# Los Angeles Councilman says upzoning near transit is the worst idea he’s ever heard

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2018-01-30

bil, california-senator, caliornia, cities, development, housing, housing-and-urban-development, los-angeles, paul-koretz, scott-wiener, senator, transit, transit-oriented-development, uncategorized, upzoning, urban-planning, urbanism

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Earlier this month I wrote about California Senator Scott Wiener’s bill to increase housing supply and mandate greater land-use intensities adjacent to transit. [Here](http://brandondonnelly.com/post/169502926563/california-state-senator-wants-to-mandate-denser) is that post.

Judging by the comments, many of you seemed to think this was a fairly sensible proposal. I know I certainly did. Senator Wiener called it a housing-_first_ agenda, as opposed to a housing-_last_ agenda.

So I thought it would be interesting to share how some people have responded to the proposal. 

Los Angeles City Councilman [Paul Koretz](http://councilmemberpaulkoretz.com/index2.php) called it both “devastating” and “the worst idea \[he’s\] ever heard.” He went on to tell [the LA Times](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-transit-bill-20180104-story.html) that, within 10 years, people should expect their neighborhoods to be transformed into Dubai. 

His conclusion: “I don’t think people want to see significant rezoning around single-family neighborhoods whether they’re near transit or not.”

I don’t agree with his first set of remarks, but I agree with his second one. And that, of course, is the challenge. If you own a single-family home down the street from transit, what great incentive do you have to support intensification?

Paul is the messenger.

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/los-angeles-councilman-says-upzoning-near-transit-is-the-worst-idea-hes-ever-heard)*