Archinect - News

Inside the failure of Jerry Brown's plans to ease California's housing crisis

2016-09-13T12:49:00-04:00

Despite introducing what seemed like excellent legislation to help increase the number of affordable housing units in developer-backed housing projects, California governor Jerry Brown's proposal caused so much multi-faceted angst it became political poison, primarily because it gently circumvented the traditional development process. This L.A. Times piece takes a look at what went wrong, noting that:

If developers pledged to set aside some units in their projects for low-income residents, the governor’s proposed legislation would have eliminated some local hurdles to building, likely leading to a modest increase in construction.

Yet the proposal the governor unveiled in May represented a profound shakeup in how the development process would have worked in California. The measure challenged the primacy of local control over housing, inflamed powerful entrenched interests and was eyed warily by the very groups representing those the plan was supposed to help.

For more on California's...

CA seeks to allocate $10 million in state funds to new earthquake early warning system

2016-05-16T18:34:00-04:00

In a major reversal, Gov. Jerry Brown is seeking state funds for a fledgling earthquake early warning system for California, which would allow for a limited rollout of alerts by 2018...Though the governor’s proposed funding is a big step for the system, it does not come with ongoing funds to operate it. An earthquake early warning system for California alone will cost about $23 million to build and $12 million annually to operate[.]

California eases some drought restrictions but makes others permanent

2016-05-10T15:42:00-04:00

Gov. Jerry Brown [...] laid out a revised game plan for dealing with California’s persistent drought, making some conservation rules permanent while also moving to give communities more of a say in deciding how much water they must save. Brown issued an executive order enshrining a conservation ethic in state regulations — banning permanently some wasteful water practices and ordering regulators to develop new water-efficiency standards designed to drive down long-term urban use.

Previous Archinect stories covering the drought crisis in California and the Southwest U.S.:

California to decrease parking requirements for affordable housing

2015-10-14T13:10:00-04:00

Late in the day on Friday [Governor Jerry Brown] signed Assembly Bill 744, which allows affordable housing developers to build less parking than many local zoning regulations currently permit. The bill is a victory for affordable housing advocates, who have been saying for a number of years that the burden of building more parking than tenants use has made affordable housing too expensive to build.

As Californians let their lawns turn golden, water conservation targets were exceeded in May

2015-07-07T18:51:00-04:00

Californians in May shot past Gov. Jerry Brown's water conservation targets in response to the drought emergency [...]. New numbers, released Wednesday, show that the state's ambitious conservation campaign is working, with statewide residential water use declining 28.9 percent in May from its baseline 2013 levels. The figures surpassed Brown's order in April to cut water use statewide by 25 percent.

Click here to read the full report issued by the California State Water Resources Control Board.

Drought-related news on Archinect:

Have an idea for how to address the drought with design? Submit your ideas to the Dry Futures competition!

Gov. Brown issues order to reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions

2015-04-29T13:09:00-04:00

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued an executive order to establish a California greenhouse gas reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 - the most aggressive benchmark enacted by any government in North America to reduce dangerous carbon emissions over the next decade and a half. "With this order, California sets a very high bar for itself and other states and nations, but it's one that must be reached - for this generation and generations to come," said Governor Brown.

Currently in the midst of four consecutive years of exceptional drought, California is experiencing first-hand the real-life implications of a warming climate. Before the order, the state was already on track to "meet or exceed" targets for reducing CO2 emissions to pre-1990 levels in the next five years. But with Gov. Brown's new executive order, California should be able to reach 40% below 1990-levels by 2030, making it possible to achieve a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. These goals are oriented around the scientific consensus of the need to limit global warming to a pivotal 2˚ Celsius mark – the threshold for what's known as "runaway climate change," or unpredictable, chain-reactive climate events.

The order also mandates updating the state's climate adaptation strategy – "Safeguarding California" – every three years. The plan is intended to identify vulnerable infrastructure, resources, services, transportations, etc. Other details o...

Jack White studied at the GSD, and other celebrities' hidden architectural pasts

2015-04-01T21:16:00-04:00

In our Snapchat attention-span world, we forget that celebrities often had different careers before they became international superstars. Did you know that Brad Pitt once worked for Frank Gehry, or that Robert Irwin very nearly became an architect instead of an artist? Herewith, a look back at the design pasts of several major celebrities.

5. Alejandro Innaritu, Film Director

When Best Picture-winning Birdman was still just a one-shot dream in his subconscious, Alejandro Innaritu was the executive assistant to architect Josep Iluis Sert, helping him keep his calendar and gather materials for meetings with city planning officials. Innaritu frequently attributes his signature layered, non-linear and often narratively challenging storytelling to the early years spent managing a formidable and unrelenting schedule.

4. Elon Musk, TESLA

As an intern on the design of the flagship building of General Motors’ corporate HQ, Elon Musk picked up substantial design inspiration for his later care...