The Demise of California Redevelopment, Abridged

Abstract

Imagine taking a $5 billion program that has existed for over 60 years in the largest state in the union and stopping it on a dime with little notice and no planning. That is California’s most recent experiment in redevelopment. As a result of a complicated series of budget maneuvers, multiple statewide initiatives, and one California Supreme Court decision, all of California’s approximately 400 redevelopment agencies were dissolved effective February 1, 2012. Public officials across the state, affordable housing advocates, private developers, and others have been left wondering if there is anything left of redevelopment powers and where they can go from here.