Uncertain future for Golden State redevelopment

Financing for smart growth and TOD faces possible cutbacks as redevelopment agencies are caught in California budget battle.

Redevelopment agencies have a checkered history in California. They began in the early 1950s for the purpose of removing “blight” — and were responsible for many a damaging “urban renewal” project in the state’s major cities. They’ve also been used to build auto malls, office parks, and sports stadiums.

The redevelopment agencies have proliferated — there are 399 active across the most populated state, including nearly every city with more than 50,000 people. Many of them have adopted better urban planning techniques in recent years and are currently responsible for much of the state’s affordable housing, brownfield redevelopment, infill development, and transit-oriented development (TOD).

The state’s budget crisis has set off a battle over redevelopment that is likely to have significant impacts on how smart growth is financed and implemented in the Golden State in coming decades, and may reduce the funding available for revitalization and TOD.

Referring to the impressive new transit village adjacent to the Pleasant Hill Bay Area Rapid Transit station (see page 10), James Kennedy, deputy directory of the Contra Costa Redevelopment Agency, said: “If not for the tool of redevelopment,

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