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Article Features By John Lorinc

Robotaxis raise complex questions about safety, climate, and transit

For planning officials and academics, the commercialization of robotaxi services is creating tough questions about accessibility and logistics. But some see robotaxis as an opportunity to rethink public transit, particularly the longstanding last-mile problem.

Article Legal Notes By Matthew R. Silver and Sean E. Morrissey

A federal law intended to protect senior mobile home parks is being misused to close them

Some groups have developed a business model that aims to profit from converting senior mobile home parks to all-ages groups or closing them altogether. Some have adopted a logically baffling, but legally successful strategy that allows them to self-exempt from local laws. 

Article Features By David M. Ross, PhD, ICMA-CM

Stop calling it efficiency: How budget cuts can miss the real issue

Efficiency is not about cutting for the sake of cutting, and financial sustainability is not about saying no to every investment. The goal instead should be to build an organization that provides reliable services, protects public resources, supports employees, manages risk, and adapts to changing conditions.

Article Features By Jackie Krentzman

‘Heat is going to be the great un-equalizer,’ warn experts and city officials in the Inland Empire

Extreme heat doesn’t just stress the human body. It puts a greater demand on the electrical grid, causing more frequent blackouts, buckles asphalt roads, and evaporates water supplies. But many of its most harmful impacts are cumulative and delayed.

Article Local Works By Caleb Zimmerschied Valadez

Ojai restoration project helps its most vulnerable residents

“It falls very much in the spirit of what most of our city tends towards — a combination of deep humanitarianism, ecology, and culture,” said Ojai Mayor Andy Gilman. “This whole space is becoming alive with purpose, and I feel really lucky to be a part of it.”