Density Bonuses News Today

In a twist on an old saying, a McMinnville committee is looking at a “smaller is more” approach to providing more affordable housing. A change in ...

In 2023, the California Legislature enacted and extended significant housing streamlining laws – most, but not all, are limited to projects that pay prevailing wage for construction labor...

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CityWatch is published 24/7 with special e-news blasts on Monday and Thursday evening, with Extras as appropriate around special events such as elections or important issues. Share it with your Neighborhood Council and other activists.

Zoning Incentives for Supermarkets: New York Expands its FRESH Program The FRESH program, previously offering zoning incentives for grocery store development in 19 districts around New York City, will expand to 11 new locations. May 20, 2021, 5am PDT | James Brasuell | New York City Planning Commission (CPC) Chair Marisa Lago yesterday announced the expansion of the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program, which is designed to bring convenient, accessible grocery stores to ...

A podcast discussion with Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui details how and why the Massachusetts city become a planning trendsetter by adopting an Affordable Housing Overlay earlier this year.

100 Percent Affordable Overlay: Next Up for Berkeleys Reform Movement After moving forward with parking and zoning reforms, the Berkeley City Council is also considering a new Affordable Housing Overlay on a model previously adopted in Cambridge, Massachusetts. March 5, 2021, 8am PST | James Brasuell | Berkeley is not resting after taking several significant steps toward planning reform in recent months—first by removing residential parking requirements in most parts of the city and the...

PLANNING WATCH-The Los Angeles City Planning Department recently announced that it is terminating work on its long-stalled Purple Line Extension "Transit Neighborhood Plan" (TNP).   Instead, it will fold this controversial developer give-away scheme into the forthcoming Update of the Wilshire Community Plan. That Update is scheduled to begin in 2022, which marks 20 years since the Wilshire Plan’s previous update and nine years since METRO first paid Los Angeles $4,480,000 to prepare the Purp...

The FAIR LA Housing Plan Allows Real Estate Speculators to Profit from the Housing Crisis – It’s Sophisticated Nonsense Details PLANNING WATCH-A reader asked me to review Abundant Housing’s Fair LA housing plan. It contains an elaborate formula, disconnected from the legally required planning process, to up-zone all of Los Angeles, with most up-zoning directed at affluent neighborhoods. If adopted, it would lift the zoning code’s restrictions on density, heig...