The City Planning department has some ideas for how to improve parking policy and reduce the prevalence of parking podiums in downtown LA. Here are my thoughts.
Read More2016 Ballot Initiative Voter Guide Cheat-Sheet
A cheat-sheet voting guide for 17 California ballot initiatives, and several more in Los Angeles County, the City of LA, and Santa Monica.
Read MoreBallot Initiative Voter Guide: California, LA County, and the Cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica
Analysis and recommendations for all 17 California ballot initiatives, along with some local ones in LA County, the City of Los Angeles, and Santa Monica.
Read MoreRent Stability, Part 2: How "Rolling" Rent Stabilization Might Preserve Affordability in LA
Right now rent stabilization applies to multifamily housing built before 1979. Instead, we should consider a "rolling" threshold that includes all buildings over 30 years old.
Read MoreRent Stability, Part 1: The Limits of Rent Stabilization In Los Angeles
Stabilized rents are not synonymous with affordable rents.
Read MoreLook Backward, Not Forward! Downzone Single-Family Neighborhoods!
We've made it illegal to build almost anything but single-family homes and car-oriented strip malls, but why stop there? Begone, suburbs; bring back the orchards.
Read MoreWe Paved Over Farmland to Build the Suburbs; Now Those Neighborhoods Are Off-Limits to Any More Development
"The reason for the history lesson is: We paved over the orchards to make way for the Baby Boomers, and now the Boomers are fighting with Millennials who want to turn one-story strip malls into four-story apartments."
Read MorePopulation Forecasts and Housing Allocations Don't Work; We Should Replace Them With Vacancy Targets
Forecasts rarely pan out, yet they're a foundation of the planning process. Instead, we should plan around something we can measure in real time: vacancy rates.
Read MoreHard Work Is Taxed, Passive Accumulation of Housing Wealth Is Not
When you get a raise, a lot of that new income is taxed away. When your home doubles in value, you can pretty much keep it all.
Read MoreAnother Benefit of a Non-Profit Housing Acquisition Program: Tenant Mobility
Along with its many other benefits, a non-profit acquisition-based affordable housing program could also increase tenant mobility.
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