Among other things, the appellate ruling found that Livermore's design standards are not objective and therefore cannot be used to deny an affordable housing project.

Enviros' argument that sea-level rise should be considered in EIR also rejected by appellate court.

SB 1120, which would ease duplex zoning and lot splits, is the most important land use/housing bill still likely to pass. >>read more

The preliminary draft of the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan includes the creation of up to 29,000 new housing units by 2040 and at least 50,000 new jobs >>read more

Air, rail, and highway access inspires Burbank to plan dynamic mixed-use district. >>read more

Court decision compels Los Gatos Town Council to walk back denial of project on city's last major undeveloped parcel. >>read more

Hemet's new downtown plan follows the city’s 2012 general plan, which calls for "mixed use higher intensity environments that offer opportunities for people to live, work and shop within a compact area.” >>read more

As planners have increasingly embraced the principles of smart growth over the past few years, suburban areas have increasingly borne criticism as examples of how not to plan. This criticism often ignores a crucial point: even if suburbs are imperfect-largely because they promote automobile dependency-they are not necessarily hopeless. A recently completed study led by Prof.