News

May 12, 2026

California’s Energy Future: A Conversation with Chair David Hochschild

As California confronts rising demand, wildfire-driven costs, and federal policy uncertainty, VX News spoke with California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild on the state’s entry into a new phase of energy deployment—defined by speed, scale, and resilience.

May 12, 2026

Not Business as Usual: Esther Kim on Rebuilding Altadena Commercial Corridors

In conversation, Esther Kim, an architectural designer with nearly two decades of experience across residential and commercial projects, shares why she founded Altadena Village Partners, an emerging grassroots effort focused on rebuilding Altadena’s commercial corridors after the fire. She reflects on the group’s origins (mostly architects and planners), their self-funded recovery initiative, and the shift from traditional top-down visioning toward an owner-centered recovery model.

March 16, 2026

Inside ReMo Homes: Founder Vamsi Kumar Kotla’s Supply-Side Housing Play for California

As California confronts overlapping wildfire rebuilding pressures, housing shortages, and climate adaptation challenges, standardized off-site construction is gaining renewed policy and market attention. In conversation, ReMo Homes Founder & CEO Vamsi Kumar Kotla discusses the statewide approval of SupReMo™, a pre-engineered housing model designed to streamline permitting, reduce soft costs, and accelerate scalable housing delivery.

March 16, 2026

Right-Sizing LAUSD: Nick Melvoin on Strategic Planning, Education Code Reform, and Climate Resilience

LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin reflects on the structural challenges shaping the future of the nation’s second-largest school district, discussing the fiscal implications of one-time federal ESSER funding, pressures of labor negotiations in a high-cost region, and the long-term sustainability of a district that now serves roughly 400,000 students—down from nearly 700,000 two decades ago.

March 16, 2026

Darrell Steinberg Backs Hertzberg’s Bold Middle-Class Housing Bond

As California continues to confront a deepening housing crisis, state leaders are reevaluating how to expand access to homeownership beyond traditional programs. Sacramento Mayor and former Senate leader Darrell Steinberg highlights a groundbreaking market-based solution to close the gap between subsidized affordable units and costly market-rate homes.

March 16, 2026

The Lotus Model: Market-Rate Housing as a Solution for Homelessness in Neighborhoods of Opportunity

Beth Silverman, Lotus Campaign’s co-founder and executive director, shares the organization’s market-driven model for addressing homelessness by aligning the real estate sector, social service providers, and individuals seeking stable housing. Beth explains how Lotus, launched in 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina, reduces landlord risk through financial guarantees and support services while expanding access to existing housing in “neighborhoods of opportunity.”

February 12, 2026

Inside LA City Planning: Vince Bertoni on Housing, Rezoning, and Trade-Offs

As Los Angeles pushes to meet City Council housing targets, rebuild after climate-driven disasters, and gear up for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, LA City Planning Director Vince Bertoni delivers a pragmatic assessment of both progress and limits.

February 11, 2026

Plant Prefab’s Moment: Steve Glenn on Post-Fire Rebuilds, New Commercial Ventures, and Market Signals

As wildfire rebuilding, affordability pressures, and labor constraints converge, off-site construction is moving from niche solution to market necessity. In this interview, Founder and CEO of Plant Prefab, Steve Glenn, reflects on two decades in industrialized housing, tracing how prefab has evolved from design experimentation to a delivery-driven business shaped by automation, permitting frameworks, and capital discipline.

February 3, 2026

A City Now on the Rise: Mayor Daniel Lurie’s State of the City Address

In his State of the City address, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie described the city as a “city on the rise” while outlining an agenda focused on making recent progress durable and broadly shared. Highlighting declines in crime, a strengthened police pipeline, expanded treatment capacity, and a coordinated recovery-first approach to fentanyl and homelessness, Lurie tied improved street conditions to signs of economic resurgence downtown, increased tourism and conference activity, and major global events ahead.

January 8, 2026

Publisher’s Tribute: Bob Foster in His Own Words

A personal mentor, Bob Foster, across two decades of meetings and interviews with our newsletters, is remembered less as a politician reacting to events than as an authentic, one-of-a-kind, systems thinker insisting on preparedness, institutional clarity, and physical reality. Whether speaking as President of Southern California Edison, Chair of the California ISO, or Mayor of Long Beach, Foster returned to the same uncomfortable truth: modern society depends on infrastructure that must be planned years in advance, paid for honestly, and governed without illusion.

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© 2026 The Planning Report | David Abel, Publisher, ABL, Inc.