Ever since his election, Gov. Gavin Newsom has insisted that the state needs to build 3.5 million new units of housing, market-rate and affordable alike, in order to shelter all Californians affordably and comfortably. A few weeks ago, we found out what share of that increase will be borne by the greater Los Angeles region: 1.4 million.

In decades past, the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process assigned modest goals and had even more modest enforcement. No longer. New laws, such as Senate Bill 35, and new political will, exemplified by Gov. Newsom’s willingness to sue cities that don’t accommodate enough housing, suggest that the new allocations are going to stick. The regional council of the Southern California Association of Governments has accepted its allocation and assigned every jurisdiction in the six-county area their respective shares, ranging from 15 units in the city of Industry to over 430,000 in the City of Los Angeles.

If and when they are built, pending potential lawsuits and planning challenges, these units will, collectively, change the face of Southern California. But first, municipalities must plan for them. They will have to update major planning documents — zoning codes, general plans, housing elements, transportation plans, and others — and, in some cases, reconsider their civic identities.

PANELISTS (confirmed)
Elizabeth Alcantar, City of Cudahy
Christopher Koontz, City of Long Beach
Shana Bonstin, City of Los Angeles
Paavo Monkkonen, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Woodie Tescher, PlaceWorks
Kevin Kane, SCAG
Mee Heh Risdon, A Community of Friends
Mark Motonaga, Rios Clementi Hale Studios
Meghan Sahli-Wells, Mayor, City of Culver City

MODERATOR
Alissa Walker, Urbanism Editor, Curbed LA

Further speakers to be announced.

Location: Rios Clementi Hale Studios, 3101 West Exposition Place Los Angeles, CA 90018

Cost: $12 students, $20 members, $45 non-members

Registration: https://policyforumrhna.eventbrite.com