featured Articles

Markets, machas, and municipalities: a planner’s walking tour of Santiago

By Veronica A. Flores, June 21, 2022. I had the chance to meet with local professionals and get a strong sense of Santiago, the capital of and largest city in Chile.

When the Valley of Heart’s Delight started to become Silicon Valley

By Don Weden, June 8, 2022. The mixed public attitudes of today’s Silicon Valley residents seem similar to those recorded…

50 years of BART: Inside the original BART cars

BART News, June 10, 2022. The original BART cars were the epitome of stylish design and comfort.

How some cities are legally undermining SB9

Local objective design standards can create a legal loophole that moves away from the HOME Act’s intended ministerial approval of…

Northern Section News & Announcements

Free SPUR events through August 2022

Celebrating CommUNITY: APA California 2022 Conference, October 1-4

Who’s where

Nominate an APA California member for the Chapter Board

Northern Section 2022 Awards announced

2022 regional Planning Commissioner trainings

pLANNING nEWS rOUND uP

New software tool helps residents visualize RHNA-compliant housing plans

By Nate Berg, Fast Company, May 26, 2022. The tool has been used by Marin County and several cities in…

Livermore council approves land transfer for downtown affordable housing

By Joseph Geha, Mercury News, May 26, 2022. The authorization advances a project paused for over a year by a…

Hunter’s Point vulnerable to groundwater contaminants raised by climate change

By Jessica Wolfrom, San Francisco Examiner, June 2, 2022. A civil grand jury report called for San Francisco to boost…

Zoning for seven-story housing approved for Berkeley BART stations

By Emilie Raguso, Berkeleyside, June 3, 2022. Officials and staff made it clear that, while unanimous approval represented a major…

Pacific Grove planning for major increase in housing sites

By Pam Marino, Monterey County Weekly, June 9, 2022. P.G.’s RHNA represents a 13 percent increase in dwelling units. The…

Surface Transportation Board rejects project that threatened Great Redwood Coast Trail

By Ryan Burns, Lost Coast Outpost, June 10, 2022. The potential for a multi-use rail-to-trail project connecting San Francisco and…

‘Train Fanatics’ score a win in California battle over idled tracks

By Sarah Holder, Bloomberg CityLab, June 15, 2022. Santa Cruz voters hoping to see the return of passenger rail to…

Today’s suburbs are symbolic of America’s rising diversity

By William Frey, Brookings, June 15, 2022. The bigger suburbs are more racially diverse than is our country as a…

Much-needed East Palo Alto developments stalled by sewer system

By J.K. Dineen, San Francisco Chronicle, June 15, 2022. More than a dozen projects are on hold until the sewer…

San Jose city council votes to eliminate parking minimums

By Eli Wolfe, San Jose Spotlight, June 15, 2022. The City Council will consider a detailed policy by the end…

Bay Area churches build tiny homes for their homeless neighbors

By Marisa Kendall, SiliconValley.com, June 15, 2022. A nonprofit is helping religious institutions and large property owners across the East…

Oakland Hills neighborhood at extreme fire danger risk

By Emily Talley, San Francisco Chronicle, June 19, 2022. The deepening drought has wrung moisture out of the vegetation, increasing…

What’s next after defeat of SFMTA’s Prop A infrastructure bond?

From Mass Transit Magazine, June 23, 2022. SFMTA says it will engage with the west side community, where support for…

Four Socal cities lose legal fight over RHNA

By Dorian Hargrove, CBS8, June 22, 2022. Courts cannot overturn the Regional Housing Needs Assessment. Only state lawmakers can change…

Northern News July-August 2022