The city contends that the UC plan burdens city-funded services and does not protect city desires regarding off-campus development. University officials defend the plan, saying that the school benefits the community in many ways and that the plan guarantees UC consultation with the city for any off-campus project. >>read more

It is rare for a suburban city of 50,000 people take the lead in a $440 million transportation project. The City of Placentia in northern Orange County has, though, and the effort has stirred political controversy and placed the city under financial strain.

A plan by Santa Clara County to build a concert theater on a portion of the county-owned fairgrounds in south San Jose has drawn the ire of the City of San Jose and the downtown merchant community. Opponents of the county's project say a new performing arts venue belongs downtown, not in the mostly residential area where the fairgrounds is located.

Fifteen years after the Loma Prieta earthquake caused a portion of the Bay Bridge to collapse, no one knows for sure when a seismically safe replacement will be built or how to pay for the job.

For the first time, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has included new land use policies in its regional transportation plan. Essentially, the plan calls for infill and redevelopment in urban areas, and compact growth in outlying areas. That type of development pattern would, at least in theory, let more people work close to their job sites, and increase the convenience of public transportation and carpooling.

California voters approved $20 billion worth of bonds for school construction and rehabilitation in March. In addition to the $12.3 billion for schools contained in Proposition 55, voters in 52 school districts approved $7.9 billion worth of local school bonds. Since 1998, state voters have approved three school bonds worth a combined $34 billion for everything from kindergarten classrooms to university research facilities.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California finished filling its new reservoir, Diamond Valley Lake, last year, and the giant body of water opened for public boating and angling last fall. Even though those events capped a decade of planning, engineering and construction in the western Riverside County desert, the Met is far from finished at Diamond Valley Lake. The agency plans to build about $20 million worth of recreational and educational facilities near the reservoir in the near term.

A new attempt to build another airport to serve San Diego is underway, with proponents working toward an airport siting measure for the 2006 ballot.