Tag Archives: Public Policy

Hostile Architecture Interview on KJZZ NPR Phoenix

I spoke with KJZZ NPR Phoenix about Hostile Architecture and public space equity. The story was cross-posted on the Fronteras Desk.

Excerpt:

BRODIE: What are the conversations like about this among your colleagues and other people who do what you do? . . .

PACHECO BELL: A lot of times city planners get blamed for this, but in fact, it’s oftentimes not city planners that are deciding to add hostile architecture. Rather, it’s the absence of mechanisms within city planning to deal with it. One of my longstanding critiques.

So, yes, there are instances where public agencies or the state might support the addition of hostile architecture, but there are also many instances where the private sector is doing this.

You have sometimes groups that form together to create hostile architecture to add in public space, to drive away those who they deem undesirable, and then sometimes you have sort of lone wolf individuals.

So this is a multidimensional issue. This is a multidimensional public space equity issue with a lot of people involved in it. My critique is that the urban planning field has done very little to address it.

The sharpest critiques that are coming out right now about hostile architecture are coming from the citizen journalists, young people on TikTok. And that is giving me hope that we’re going to have a turning point where we can start really talking about this as an international public space equity issue driven by young people on social media.

Informal ADUs Webinar

Join me this Friday, March 29th at 11:00am PST for an update on the important topic of unpermitted or informal ADUs and efforts to make the process of legalization easier and less costly, hosted by Casita Coalition, a statewide nonprofit. Our panel will cover:

– The current process for legalizing an unpermitted unit under state law
– How a safety-first legalization process can help preserve existing homes
– Designing an ADU amnesty program that addresses common barriers for homeowners
– AB 2533 (Carrillo)—a bill Casita Coalition is supporting to improve current ADU amnesty provisions

This webinar is generously sponsored by the City of Piedmont.

Register: https://www.casitacoalition.org/webinar-calendar/adu-amnesty

Housing Resource Fair

I’m speaking on an ADU, environmental justice, and affordable housing panel reflecting on lessons I learned doing unpermitted ADU enforcement.

Event: Napa Sonoma Collaborative Housing Resource Fair, SMART station depot, 960 E. Cotati Avenue, Cotati, CA 94931

Saturday, December 9, 2023, 9am – 12pm

FREE AND OPEN TO ALL

Quoted in LAist on Student Debt

Image: LAist

I’m interviewed about the history of student debt in this excellent long form reporting by Julia Barajas at LAist. I thought about my urban planning students at Cal Poly Pomona and Pitzer College for this one.

Excerpt:

In May 2022, the Washington Post reported that White House officials were exploring the promised cancellation of $10,000 in student debt per borrower, but limiting efforts to people who earned less than $150,000 last year.

Opponents to this proposal can be found across the political spectrum.

Jonathan Pacheco Bell, an urban planner and adjunct professor at Cal Poly Pomona and Pitzer College, said he appreciates that Biden has not forgotten his campaign promise, but $10,000 is insufficient.

“It’s a way to split the difference so that you make some people happy and some people mad, but you’re not going to piss off the other side of the aisle, because you didn’t wipe away all the debt. It’s a very comfortable and extremely safe position,” he said.

Some of his students have taken on tens of thousands of dollars in debt, he added. “Meanwhile, the U.S. seems to be endlessly funding wars and other priorities with almost no hesitation, but it hesitates to invest in its own workforce.”