Land-use impacts health. Control is local. In California, a planning document, called a “general plan” sets forth zoning and policy goals for each city and county. Communities collaboratively create such plans with years of public meetings. This plan determines where and how much development will occur as well as what type of development (eg. single family homes, mixed-use commercial).  The CRC's data and research into local planning aims to help communities make informed decisions about how they plan for the future. You can help shape your local plan! 

This research project seeks to inform communities and state agencies about effective strategies for addressing climate action planning challenges and barriers to implementation at the local level. This effort seeks to engage local governments and their representatives in the implementation of tools to support climate planning, including the first databases of California General Plans and Climate Action Plans.

The three major objectives are to:

In recent years, San Joaquin County has been characterized by the jobs-housing imbalance affecting much of the state. As the Bay Area’s economy has continued to grow, that growth has outpaced the region’s performance in producing a sufficient amount of additional housing affordable to low and moderate-income households. This has resulted in rapid increases in the cost of housing. San Joaquin County is one of many localities that has absorbed households leaving the higher-cost Bay Area region.

For the past several years, the CRC has enjoyed a collaboration with the California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) as a way to support affordable housing developers, advocates, and policymakers at the frontlines of affordable housing production, preservation, and protection across the state. Based in Sacramento, CCRH is one of the oldest low-income housing coalitions in the country, working to promote and preserve affordable housing and sustainable, healthy communities throughout Rural California.

For the past several years, the CRC has enjoyed a collaboration with the California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) as a way to support affordable housing developers, advocates, and policymakers at the frontlines of affordable housing production, preservation, and protection across the state. Based in Sacramento, CCRH is one of the oldest low-income housing coalitions in the country, working to promote and preserve affordable housing and sustainable, healthy communities throughout Rural California.

Authors: Carolyn Abrams and Brandon Louie

Since the passing of the California Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006 (AB-32), California has taken an aggressive approach to address the climate crisis. Over the last decade and a half, the state has developed a variety of policies and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a particular focus on transportation. The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) contracted with the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) on a pair of studies to address this.

For the past several years, the CRC has enjoyed a collaboration with the California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) as a way to support affordable housing developers, advocates, and policymakers at the frontlines of affordable housing production, preservation, and protection across the state. Based in Sacramento, CCRH is one of the oldest low-income housing coalitions in the country, working to promote and preserve affordable housing and sustainable, healthy communities throughout Rural California.

This project is a cross-campus effort between the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, Occidental College’s Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, and the UC Davis Center for Regional Change.

In January 2020 an invited group of 70 professionals, representing academic, business, and non-profit sectors, met at the University of California, Davis to discuss lessons learned from sustainable community initiatives and how to facilitate a more rapid change toward sustainable urbanism. The inspiration for the event came from construction of The Sustainable City (TSC) in Dubai and West Village at UC Davis.