PLANNING WATCH-The Los Angeles Times has changed ownership several times in recent decades, but its support for speculative real estate bubbles has never wavered. This was on full display in its recent editorial, “L.A. can begin to solve its affordable housing crisis in 2021.” The article’s essence was that the update of LA’s Housing Element – a section of LA’s rickety General Plan -- should be used to increase the market value of private parcels through widespread up-zoning. In short, if real estate developers could build larger, taller, denser buildings on in-fill sites, the market values of these parcels will soar. Property owners can then either flip their property to pocket this windfall, or they can invest in expensive apartment buildings for long-term profits. Either way the LAT’s zoning deregulation proposal enriches them.