News

September 29, 2025

LA’s Central City Association Reveals “Revive DTLA" - An Urgent Recovery Plan for the Heart of Los Angeles

Following the Los Angeles City Council’s September 19 approval of the Los Angeles Convention Center modernization and expansion, the Central City Association (CCA) is building on momentum with the launch of Revive DTLA, a 90-day action plan to accelerate economic recovery in Downtown Los Angeles.

September 29, 2025

Jim Wunderman on Regional Stewardship & Statewide Coalition Building

In a wide-ranging interview with Jim Wunderman, CEO of the Bay Area Council (BAC), he reflects on his 20-year tenure, during which the Council grew into one of California’s most influential civic organizations. He also introduces New California Coalition, a new statewide effort he helped form to align statewide business, civic, and regional leaders around four urgent priorities: housing, homelessness, water and energy, and jobs and the economy.

September 19, 2025

Nella McOsker on What’s at Stake in the City Council Vote on LA Convention Center Expansion

In a truly timely TPR interview, the Central City Association’s CEO, Nella McOsker, emphasizes how the city has repeatedly delayed LA Conventional Center expansion efforts since 2016 and is now at a critical juncture, with the Olympics providing both urgency and opportunity.

September 18, 2025

Mark Gold Named CalCOFI’s New Director By Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Dr. Mark Gold, newly appointed leader of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, brings decades of experience in environmental policy, marine science, and interagency collaboration to one of the nation’s most critical ocean monitoring efforts.

September 18, 2025

Real Property Transfer Tax and Measure ULA: Sorting Fact from Fiction

In an exclusive interview with The Planning Report, housing policy experts Greg Bonett and Joan Ling discuss their co-authored response to a UCLA research report that claims Measure ULA is harming housing development in Los Angeles.

September 11, 2025

L.A. City Council Votes to Oppose State Housing Bill SB 79 (Excerpt)

In reporting by David Wagner for LAist, TPR excerpts coverage of the Los Angeles City Council’s narrow vote to oppose Senate Bill 79, legislation by Sen. Scott Wiener that would override local land-use restrictions and allow denser housing near major transit stops. The contentious debate highlights ongoing tensions between state housing mandates and local control.

September 11, 2025

Dan Rosenfeld on Preserving Los Angeles’ Civic Center

Framing the Civic Center as Los Angeles’ essential “common ground” for governance, culture, and public gathering, Rosenfeld traces its history, highlights past collaborative planning successes, and critiques current decisions that jeopardize its future. He challenges cost studies used to justify agency relocations, contrasting them with successful, lower-cost retrofits of comparable buildings. His central message: preserving and reinvesting in the Civic Center is vital to maintaining civic unity, cultural identity, and functional efficiency for Los Angeles.

September 11, 2025

Single-Stair Reform: Eduardo Mendoza on Housing Affordability by Design Flexibility

In conversation with TPR, Eduardo Mendoza shares how California’s single-stair reform can expand housing supply by enabling small-lot, incremental redevelopment. He notes that current double-stair mandates inflate costs and limit layouts to studios and one-bedrooms, while single-stair buildings allow more diverse typologies, including starter homes at lower price points. Mendoza emphasizes that the reform is not a panacea but creates policy leverage for affordability and highlights the importance of balancing design flexibility with safety standards.

September 11, 2025

Leah Goold-Haws: From LBEP CEO to Guiding Federal Support for LA’s 2028 Olympic Games

Outgoing CEO of LBEP, Leah Goold-Haws, reflects on her legacies advancing Long Beach’s global profile through branding, collaboration, and strategic events. She cites progress toward LA28 readiness in areas such as air mobility, shoreline redevelopment, and clean energy. Returning to consulting with the M2 Group, she emphasizes collaboration among LA28, federal partners, and local stakeholders to align priorities in infrastructure, security, and technology for successful outcomes.

September 5, 2025

New Damaging State Law Erases Decades of Community Environmental Protections

In light of the Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 131 (SB 131) and Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) as budget trailer bills—pushed by the Governor and adopted outside the normal legislative process—The Planning Report asked legal experts Douglas Carstens, Dan Silver, and Aleja Cretcher to assess the implications of SB 131 for environmental and community protections.

Pages

Advertisement

Advertise with us
© 2025 The Planning Report | David Abel, Publisher, ABL, Inc.