Manville Discusses Unintended Consequences of Los Angeles’ “Mansion Tax”

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Los Angeles’ “mansion tax,” Measure ULA, was created to fund affordable housing and homelessness programs through taxes on high-value property sales, but critics say it has also slowed apartment development amid the city’s housing shortage.

A recent article by The Wall Street Journal highlighted developers who abandoned multifamily housing projects after the tax increased costs on property transfers above $5.3 million, contributing to a sharp decline in multifamily construction permits and sales of multifamily-zoned properties.

“It’s a classic cautionary tale about this sort of ballot-box legislation,” said UCLA urban planning professor Michael Manville, pointing to the unintended consequences that can arise when complex housing policy is enacted through voter initiatives.

Supporters of the measure argue that high interest rates and broader economic conditions are largely responsible for the slowdown, and they defend the tax as an important funding source for tenant protections and affordable housing. Meanwhile, policymakers are considering amendments to the tax as opponents pursue a statewide repeal effort.

 

Brozen on the Safety of the Metro Influencing D Line Ridership

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Wilshire Boulevard is one of Los Angeles County’s most congested streets, sometimes taking nearly half an hour to move half a mile along the road. The recent opening of the D Line extension— a project decades in the making —promises dramatically shorter commutes between downtown, Beverly Hills, and the Westside. The line is predicted to move traffic through the entire city in approximately twenty-five minutes, but it remains to be seen how often residents of Los Angeles will use it.

One deterrent to use, according to several residents, is safety. Residents shared incidents where they felt unsafe, such as men screaming at them and following them, and a study found that about half of the university students who used the Metro were sexually harassed. An article by The New Yorker quoted deputy director of the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies Madeline Brozen, who shared, “What we found is that frequency of how often a bus or train arrived is the No. 1 solution that helps people feel safer…Once riders are on the bus or train, they’re in the safest part of the system.” Metro has taken measures over the years to increase the safety of its services, including implementing the Ambassador program and stricter fare gates, but it will take some time for Los Angeles to shift its perspective on the Metro as well.

Why Thousands of Trees Are Still Disappearing After the Palisades Fire

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The Palisades Fire that swept through southern California in January of 2025 led to not only the destruction of numerous buildings and homes, but also a large population of trees, according to an article by the Los Angeles Times. Although many of the trees have since recovered, researchers from UCLA recently discovered that nearly 20% of surviving street trees have already disappeared since the fires, raising concerns about the long-term loss of shade, cooling, air quality, and neighborhood character.

Several possible reasons have been proposed, such as insufficient efforts by local governments to ensure the trees are watered, mistakes in identification of dead trees by debris removal crews, and rapid removal for construction. 

Edith de Guzman, a researcher at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation investigating the trees affected by the fires, found these numbers concerning, as their study was focused only on public spaces, where the trees should have been under the protection of the city and county. She stated, “we are still seeing removals that are unnecessary, and the city is not sure who is responsible.”

Local groups are making efforts to save the remaining trees by supplying watering trucks, conducting property tree surveys, and planning a long-term planting program, ensuring that the trees which are vital to cooling California’s communities are protected.

Will the Opening of the D Line Change Commuter Behavior?

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The D Line connects several of Los Angeles’s most populated communities and includes stations near major destinations such as Beverly Hills and The Grove. While the extension is expected to provide a faster and more reliable alternative to driving, transportation experts question how much the new line will actually change commuter behavior

An article by the Los Angeles Times quoted Brian Taylor, professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA, who shared that the line must be “the best way to get around,” more so than driving, which is still relatively underpriced.

Residents in southern California have also expressed mixed opinions about using the D line, with some planning on using the new line regularly, and others stating that the long wait times would deter their usage. A spokesperson for Metro acknowledged the longer wait times, but described them as a starting point limited by factors like funding and staffing. According to Metro officials, they view this line as the beginning of a longer campaign for shifting more Angelenos towards using mass transit.

Michael Stoll Appointed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s Council of Economic Advisors

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California Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Michael Stoll, professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA, to the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of leading scholars and policy experts that advises the Governor and the California Department of Finance on key economic issues facing the state.

The council analyzes economic trends and provides guidance on state and federal developments, including trade policy, tariffs, technological change, and the growing impact of artificial intelligence on California’s economy. The newly announced council leadership includes Chair Renee Bowen of Georgetown University and Vice Chair Valentin Bolotnyy of Stanford University.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Newsom said the council’s expertise will help California navigate “federal shifts, global disruptions, and emerging challenges with creativity, resilience, and confidence” while strengthening the state’s position as the nation’s leading economy. “Together, we’re going to keep California moving forward and strengthening our position as the nation’s leading economy,” said Newsom.

Read the full press release here.

Data Center’s Water Use Draws Community Outrage

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A recent article by POLITICO examines growing tensions in Fayetteville, Georgia, after residents discovered a massive data center had used nearly 30 million gallons of water through untracked utility connections. The developer, Quality Technology Services (QTS), later paid nearly $150,000 in retroactive charges after county officials found two industrial-scale hookups were not properly monitored or billed.

The controversy intensified amid drought conditions and local calls for water conservation, fueling broader concerns about the environmental impact of rapidly expanding data centers. Greg Pierce, senior director of the Luskin Center for Innovation and the director of the Human Right to Water Solutions Lab, questioned why the company avoided penalties.

“I don’t know exactly what’s happening here, but they probably don’t want to upset one of their new and largest customers,” Pierce said.

Wasserman on LA College Students Choosing Metro

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Luskin’s Jacob Wasserman spoke to The LA Local about why more Los Angeles college students are choosing Metro over cars as free and discounted student pass programs expand.

Wasserman, a research program manager at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, said university pass programs can help build a culture of transit use. At UCLA, he noted, all undergraduate and graduate students receive transit passes, creating value for student riders while also supporting transit agencies because schools purchase passes broadly.

Wasserman also discussed the difficulty of expanding transit in a region built around cars and freeways. Many riders still face inconvenient stops, long walks and safety concerns when surrounding areas are not designed for pedestrians.

“At UCLA, every undergrad and grad student gets a pass. It makes the transit agency money because [schools] buy it for everybody, and the people who do use it get a ton of value. It’s effectively free,” Wasserman said.

A Newly Proposed Spending Plan Channeling More Funds to LAPD Sparks Opposition

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The LA City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee recently held the first budget hearing for a $14.89 billion spending plan proposed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. According to MyNewsLA, her plan calls for hiring over 500 new police officers, resulting in approximately 47 million dollars channeled toward their salaries. This proposal has sparked opposition from several individuals, including assistant professor of social welfare at UCLA David C. Turner III.

Turner used survey data from over 35000 individuals from the past six years to highlight that many individuals do not want to invest money into law enforcement,

“We want to invest in things like housing security, and things like food security, economic assistance, public health and health care, child and youth development, environmental justice and climate change,” Turner said.

He argued that the $47 million could be used to help nearly 6,000 domestic violence victims and individuals looking for employment. “You have police doing things they don’t even want to do,” said Turner, “but yet, we continue to make them do that because they’re our most funded resource.”

The budget hearings are expected to conclude on May 15, after which the proposal will be passed on to the City Council.

12-Year-Old’s Death After Bullying Incident Reveals School’s Inaction

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The death of 12-year-old Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa after a school bullying incident has raised questions about whether more could have been done to prevent the tragedy. While her family alleges repeated warnings were ignored, experts note that broader trends show improvement. UCLA professor Ron Avi Astor shared with the Los Angeles Times that bullying has declined significantly, saying California has seen it “dropping dramatically” over the past two decades. A study he co-authored found a 56% decline in fights at California secondary schools from 2001 to 2019.

“Schools are now more aware than they used to be, and there’s more interventions, there’s more programs,” Astor said. “I think school sites are very serious [about addressing bullying], because it could cause physical harm and unfortunately, in this situation, even death.”

 

Trends in Ridership Associated With Rising Gas Prices

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Rising gas prices driven by the ongoing Iran war are contributing to a noticeable increase in public transit ridership across California, particularly in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Historically, spikes in fuel costs have encouraged more people to use buses and trains, and early signs suggest a similar pattern may be emerging. However, a recent Los Angeles Times article, notes that transit agencies—still recovering from the sharp decline in ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic—are watching closely to determine whether this surge represents a lasting shift in commuter behavior.

Mike Manville, professor of of urban planning at the UCLA, emphasizes the limits of price-driven behavior changes, explaining that higher gas costs alone are unlikely to fundamentally shift commuting patterns. As he puts it, “People don’t necessarily abandon their cars just because gas gets expensive.”