St Albans is an ideal commuter town. The government wants more houses. But at what cost to the city's character and its greenbelt?

A new initiative seeks to model a solution for affordable homeownership: building multifamily complexes on L.A.'s 20,000 small, vacant, privately owned lots.

YouTube video by Claire Sargent

City planners presented a draft Unified Development Code that would cut redundant zoning districts, introduce new R1–R3 residential categories and two multifamily tiers, and shift certain small multifamily and duplex forms to by‑right uses while retaining CUPs for larger apartment projects.

At a Sept. 15 study session, planning staff proposed lowering the R‑20 zone minimum density from 16 to 12 dwelling units per acre to make townhome development more feasible; commissioners asked staff to return with real‑world massing examples and more objective design standards. (No vote taken.)

A St. Louis-based developer is proposing a senior housingdevelopment next to Hopewell Elementary School in Dublin.

The board approved the 12‑story Allapata workforce housing project (260 units) by a 3–1 vote; one member dissented citing flat roofline and monotonous massing despite support for podium and screening treatment.

Two lots comprising 4.37 acres at Adams Avenue and Pincecreek Drive are in the "perfect location" for high-density housing, one Coast Community College District official told city planners.

"Construction continues on what appears to be a Housing project. This is non-essential at this time,... #housingdevelopment—korsmoconstruction #construction

In years past, developers would build typical subdivisions around golf courses and tennis courts. But today, with the growing interest in environmental conservation and local food systems, savvy developers are building self-contained communities around organic farms. The focus is on creating a sustainable community and outreach programs geared to helping all generations embrace local, in-season food as well as the agrarian lifestyle. Buyers are lining up to stake their claim to experience a taste of life on the farm, from the comfort of their own home. In this episode, we travel to one such community that serves as a model for all the others. This episode originally aired as Episode 509. Read the full show notes for additional information from this episode at: https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/episode509/ More Season 5 Episodes - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwY8ORPCFuqqtff1KnEoGvvpiRWqlJtMX Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy™ for Joe's growing library of organic gardening courses -https://organicgardeningacademy.com The Vegetable Gardening Book by Joe Lamp'l: Your complete guide to growing an edible organic garden from seed to harvest available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle! https://amzn.to/4aMkjcO Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements - www.joegardener.com/subscribe