In Westchester County, New York, cocktail conversation no longer revolves around the frothy real estate market. That is sooo 2006. Instead, the issue du jour is taxes. Even though I now live several states away, old friends from high school will tearfully recount how their empty-nested parents have been pushed out of the area by the engulfing tide of property and school taxes.

So it stands to reason that the New York Legislature has now passed a bill to limit property tax increases to 2 percent a year (or less if the inflation rate is lower). This is one potent political issue in the suburbs.

Watching this development from afar, though, I wonder, hasn’t New York learned anything from California’s 30+ years of experience with property tax caps? Where are the obvious comparisons to Proposition 13?

Proposition 13 is widely pilloried for contributing to the demise of public schools, skewing the incentives for local jurisdictions to attract certain types of development, and generally wreaking dysfunction on local finances.

So why does New York think the outcome of a 2 percent annual property tax cap is going to be any different there?

There are, of course, some important differences:

1. Local governments can override the cap with 60 percent of the public vote or the governing body. In California, a 2/3 supermajority (67%) is needed.

2.  The cap does come with potentially significant exemptions. Court judgments, growth in a town or school district, and employee pension costs can allow taxes to go beyond the 2 percent limit without voter approval.

This tax cap will sunset in 2016, but it is hard to see this piece of legislation not becoming a permanent part of the political landscape.

Construction is underway on a series of new public restroom facilities along the bike path between the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach.

Under construction - to be finished by Memorial Day 2011

Required by law to bring its facilities into compliance with accessibility standards, the City of Santa Monica is teaming with Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects to deliver much-improved amenities to beachgoers and visitors.

Design prototype for new Santa Monica Beach rest stops.

The old facilities were memorable mainly for their unpleasant odors, lack of sanitation, and pigeon infestations. They were maintained in a state of seemingly intentional decrepitude, almost as if to dissuade visitors from spending too much time inside them.

The new design concept takes almost the opposite approach, encouraging people to sit, lean, drink, and generally linger.

Each station will be complimented by a "palette of amenities."

According to the project’s official Web site, each station will be “complimented by a palette of site amenities, including showers, foot washes, bike racks, drinking fountains and seating.”

Voneelya Simmons, project manager for the City of Santa Monica, said that construction is due to be completed by Memorial Day weekend 2011, at a cost of approximately $3 million. Just in time to welcome the tourists.

Last January, I partnered with the Center for Urban Infrastructure on a regional study of the economic benefits of the proposed California high-speed rail system. A sneak preview of my study has just been posted.  Among the highlighted findings:

• Short-Term Stimulus. During construction (2012-2017), the project will contribute an estimated regional income benefit of $701 million to Southern California workers who otherwise would have been unemployed;
• Green Jobs. By 2035, high-speed rail will attract over 127,000 new permanent jobs to Southern California due to the region’s increased livability and enhanced transportation network, providing a major catalyst for continued expansion of the region’s green economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

This Thursday, a conference sponsored by Brandman University in Irvine, appropriately entitled “The Light At the End of the Tunnel,” will mark the official release of the study to the press. It will also feature distinguished panelists, including yours truly and Mayor of Anaheim/Chairman of the High Speed Rail Authority Curt Pringle, who will discuss the future of the project and how to advance it beyond the planning stages.

Location: Brandman University | 16355 Laguna Canyon Road, Room 111 | Irvine, California 92618 | 949-375-0856

Time: Thursday, August 26, 2010, 9:00am – 3:00pm

RSVP: alia@formol.com

I never expected to use the words “mall,” “civic-minded,” and “context-sensitive” all in the same sentence, but here I am, attempting to encapsulate my overall positive thoughts on Santa Monica Place (SMP) – that sparking new palace of retail consumption by the sea.

Since a professional architectural critic has already covered the main points, allow me to draw attention to two of SMP’s most thoughtful yet overlooked features:

• Public restrooms. Mall retailers typically seek to hide their bathrooms: on the top floor, down a long corridor, behind inadequate signage.  But SMP has decided to go the other route, conveniently placing one of its restrooms within 50 feet of the street-level entrance from Colorado Avenue. If it survives the inevitable petty vandalism, this will stand out as a much-needed public amenity.
• Built-in Heat Lamps. Everyone loves to glorify Southern California weather and conclude that of course malls should be open-air here. But for most of the year, beach city weather can only be described as “FF” (f—ing freezing), as my Mom likes to put it.  Attuned to this reality, SMP has placed built-in heat lamps near all of the outdoor tables. The lamps are set into the concrete, presumably to survive one of the other enduring Southern California realities: earthquakes!

Built-in heat lamps are one of the mall's most thoughtful, context-specific features. (Photo: Architect's Newspaper)

As an organic extension of the Third Street Promenade, SMP is perhaps most successful in capitalizing upon existing flows of pedestrian traffic, but its generous orientation toward the street  has also breathed new life into the formerly moribund Colorado Avenue. No longer a barrier to those approaching from the south, it makes an extended stroll from Main Street to the Promenade much more tolerable.

Even as Santa Monica Place is inhabited by many of the same high-end national and chain stores found elsewhere in LA, the beach views make it a retail experience distinct from the high-rise, in-the-city feel of the Century City Mall or the paparazzi-lined sidewalks of Robertson Boulevard. Plus, it is too geographically removed from its would-be competitors to cannibalize much of their customer base or retail dollars.

Not to bitch, but I do hate all the new evening traffic on the 4th Street exit from the 10 West. Now it is routinely backed up onto the freeway. At least the underutilized, LEED-Certified Civic Center parking garage on 4th St/Olympic is getting some additional off-peak occupancy and will hopefully start to generate more revenue for the City of Santa Monica.