Los Angeles

Light Rail Recommended for the San Fernando Valley
Transit planners with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority have recommended light rail for the planned East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor Project.

High Cost of Housing Driving Up Homelessness, Study Finds
A new study from UCLA confirms what past studies have found, that rising rents and housing prices are fueling California's homelessness crisis.

Bad News for L.A.'s Homelessness Strategy: Public Restroom Plan Falls Apart
The city's failure to deliver public restrooms is not the first sign of trouble for its sweeping homelessness plan, but it’s a painful one for the residents of Skid Row.

Elon Musk's 'Personal Rapid Transit' Plans Panned By Critics
The "Loop" is the latest manifestation of Elon Musk's transportation fantasies, offering "personal rapid transit" to and from anywhere in Los Angeles without any congestion or cost.

The Best Locations for L.A.’s Mountain Lion Freeway Bridges
A coalition of researchers have identified one area near the 101 and other near I-15 that would help keep the big cats alive and healthy.

Mobility as a Symphony: Los Angeles Prepares for Transportation of the Future
LADOT is rehearsing now for the day it has to manage autonomous vehicles alongside delivery drones and air taxis.

California Getting Way More New Jobs Than New Housing
Even with tons of building permits already issued this year, the outlook for the state’s affordability crisis is pretty grim.

L.A.'s Anti-Density Advocate Still Hopes to Make Planners 'Uncomfortable'
One of the main forces behind Measure S spills her thoughts on Hollywood, homelessness and what’s wrong with planning in Los Angeles.

Shouting Down Road Diets
In car-dependent communities, road diets and bike lanes can be a tough sell.

Behold: Elon Musk's First Tunnel
Take a first look at the fruits of the Boring Company's labor. According to Elon Musk, the tunnel will be open to the public for free rides later this year.

Cities as ‘Powerhouses of Evolution’
A new book on urban ecology shows how quickly wild species living in cities can adapt to their surroundings.

California Population Grows to 39,810,000 in 2017
California added 309,000 residents last year, an 8 percent drop compared to annual increases since 2010. The state added a net 85,000 housing units, accounting for losses to wildfires.

Homeless Shelters a Tough Sell With Neighborhood Activists
A plan to streamline approval of a wave of homeless facilities in the city of Los Angeles is running into an early snag with an emergency shelter proposed for a parking lot in the Koreatown neighborhood.

Buses Are Under Threat, and Cities With Them
Buses are often the best tool for making a dynamic, equitable city, but they're in a period of decline that shouldn't be allowed to become a death spiral.

Op-Ed: 'Public Mood' Has Turned Against Cars in Cities
A survey of recent planning decisions demonstrates that cities are no longer necessarily looking to more and bigger highways to solve their traffic problems.

An Aerial Tram Could Carry Fans to Future Dodgers Games
A coach suspended from a cable (like a big gondola or ski lift) has been proposed by private company Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, to bring fans to Chavez Ravine in 2022.

Trying to Remake L.A. as a More Walkable City
A legacy of discriminatory planning exacerbated the low-density sprawl that's been so hard for Los Angeles to roll back.

Could Los Angeles Have Made Better Use of Former Redevelopment Funds?
After a state decision to abolish California's redevelopment agencies seven years ago, Los Angeles still received some of that money, directing it to city services instead of affordable housing.

Los Angeles: Focus on Urban Design (Not Just Urban Planning)
By embracing timeless principles of urban placemaking, we can create walkable transit villages and make room for housing at every socioeconomic level. First we have to re-invigorate high quality urban design.

California Has 8 of the 10 Most Polluted Cities in the U.S.
Despite ever-stricter air-quality regulations and dropping emissions, the American Lung Association once again finds the state to have some of the worst air in the nation.
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Planetizen
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Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
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HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service