Northern News October 2021

Northern News

A publication of the American Planning Association, California Chapter, Northern Section
Making great communities happen
Featured articles
Northern Section news and announcements
Planning news roundup
Assembled by Richard Davis, AICP Candidate, associate editor
Note: Some articles to which we link may be behind paywalls. If you find yourself blocked, add outline.com/ before the link (before the https), and you may be able to read the article without being asked to subscribe.
By Will Houston, Marin Independent Journal, September 20, 2021. Desalination is still the district’s secondary option to prevent it from running out of water as soon as July.
By Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle, September 20, 2021. 70 tiny homes (cabins), similar to those used in Oakland and other cities, will replace 44 tents in a city-sanctioned ‘safe sleeping village.’
By Marisa Kendall, East Bay Times, September 17, 2021. SB 9, now law, allows up to four units on single-family lots.
By Curtis Driscoll, San Mateo Daily Journal, September 14, 2021. Upholding the Housing Accountability Act could lead to new housing elements with clearer objective standards that expedite housing.
By Stephan Schmidt, Bloomberg CityLab, September 9, 2021. A Cornell study analyzed over 100 past pedestrian malls to see what characteristics could help shared streets thrive.
By Joseph Gena, East Bay Times, September 8, 2021. Scientists have described the land as a ‘biologically unique habitat’ and a place long considered a ‘sensitive historical site’ by local Native American groups.
By Marisa Kendall, Mercury News, September 7, 2021. Department of Housing and Community Development says the project’s special approval under SB 35 should be granted an extension since it was impeded by litigation.
By Nico Savidge, Berkeleyside, September 5, 2021. Objective standards are becoming an increasingly important way for cities to exercise local control over development.
By James Mayger, Lucille Liu, Yujing Liu, Lin Zhu, and Yinan Zhao, Bloomberg News, September 1, 2021. The government wants the trend of urban migration to continue and for new population centers provide an alternative to Beijing and Shanghai, which restrict new residents.
By Lloyd Alaban, San Jose Spotlight, August 31, 2021. The plan divides San Jose into three categories to prioritize where to build affordable housing based on poverty and crime rates.
By Edward Booth, Napa Valley Register, August 30, 2021. The maximum loan for home repairs has increased by tens of thousands of dollars in most cases.
By Kiley Russell, Bay City News Foundation, August 27, 2021. New local financing strategies and the state’s first regional affordable housing financing authority look to bridge funding gaps in the next five years of the current planning cycle.
By Erika Paz, Calmatters, August 24, 2021. California’s Department of Housing and Community Development cited Oakland and two other cities over using public land for arenas without integrating affordable housing.
By Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside, August 24, 2021. Cal must redo the SEIR to address certain issues, including how student enrollment increases have affected noise, housing, and displacement in Berkeley.
By Georgia Freedman, SFGate, August 23, 2021. Neighbors argue that CloudKitchens, a kitchen-to-delivery startup, gamed the city’s zoning and permitting process to operate in a low-income area.
By Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, August 23, 2021. Opponents claim the city’s 2015 Urban Water Management Plan considered an “erroneously rosy supply outlook”.
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