Why Planning Is Essential to Solving California’s Housing Crisis
Jaymes Dunsmore
California needs more sustainable, transit-oriented, urban development, like that being developed at Metro’s North Hollywood station in Los Angeles. Image© Gensler
Cities across the country need more housing but aren’t building it. In California, this challenge has become a crisis. Despite the state’s booming economy, which recently surpassed that of the United Kingdom to become the world's fifth largest economy, California is struggling with record levels of homelessness and has lost more than one million residents to other statesover the past decade as middle and low income families flee the highest-in-the-nation housing costs. In response, politicians and policymakers are considering dramatic changes, which could have profound effects on the planning, design, and development of cities across the state. For planners, architects, and designers this presents opportunity to rethink our role in shaping how our cities grow and change.
