Land Use

Land Use and My Bicycle

Kristina Haddad — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:53:00 -0400

(By SASHA ABELSON, Guest Blogger to the Climate Program)

When I first moved to LA I told people I hoped to find a job close to home which did not involve an hour commute to and from the office. The response to this statement was generally one of uncontrollable laughter. I, however, did not think it was funny.

I was born and raised in New York City and the idea of walking to work was not a foreign concept to me. In fact, in all of my years as a New Yorker, I was able to get to each place of employment on foot. I always enjoyed my walk to work, and I appreciated the fact that it was indeed possible to walk to work.

I am now a resident of LA and my current commute takes me approximately 10 minutes - on my bike. I will always remember that I am one of the lucky ones! A colleague of mine just explained to me how she spent 3 hours last night traveling the 19.1 miles to her home.

My goal to live near work goes beyond the desire to avoid traffic and arrive at the office with windswept hair and tanned forearms. It has to do with effective land use, and a need to have a relationship with the land that is both environmentally friendly and economically viable. Nearly 40% of California's greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. As the population continues to grow and sprawling suburbs continue to be developed, the state's greenhouse emissions will continue to soar unless it dramatically changes the way it builds cities and suburbs

An article in the LA Times discussed a report, "Growing Cooler: Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change."[1] This report concluded that compact development such as mixing housing and businesses in denser patterns, with walkable neighborhoods, could be as effective at lowering emissions as some state and national climate policies. According to the study, compact development would allow consumers to spend less on gas while saving money in taxes that would otherwise be spent on pumping water and building new roads to far-away suburbs.

Frankly, I am thrilled with my 10 minute commute, my once monthly trip to the pump, my lower CO2 emissions, and my not-so-LA-approach to urban planning and land use. Who's laughing now?

[1] http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/21/local/me-climate21

Utah Court Looking at Ban on Ballot Box Planning

Joe Mathews — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:43:00 -0400

Earlier this year, Utah produced a new law barring citiznes from using local ballots to block specific land-use decisions. This attempt to slow down the phenomenon known as ballot box planning has run into trouble, however. The Utah Supreme Court is now examining a challenge to the law's constitutionality. Utah papers seem to think the law should be overturned.

More Scrutiny of Consultant Studies in Ballot Box Planning

Joe Mathews — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:03:00 -0400

This piece from the San Diego paper blasts a study commissioned about a local planning initiative in San Marcos. This may seem like a small issue, but it's not in California and in the West, where more and more local land use decisions are being made by voters, a phenomenon known as "ballot box planning." In my recent reporting and panel on the subject, I discovered that consulting companies that provide biased studies for cities attempting to fight ballot box planning have become a minor cottage indusry. A land use ballot initiative campaign in Thousand Oaks, Calif., earlier this month turned on just such a study. Commissioned by city officials who opposed the initiative, the study made several unsupported claims about the problems the city would have if the initiative -- which would have required voter approval for large-scale developments -- had passed. While there was some backing away from the study's more ridiculous conclusions, the study appeared to have convinced voters that the initiative was problematic. It lost.

News, Audio From Panel On Business Vs. Business Ballot Measures

Joe Mathews — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:22:00 -0400

Last week, I hosted a panel in Los Angeles on the use of local land use ballot measures as tools of competition between businesses. Zocalo LA, the panel's sponsor, has now made available audio of the event here.

The panel included the consultants from either side of the Measure B fight in Thousand Oaks (Harvey Englander and Rob Stutzman), Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy co-founder and executive director Madeline Janis, and former Beverly Hills Mayor Steve Webb. And there was a bit of news: Englander, who also represents LAX-area hotels that have been the target of a union organizing effort and of an extension of the Los Angeles city "living wage" law, said his clients there had no plans to put the law -- which has survived court challenges -- to a referendum.

That means the "living wage" extension will take effect, more than a year after it was passed. The impact on workers is less clear. The hotels say that only a small number of their workers make less than minimum wage. Several hundred make minimum wage -- but receive far more when tips are counted. They could end up taking higher salaries but receiving less in tips. And, as with any change in wages, the higher pay might prompt hotel managers to hire or employ fewer workers.

Department of Self Promotion: On the Radio Sunday Night in LA

Joe Mathews — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 06:11:00 -0400

If you live in Southern California, you can hear me moderate a panel on local land use referenda tonight, June 1, at 9 p.m. on KPCC (89.3 FM).

Wednesday Round Up: The Last Utah Land Use Referendum; Putin and Arnold

Joe Mathews — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:14:00 -0400

UTAH FIGHT OVER POWER OF REFERENDUM, INITIATIVVE: A new Utah law, which goes into effect next month, would prevent local voters from making land-use decisions at the ballot. But a group in Sevier County, Utah is attempting to challenge the law -- and plans to build a coal-fired electricity plant in their community.

MORE FIXED THAN PUTIN: At an event on budget reform in Garden Grove Monday, gov. Schwarzenegger -- in answer to a question on his redistricting initiative -- talked about the lack of political compeititon. He repeated the statistic that out of 496 seats up for grabs in the last three election cycles in California, only four changed party hands. "Think about that," he said. "That's a fixed system. We always laugh at Putin in Russia when he has his elections. We say, 'This is ridiculous, it's fixed.' Ours is more fixed, I can guarantee you that. It is crazy." More fixed than Putin? Hard to judge. But on turnover, the governor has got a point, as seats in the Duma have changed party hands -- in large part because of Putin's strong-arming -- more often than California legislative and Congressional seats.

ARIZONA ANGLES: The Arizona legislature is attempting to head off two ballot initiatives that would crack down on employers who hire unauthorized immigrants (Unauthorized is the most accurate term, according to your blogger, so fans of "illegal aliens" -- they're from this planet and their existence is not illegal -- or "the undocumented" -- they tend to have documents -- will have to live with it). Their solution: legislation that would modify the employer sanctions law. But the governor has vetoed it and sponsors of the initiatives say they're going forward.

IMMIGRANT VOTERS AND THEIR CHILDREN will constitute one-third of all California voters by 2012, according to a study from a Bay Area immigrant support group. Here's a report on the study in the LA Times.

COMMON SENSE TAX REFORM: Missed this before, but it's worth taking a look: Mark Paul, a New America colleague, explains the history of the California tax system, and outlines some principles for the kind of tax reform the state needs.

TOBACCO TAX PUSHBACK: A blogger at the web site of The Century Foundation, a progressive group, takes a look at efforts by the tobacco industry to fight ballot measures that seek to pay for health programs with higher tobacco taxes.

WILL THE PERIPHERAL CANAL RISE AGAIN? Old California hands in the ballot measure biz love to tell stories about the 1982 campaign in which voters turned down the Peripheral Canal. The idea is to build a canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which has so many troubles that there are understandable worries about the water supply. But an Assembly committee has put legislation to revive it on hold.

Utah Won't Let Voters Decide Land Use Questions

Joe Mathews — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:04:00 -0400

In its first week, this blog has focused on the soaring number of land use questions that end up on the ballot as initiatives in local elections. California has been the center of this trend, but other Western states are experiencing the same thing.

Utah legislators have decided to slow down the train. They've passed a bill, now signed into law by the governor, that would make it all but impossible to submit initiatives or referneda on land use questions to local voters. The governor has signed it. And the Salt Lake Tribune is angry about it. This won't be the last you hear about this law. Look for court challenges -- and for the national property rights movement and direct democracy advocates to make a cause of reversing this.