Focus
As wildfire risks grow, so does push for California housing reform
The Mercury News – June 10
California development policies have encouraged communities to rebuild in fire-prone regions, leading to more potential destruction and higher reconstruction and insurance costs, UC Berkeley researchers concluded in a recently released report. The report, funded by nonpartisan think tank Next 10, calls for adopting policies that would discourage development in fire-prone areas and increase spending on fire planning and on eliminating hazards such as overgrown vegetation.
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News
Nearly $1 billion restored to California bullet train
Los Angeles Times – June 11
A $929-million federal grant for the California bullet train project was recently restored under a settlement of a suit brought by California, asserting that the U.S. Department of Transportation acted improperly in taking away the money in 2019. The action appears to signal that the Biden administration will back efforts by the California High-Speed Rail Authority to obtain a portion of the federal infrastructure package that is being negotiated, though the actual amount of money for the rail project is highly uncertain.
Los Angeles Unified School District to investigate affordable housing for its employees
L.A. Daily News – June 9
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) officials last Wednesday announced an initiative to provide 2,000 affordable housing units so teachers and other school employees can live in the communities where they work. District officials will be considering properties that LAUSD owns that are unused or underutilized. While such housing projects typically take several years to complete, Superintendent Austin Beutner said he hopes the latest affordable housing units will go up within the next year or two, as he anticipates the district will, with the cooperation of local city officials, be able to go through expedited permitting processes.
Is a zero-emissions San Francisco Bay ferry commute in your future?
San Francisco Chronicle – June 11
A new demonstration project expected to begin in the San Francisco Bay this summer aims to change how ferries and other vessels that ply the region’s waterways operate. The 75-passenger Sea Change is the first electric fuel-cell ferry built in the U.S. Before the pandemic, ferry commuting was exploding in popularity and expanding along new routes. While using a ferry as mass transit to cross the Bay is less carbon-intensive than driving solo across the Bay Bridge, ferries powered by diesel in the Bay Area emitted more than 88,000 short tons of CO2 and CO2-equivalent emissions in 2018, according to the California Air Resources Board.
This new Valencia community will have 21,000 homes – and net zero carbon emissions, developer says
CNBC – June 9
A new housing model is rising from the dirt in Valencia, California, and potentially raising the bar for real estate developers hoping to reduce their carbon footprints. More than 21,000 homes are going up in a new community that, its developer says, will be the largest net-zero community in the nation, and potentially the world. FivePoint Valencia went into planning 20 years ago, but legal battles ensued, pitting environmentalists against real estate planners. Finally, the project is now getting off the ground.
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