California

Interstate Highway

Where a Freeway Plan Failed, a Development Opportunity Rises

Now that the plans to extend the 710 Freeway in Southern California between Alhambra and Pasadena are finally dead, the question remains about what to do with the state-owned land at either end of the planned route.

March 19, 2019 - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Vermont BRT

L.A.'s Plan for Vermont Ave: BRT in 2024, Rail in 2067

Anyone hoping for rail transit down one of Los Angeles' busiest transit corridors will have to wait awhile.

March 19, 2019 - Urbanize.LA

New Leadership at SPUR

Alicia John-Baptiste, a veteran of transportation and planning agencies in San Francisco will take the helm of the influential planning and urbanism think thank.

March 17, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Sprawl

Amendments to Sen. Wiener's 'More HOMES Act' Address Jobs-Housing Balance

"Jobs-rich area," a new term that targets some suburban regions, is among amendments added March 11 to Senate Bill 50, the reincarnation of Wiener's controversial SB 827 housing bill that died last year.

March 16, 2019 - San Francisco Examiner

SoMa San Francisco

It Takes a Fatality to Remove On-Street Parking

On March 8, 30-year-old Tess Rothstein of Berkeley was riding a rented Ford GoBike in San Francisco's SoMa district when a car door suddenly opened, forcing her outside the narrow white line of the conventional bike lane into the path of a truck.

March 15, 2019 - San Francisco Examiner

San Francisco Coast

Housing Threats Dialed Down in California

California's new governor is giving local governments more time to comply with state-mandated housing targets.

March 14, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

San Bruno, California

Managed Lanes Coming to the San Francisco Peninsula

State and county officials gathered on Friday to celebrate the start of a $514 million project to convert carpool lanes to express lanes and connect auxiliary lanes to make for a lane addition. The 32-mile project on Highway 101 opens in 2022.

March 13, 2019 - San Mateo Daily Journal

San Jose, California

Editorial: Raise Height Limits to San Jose's Proper Stature

The city of San Jose has the "least distinctive" downtown skyline of the nation's major cities, according to editorial board of The Mercury News. The City Council has a chance to change that.

March 12, 2019 - The Mercury News

Los Angeles Road Diet

Choosing Bike Lanes Over Bikelash in Los Angeles

Activists threaten to sue after the city of Los Angeles decided to forgo environmental review on a street reconfiguration project that removed a vehicle lane on Venice Boulevard.

March 12, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

California

Legislation Introduced to Enable the Bay Area to Tackle Housing Crisis as a Region

A new bill would grant the Housing Alliance for the Bay Area taxing authority to raise revenue in the nine-county region to find solutions to the housing crisis. Another bill would reduce the voter threshold below two-thirds for eligible taxes.

March 11, 2019 - KQED News

Skid Row Los Angeles

Concern Grows Over lack of Progress With L.A.'s $1.2 Billion Homeless Housing Bond

Measure HHH promised to build 10,000 new units of homeless housing units in the city of Los Angeles. Two years later, not a single unit has been added.

March 11, 2019 - Los Angeles Magazine

Car Production Line

Auto Industry Reluctant to Support Trump Plan to Freeze Fuel Economy Standards

The auto industry appears to be balking at supporting the Trump administration's plan to freeze vehicle emission standards at 2020 levels even though they initially asked Trump to loosen the rigorous Obama-era fuel efficiency rule that goes to 2026.

March 10, 2019 - The Washington Post

Water Storage

Surface Storage Skepticism

California has used all its good dam sites, according to this column. And dams are unaffordable.

March 8, 2019 - The Mercury News

MacArthur Maze Bay Area

S.F. Bay Area’s MacArthur Maze Headed for Major Upgrade

An upcoming project will raise the clearance height of connectors, but construction is expected to bring even more delays to the heavily used network.

March 8, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Rams and Chargers Stadium

In the Shadow of a Rising NFL Stadium, a Scramble to Cap Rent Hikes

The city of Inglewood is the future home of the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, but current residents are worried about their future in the city as rents rise and landlords evict tenants.

March 7, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

New York Bike Lane

Car-Free Streets, City Control of Transit: New York City Council Speaker's New Platform

New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson had a busy week, releasing an ambitious plan to "break" the "car culture" of New York.

March 7, 2019 - StreetsBlog NYC

Rental Apartments

How Anti-Rent Gouging Policies Differ From Rent Control

California could consider an anti-rent gouging bill, a policy with key distinctions from rent control that also inform a more complete understanding of Oregon's recently approved statewide tenant protections bill.

March 7, 2019 - CALmatters

San Francisco Civic Center

Design Review: Massive Civic Center Renovation Proposed in San Francisco

The city of San Francisco is proposing an ambitious renovation of its Civic Center—the series of public spaces connecting Market Street to City Hall.

March 6, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

High-Speed Rail

The Future of U.S. High-Speed Rail Is in Texas

Carlos Aguilar, Texas Central president and CEO, comments on the changes to the San Francisco-to-Anaheim project announced last month by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and why his project linking Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth will progress.

March 5, 2019 - Texas Central

San Francisco Coit Tower Construction

Voters Are Skeptical About Developers and the Free Market as Housing Saviors

Few in Los Angeles have the opinion that the lack of housing supply is driving the homeless crisis in the city and around the state.

March 5, 2019 - Shelterforce

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.