Design Standards

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.

March 30, 2012

Chet Widom: New California State Architect Opines on Priorities

Chet Widom spoke to leading architects in the Los Angeles area at an AIA event in March to explain what he intends to accomplish in his new position as State Architect. Review boards and documentation slow down the design and construction process significantly, and Widom faces the difficult challenge of speeding the process up with limited resources in a complicated bureaucracy.

Advertisement

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