Reuben Duarte

Reuben Duarte is a senior planner in the Real Estate, Land Use, and Environmental Practice Group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Areas of Expertise

Reuben has over seven years of experience guiding developers, property owners, and other business entities throughout California through the land use entitlement and regulatory process, from early due diligence through construction, including project entitlements and approvals, regulatory and environmental compliance (CEQA), stakeholder engagement, community outreach, and project management.

Reuben writes original content and articles focused on urban planning and development for the planning and development website Planetizen, and has also written as a contributing editor for the Climate Change Law & Policy Reporter.

He received his B.A. from the University of California Berkeley in 2008, and a Masters in Urban & Regional Planning (M.U.R.P.) from the University of California Los Angeles in 2012, where he specialized in transportation planning and policy, and urban design and development.  Reuben’s primary areas of focus include  real estate and economic development, urban design, land use and transportation policy, high-speed rail, and political environments.

Experience

• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
• Due Diligence
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Land Use Planning and Entitlements
• Legislative Policy Drafting and Analysis
• Master Plan / Specific Plan Drafting
• Subdivision Map Act
• Transportation Planning
• Project Level and Urban Design

Articles

• "Bringing By-Right Affordable Housing to California," Planetizen, May 23, 2016
• "What is Urban Decay? (And Why the Answer Matters)," Planetizen, June 9, 2015
• "The Rise of Development Agreement," Planetizen, January 11, 2015
• "The Fall of Planning Expertise," Planetizen, June 10, 2014
• Proposed CEQA Guideline Would Replace ‘Level of Service’ Measurements with New ‘Vehicle Miles Traveled’ Measurements in Analyzing Project Traffic Impacts – Climate Change & Law Policy Reporter, October 2014.

Real Estate, Land Use & Environmental Law Blog

• "Los Angeles City Council’s Public Safety Committee Votes to Move Forward with Expanding Fire Rating Requirements for New Construction," June 11, 2021
• "City of Los Angeles Moves to Increase Building Standards for New Construction," April 7, 2021
• "Southern California Counties To Adopt Major Housing Production Targets," February 25, 2021

Memberships

• American Planning Association
• Urban Land Institute
• California Alumni Association (UC Berkeley)