redevelopment

May 17th Sacramento Lunch on California Infill Policies, Featuring State Sen. pro Tem Darrell Steinberg

For those planning to be in the Sacramento area next Thursday, May 17th, please join us for a lunch event on California’s land use policies, featuring a keynote address by State Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. Here are the details: The Future of Infill:  How CEQA Reform and the End of Redevelopment Will Affect …

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Redevelopment and the Future of Infill in California

As Rick blogged, the California Redevelopment Association inadvertently committed suicide at the state Supreme Court last week. Convinced by their lawyers that they would ultimately win in court, the Association’s leaders had played hardball last year at the legislature in the face of attempts to end redevelopment. But the California Supreme Court ended up immolating …

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California’s New Budget: Bad For Revitalizing Neighborhoods

California Governor Jerry Brown, apparently emerging from his time warp where Republicans weren’t completely radicalized against taxes and government, signed on to an all-cuts budget today, passed with majority numbers in the legislature.  His failure to get any of the four Republican votes he had sought means no new taxes and a major victory for …

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Saving Redevelopment In California

As Rick chronicled, California Governor Jerry Brown has pushed for the elimination of redevelopment agencies to help close the state’s budget gap. While Rick alluded to the mismanagement problems that plague some redevelopment agencies, most advocates for infill development view redevelopment as critical for revitalizing neighborhoods and creating more walkable, transit-friendly communities. Without the upfront …

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California’s Redevelopment Wars

California’s political leaders are currently struggling with the monumental challenge of finding ways to eliminate the state’s $25 billion budget deficit.  Somewhat surprisingly, one of the most controversial deficit reduction proposals offered by newly-installed Governor Jerry Brown involves elimination of California’s 425 redevelopment agencies. Estimated savings: $3 billion per year. Such a reduction in state …

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WALL-E World

For those of us who don’t live in or visit heavily-foreclosed neighborhoods, we often read the statistics without understanding the physical reality. But environmentally-speaking, many neighborhoods in this country have essentially become ghost-towns. So what do we do with these abandoned properties? Well, for some enterprising bobcats, these now-empty McMansions represent some low-cost lodging (photo …

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