California’s New Law Is a Game-Changer for Home Chefs… and for Cities That Want to Get Stronger

Home chefs in California can now prepare, sell, and serve food prepared in home kitchens—as long as the county gets on board. Here’s why this is a potential game-changer.

Top Story, Quednau, Local FoodRachel QuednauJuly 15, 2020local food, coronavirus, California

A Step in a Stronger Direction for California Housing Policy?

New legislation to address California’s statewide housing crisis looks a lot more like successful efforts in Oregon and the city of Minneapolis. It also looks a lot more like a Strong Towns approach.

Herriges, Housing, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMarch 16, 2020California, fieldsteadca

Skinning Your Knee vs. Breaking Your Leg

A cautionary tale from the superheated housing market of San Francisco.

Why Housing Is “The Wickedest of Wicked Problems”

A wealthy Bay Area suburb is resisting new development. This is raising questions not just about California’s housing crisis, but about who gets to decide a city’s housing future.

Upzoned, Podcast, Top Story, HousingStrong TownsFebruary 26, 2020Bay Area, California, housing, Upzoned, BART, development, fieldsteadca

California's Bad Party: SB50 Fails Again

California has the nation’s worst housing crisis. It’s also the place mired in the worst gridlock when it comes to how to respond to it.

Herriges, Housing, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJanuary 31, 2020California, SB50, housing, housing crisis, fieldsteadca, fieldsteadcafeatured

One Important Question About California's Housing Future

Are we treating the symptoms of the housing crisis, or the underlying disease?

Herriges, Housing, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJanuary 14, 2020California, Housing Crisis, housing, housing policy, SB50, upzoning, fieldsteadca

Should California Bring Back Redevelopment Agencies?

Eight years ago redevelopment agencies were abolished in California. Are they making a comeback...and, if so, is that a good thing? In the final podcast of 2019, Chuck Marohn is joined by Steven Greenhut and Mike Madrid for a roundtable discussion on the resurgence of these controversial agencies.

Best of 2019: California's Housing Crisis

Affordable housing shortages in California (and other states) are worsened by a go-big-or-go-home model of development: we throw up so many barriers in the face of incremental change that the only building projects that remain viable are huge, complicated ones with many possible points of failure.

What single conversation does SoCal need to have most? We want to hear from you.

We’re just days away from our special episode of Upzoned Live: SoCal edition. Help us pick our topic.

Regional Gatherings, Upzoned, Top StoryStrong TownsDecember 3, 2019regional gathering, California, southern california, Upzoned, Podcast

SoCal is So Addicted to Cars. Should They Get Rid of Parking Minimums Anyway?

Sure, it’s all well and good to talk about ending parking minimums. But what about doing it in ultra-car-dependent Los Angeles?

Can we make California wildfires less destructive by changing the way we build?

California’s recent wildfires have ignited a conversation about whether the suburban experiment has put too many Golden State residents at risk. But this expert says it may not be so simple.

A Real-World Look at How Rent Control Hurts Tenants

California recently passed a bill that is supposed to help tenants facing soaring rents. Here’s how it could have the opposite effect—not only hurting renters but making the state’s housing crisis even worse.

Housing, Top StorySteven GreenhutNovember 21, 2019rent, rent control, landlords, California, regional gathering, affordable housing, housing, housing policy

Desperation or Aspiration? Latinos and the California Dream

Latinos are the largest ethnic group in a state with the world’s fifth-largest economy. And yet it’s increasingly difficult for Latinos to achieve the California Dream. Rebuilding an entrepreneurial and middle class is a complex problem, but it’s not that difficult to solve.

Economic Development, Top StoryMike MadridNovember 20, 2019California, Poverty, Race, economic development

When We Make It Hard to Build, We Give Developers More Power Over Our Communities

Making big developers “give back” to the community by running a gauntlet of concessions and fees seems like it should weaken their clout. Here’s why it actually does the opposite.

Can a Public Garden Kickstart Community Development?

The actual tracks are gone, but the “other side of the tracks” divide remains. Can a community garden on the site of the old rail line help knit the town back together again?

Neighborhoods, Top StoryDoug BojackSeptember 27, 2019community gardens, California, community development

Building Strong Towns in Southern California

Something special is emerging in Southern California: a growing movement of people dedicated to making their communities stronger and more resilient. We’re gathering a bunch of those folks in one place. Are you going to be there?

Regional Gatherings, Top StoryStrong TownsSeptember 23, 2019California, Orange County, Santa Ana, event

Statewide Rent Control: Solution or Distraction?

California recently passed a statewide rent control bill. Will it protect tenants, alleviate the housing crisis, and strengthen communities? Or is it another massive #california intervention that will do little to clean up the mess made by the LAST massive intervention?

Housing, Herriges, MarohnStrong TownsSeptember 20, 2019California, housing, slackchat

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Commuter rail stations in the San Francisco Bay Area should be some of the most valuable land in the region (and by extension, the world). So why are there so many parking lots and one-story buildings right next to them?

Car-Free in L.A.? Don't Laugh.

Los Angeles, where the car is famously king, may have one of the best shots of any American city of becoming a car-optional place at scale—not just in a few trendy neighborhoods lucky enough to have good transit. Here’s why.