This article was originally published on Common Edge.
From the hills behind the City Hall in my adopted hometown of Ventura, California, it’s less than 1,000 yards southward to the Pacific Ocean. This constrained piece of topography creates a small urban gem of a downtown: streetscapes, restaurants, stores, offices, residences, parking garages, and a beachfront promenade, all within eight or so square blocks, creating a lively streetlife that connects a historic downtown to the beach.
But this narrow slot is also a critical part of California’s coastal transportation corridor. Laced throughout the thousand yards are five local streets; the Union Pacific coast line, which also carries Amtrak trains; and U.S. Highway 101, the Ventura Highway, which carries 100,000 cars and trucks a day through downtown Ventura. Without this slot, it would be simply impossible to traverse the California coast; the nearest alternative freeway route, I-5, is 45 miles inland. (Like many places in So
Will Congestion Pricing Clear L.A.’s Clogged Arteries?
Los Angeles Metro is considering four congestion-pricing scenarios in the hopes of choosing one by next year. If all goes well, the congestion management pilot could be in play by 2025. Shutterstock/Ali Cobanoglu
The Los Angeles region is exploring several congestion-pricing strategies to combat the notoriously clogged highways in one of the most car-centric parts of the country.
Los Angeles Metro is looking at four possible proposals to enact a traffic management plan that would use some form of pricing-per-user as a means of discouraging car use for transit use. Metro officials plan to have their selection process winnowed down to one proposal by this summer, with plans to begin implementing the project in early 2022. The congestion-pricing pilot would then be operational by 2025.
The Twentynine Palms City Council will gather this evening and, for the first time in months, the proceedings will be open to the public, though face masks and social distancing are still required. Reporter Heather Clisby has details…
Tonight, the Twentynine Palms City Council will meet with an open door to the public. The council will discuss and likely approve a county contract for the Project Phoenix wastewater system.
To avoid confusion, the council will consider changing the name of the Community Services Building to Luckie Park Activity Center, and the new facility at the Project Phoenix site to the Twentynine Palms Community Center.
Some Santa Monica City Councilmembers Unhappy With Housing Element Update
Local leaders are challenging state-mandated affordable housing requirements for the 2021-2029 cycle. February 3, 2021, 8am PST | Diana Ionescu |
Thomas Barrat
In ongoing discussions in the city council, Santa Monica is deciding how to respond to the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) s affordable housing requirement for the 2021-2029 cycle. Some local leaders argue that SCAG s mandate of 9,000 new affordable housing units is unrealistic and doesn t take into account local needs or funding availability, writes Brennon Dixson in the Santa Monica Daily Press.
The Housing Element, a mandatory element of Santa Monica’s General Plan, is basically a housing needs assessment that features updated demographic data, data on housing stock, identifying barriers to the production of housing both for market-rate and affordable housing, according to Santa Monica Planning Director Jing Yeo.
SCAG Rejects Cities’ Appeals, Upholds Santa Ana Housing Allocation
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has rejected an appeal by four Orange County cities to shift state-mandated housing allocation requirements to Santa Ana.
The cities of Irvine, Yorba Linda, Newport Beach, and Garden Grove contested the state’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) quotas, arguing that Santa Ana should be required to build an additional 10,000 housing units.
The SCAG RHNA Appeals Board on Jan. 15 voted unanimously to deny all four appeals and upheld previous quotas requiring Santa Ana to zone land to accommodate 3,087 new housing units. The group is currently meeting to decide where affordable housing will be built in the region through October 2029.