CEQA
California
Welcome to California
Building homes in California requires a significant investment of time, money, and other resources, leading many developers to avoid construction projects. But in northwest Los Angeles County, one builder has stayed the course since 1994. On completion in 2021, the 15,000-acre Newhall Ranch—billed as one of the world’s first large-scale ...
Blog
Patricia is Short Because State Government Has Made California Unaffordable
At a recent congressional hearing, freshman Democrat Katie Porter from Orange County took to her soapbox to grill JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon about income inequality at the company. Using the example of Patricia, who is employed as a full-time, entry-level bank teller at JP Morgan Chase – admittedly ...
Blog
Rentonomics in California: It’s Worse than We Think
Right by the Bay has sounded the alarm on the affordable housing crisis, especially our colleague Kerry Jackson, who has written about it here, here, and here. But until we get real reform, like Sam in Casablanca, we plan to play it again and again. A new study by Apartment ...
Blog
CEQA Show Hearing Gets California Nowhere
The state Senate held a joint informational hearing last month that, on the surface, looked to be a step forward for those who believe the California Environmental Quality Act needs reform, if not a top-to-bottom overhaul. But apparently the hearing was anything but an effort to fix the law that ...
Blog
Why Buy A Modest Home in California for The Price of a Texas Mansion?
It can cost a half-million dollars more to build the same-size house in California as it does in Texas. The number of adults surprised by this is roughly zero. While California ranked no. 3 in new home construction in 2017, housing supply still lags far behind demand in the most ...
Blog
Water, Water In The Desert, But Still None To Drink
A proposal to draw water from the desert to slake perpetually dry Southern California seems no closer to reality now than it did when the idea emerged well more than a decade ago. The project has, according to California Water News Daily, “received numerous validations of its plans, including its ...
CEQA
CEQA: How to mend it since you can’t end it
By Daniel Kolkey It’s no coincidence that California’s housing prices began to diverge from the rest of the country in 1970 – the very year that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) was enacted. According to California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, “Between 1970 and 1980, California home prices went from 30 ...
Blog
Newsom Eats More Cake in First State of the State
A few weeks back, in writing about Gov. Newsom’s first budget proposal – I noted that the Governor was demonstrating how one could have his cake and eat it, too, in his spending plan for the state. As I watched the Governor’s first State of the State address yesterday, it’s ...
California
How Gavin Newsom Could Earn the Title of Best Governor in California History
Edmund G. “Pat” Brown was the best governor California has ever had, many would argue. Free-market economist Art Laffer says Pat’s son Jerry was “one of the best.” Still others would name Earl Warren as the greatest. New Gov. Gavin Newsom would surpass them all, though, if he would complete ...
Blog
New Year’s Resolutions The California Legislature Should (But Probably Won’t) Make
Going into a new year, many of us use the occasion to start fresh, forget about the old, and resolve to improve our lives. If lawmakers are open to suggestions, here are some New Year’s resolutions the California Senate and Assembly should make: Abolish the California Environmental Quality Act. Why ...
Welcome to California
Building homes in California requires a significant investment of time, money, and other resources, leading many developers to avoid construction projects. But in northwest Los Angeles County, one builder has stayed the course since 1994. On completion in 2021, the 15,000-acre Newhall Ranch—billed as one of the world’s first large-scale ...
Patricia is Short Because State Government Has Made California Unaffordable
At a recent congressional hearing, freshman Democrat Katie Porter from Orange County took to her soapbox to grill JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon about income inequality at the company. Using the example of Patricia, who is employed as a full-time, entry-level bank teller at JP Morgan Chase – admittedly ...
Rentonomics in California: It’s Worse than We Think
Right by the Bay has sounded the alarm on the affordable housing crisis, especially our colleague Kerry Jackson, who has written about it here, here, and here. But until we get real reform, like Sam in Casablanca, we plan to play it again and again. A new study by Apartment ...
CEQA Show Hearing Gets California Nowhere
The state Senate held a joint informational hearing last month that, on the surface, looked to be a step forward for those who believe the California Environmental Quality Act needs reform, if not a top-to-bottom overhaul. But apparently the hearing was anything but an effort to fix the law that ...
Why Buy A Modest Home in California for The Price of a Texas Mansion?
It can cost a half-million dollars more to build the same-size house in California as it does in Texas. The number of adults surprised by this is roughly zero. While California ranked no. 3 in new home construction in 2017, housing supply still lags far behind demand in the most ...
Water, Water In The Desert, But Still None To Drink
A proposal to draw water from the desert to slake perpetually dry Southern California seems no closer to reality now than it did when the idea emerged well more than a decade ago. The project has, according to California Water News Daily, “received numerous validations of its plans, including its ...
CEQA: How to mend it since you can’t end it
By Daniel Kolkey It’s no coincidence that California’s housing prices began to diverge from the rest of the country in 1970 – the very year that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) was enacted. According to California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, “Between 1970 and 1980, California home prices went from 30 ...
Newsom Eats More Cake in First State of the State
A few weeks back, in writing about Gov. Newsom’s first budget proposal – I noted that the Governor was demonstrating how one could have his cake and eat it, too, in his spending plan for the state. As I watched the Governor’s first State of the State address yesterday, it’s ...
How Gavin Newsom Could Earn the Title of Best Governor in California History
Edmund G. “Pat” Brown was the best governor California has ever had, many would argue. Free-market economist Art Laffer says Pat’s son Jerry was “one of the best.” Still others would name Earl Warren as the greatest. New Gov. Gavin Newsom would surpass them all, though, if he would complete ...
New Year’s Resolutions The California Legislature Should (But Probably Won’t) Make
Going into a new year, many of us use the occasion to start fresh, forget about the old, and resolve to improve our lives. If lawmakers are open to suggestions, here are some New Year’s resolutions the California Senate and Assembly should make: Abolish the California Environmental Quality Act. Why ...
