Author Archives: Tessa Zavala

A new poll by the Economist/YouGov shows that 68% find it inappropriate for the government to pressure broadcasters to remove shows that it disagrees with.

Wager a guess at how many pickleball courts there are in the U.S.? If you said more than 68,000. You would be correct. There are more than 270,000 tennis courts. From a land use perspective, you can put 4 pickle ball courts in the place of a single tennis court. The  Santa Monica Pickleball Center […]

There’s a conversation in Indianapolis about using eminent domain to preserve urban forests. The city has 4% park land. The national city average is 15% parkland. We’ve chatted about how cities are planting trees to lower the temperature. I do not know who likes oppressive heat, but I can tell you for certain that it […]

After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Florida passed legislation to disaster proof their building code, which has saved the state $1 billion annually. . “In 1996 Gov. Lawton Chiles established the Building Codes Study Commission, bringing together state officials, builders, fire safety experts, insurers and engineers to chart a new course. By 2002, Florida had launched its […]

What happens when surveyors damage your land or improvements? Hypothetically, like when surveyors have pre-condemnation access before property is seized by eminent domain. In Montana, property owners will now have 6 years to file suit for damages thanks to SB 143. The goal of SB 143 is to ensure safer construction and surveying by utilizing more rigorous […]

Texas Attorney General Opinion KP-0498 answers whether zoning changes require notification to property owners within 200 feet, whether or not the property is within city limits. The answer: Yes, notification is required to the owner listed on the municipal tax roll.

RQ-0611-KP will answer whether the foreign ownership limitations in SB 17 apply to a publicly traded corporation that is headquartered outside of Texas with co-founders who hold dual citizenship with countries listed in SB 17.

Akron, Ohio invested in a $17 million park restoration as they seek to promote downtown growth. Akron’s downtown is small, but has an outsize impact on the economy and culture of the city. A Brookings fellow notes that improving public spaces along with land use reforms are key to downtown recoveries. Governing | Akron Bets Big […]

Fremont, California is one of the first cities to use AI to help secure flood insurance. Floods are difficult to predict. AI steps in to help design a “parametric flood policy.” These policies payout based on trigger events no on post-disaster assessment by an adjuster. Governing | How AI Helped a California City Insure Against […]

Florida has a growing population of invasive Burmese pythons. Conservative estimates say Florida has tens of thousands pythons on the loose. This is the stuff that haunts dreams. To handle the python attack, South Florida Water Management District began using robotic rabbits to lure in the pythons. Route Fifty | Florida enlists robot bunnies to manage […]