News

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) today opened the public comment period on how best to allocate local housing need – a critical step forward in addressing an affordability crisis that has broad ramifications on our region’s prosperity and quality of life.

SCAG will conduct four public hearings and accept written comments over the next several weeks for residents, businesses and stakeholders to weigh in on three options for determining local housing needs as part of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process.

Residents, businesses and stakeholders soon will have the opportunity to weigh in on three options for determining local housing needs as part of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process.

The three allocation methodology options were presented Monday to the RHNA Subcommittee of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), which must develop a proposed plan for how to allocate existing and projected housing need once the six-county region’s overall need is determined. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is expected to announce that regional number in late August, covering the planning period of October 2021 through October 2029.

Demographic experts warn that Southern California’s housing crisis will only worsen until and unless there is a significant increase in the number of new homes built.

Speaking at the 30th annual Demographic Workshop sponsored by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, researchers said housing supplies aren’t keeping pace with a growing population and other factors that have increased demand and pushed costs skyward.

The Regional Council has voted to approve the Scholarship Committee recommendations for the 2019 SCAG Scholarship Program Awards. This year, SCAG received 111 applications from high school and community college students from across the region. 10 outstanding students were selected for scholarships, representing all six of SCAG’s member counties. The SCAG Scholarship Program provides each winner with both a monetary award of $4,000 and a two-week internship with SCAG or a local planning agency, in order to help students build the foundation for a career in urban planning and local government.

Public education, planning and designing safer streets and closer collaboration with law enforcement pare keys to reducing a growing number of fatalities and serious injuries from traffic collisions throughout Southern California, experts said Wednesday.

Appearing at the Traffic Safety Leadership Symposium, sponsored by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), experts in planning, safety and urban design said more needs to be done to make roads safer for everyone who walks, bikes and rides.

Overall, more than 1,500 people die and 136,000 are injured in collisions in Southern California each year. Most of those collisions (71%) occur on local streets – not freeways.

The Southern California Association of Governments on Friday formally launched Connect SoCal, the agency’s 2020-2045 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy.

At its annual Regional Conference and General Assembly in Palm Desert, SCAG announced a series of public workshops across the six-county region beginning this month to engage residents and stakeholders in the planning and visioning process for the 25-year plan.