California

Los Angeles and Bowl

L.A. Voters Approved Parks Funding—Now What?

An overview of the projects in the L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation pipeline, by L.A. County park planner Clement Lau.

February 10, 2017 - UrbDeZine

Star Wars

Friday Eye Candy: Renderings for the New Star Wars Theme Park

Fans of Disney theme parks and fans of Star Wars had a big week.

February 10, 2017 - The Architect's Newspaper

Vermont BRT

A First Look at Big Bus Rapid Transit Plans in Los Angeles

A proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) route for Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles was approved in Measure M, the transportation sales tax approved by L.A. County voters in November.

February 9, 2017 - Urbanize LA

Homeless Cars

Los Angeles Bans Sleeping in Cars

Critics of new regulations by the city of Los Angeles that ban sleeping in cars and RVs overnight say the new restrictions amount to a ban on homeless people.

February 7, 2017 - KPCC

Women's March Los Angeles

Public Space Offering Surprising Lessons While Hosting Trump Protests

Christopher Hawthorne examines the unprecedented protests of the Women's March and the more recent airport protests for lessons in the understanding and appreciation of public space.

February 7, 2017 - Los Angeles Times

Palm Springs

California Stuck With an Expensive Overabundance of Energy Facilities

The Los Angeles Times uncovers a state with a lot more energy that it needs, which has regulators explaining their decisions residents and businesses opening their wallets.

February 6, 2017 - The Los Angeles Times

Metro Gold Line

SoCal's Gold Line Extension Delayed Two Years

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) planned Gold Line extension is now scheduled to finish construction in 2025.

February 5, 2017 - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune

The Tenderloin

Nation's First Transgender Cultural Historic District Coming to San Francisco

Developers will fund the Compton's Cafeteria Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual District to quell opposition to a proposed mixed-use development in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.

February 4, 2017 - The Architect's Newspaper

Telegraph Avenue

Oakland's Telegraph Avenue: A Resounding Example of Street Redesign Success

Oakland's Telegraph Avenue underwent a dramatic reconfiguration in April 2016. Since then traffic collisions have declined and walking and biking is way up.

February 3, 2017 - Streetsblog California

Mixed-use waterfront

Lessons in Brownfields: Phase One Report Reform Ain't Working

This second of a series on brownfield remediation and development is a funny and sarcastic primer about the process and its failures. Written by Environmental attorney Richard Opper.

February 3, 2017 - UrbDeZine

Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station

State-Level Decarbonization Lags Behind

With Donald Trump in office, the struggle against climate change may be up to the states. But are even the greenest states doing enough, especially as they continue shuttering nuclear plants?

February 3, 2017 - The New York Times

Sierra Nevada Drought

Why More than 100 Million Trees Have Died in the Sierra Nevada

Though the drought is ending in much of California, it's too late for the million's of trees that have died due to the ravages of recent water shortages.

February 2, 2017 - The Los Angeles Times

BART Train

California Transport Bill Doesn't Support Public Transit as Much as it Could

California State Senators, Ben Allen and Scott Wiener, say California transportation funding bills don't spend enough of their budget on public transit.

January 31, 2017 - The Sacramento Bee

Boyle Heights

A Community Planning Process—Even a Good One—Is Not Enough

Simply inviting residents to participate in design charrettes or a community planning process does not mitigate the significant loss they feel as they witness the physical destruction of their homes and lived history.

January 31, 2017 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Community Meeting

Tech Solutions to Planning’s Participation Problems

Santa Monica is testing out a 'Tinder-like' application for approving or disapproving of developments.

January 31, 2017 - The Guardian

Pasadena Urged to Purge Poison Pills from ADU Reform Ordinance

Pasadena is adopting accessory dwelling unit (ADU) reform in response to state legislation designed to spur affordable housing options by easing restrictions on ADUs. But is it really entrenchment dressed as reform?

January 30, 2017 - UrbDeZine

Little Tokyo

Preserving the Character of Little Tokyo

In the wake of rapid gentrification, an organization in Los Angeles is leveraging the arts to celebrate a community's rich heritage and keep social equity a priority.

January 30, 2017 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

An Obstacle to Density Desperately Needs Reform

With the loss of redevelopment in California, money for brownfield remediation has dried up. The California Legislature needs to focus on regulatory reform to support brownfield redevelopment, according to environmental attorney Richard Opper.

January 30, 2017 - UrbDeZine

For Rent

Rents Dropping in Every Corner of the San Francisco Bay Area

Housing prices are still well above the national average in the Bay Area, but some relief at least, has emerged in recent months.

January 29, 2017 - The San Jose Mercury News

San Francisco MUNI

Political Fallout from SF Muni's 'NextBus' Meltdown

The NextBus system, which predicts arrival times for San Francisco's buses and trains, has been unusable for four weeks.

January 28, 2017 - San Francisco Examiner

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.