California
How Los Angeles' Urban Parks Battle Climate Change
An overview of how Los Angeles County’s Department of Parks and Recreation is creating projects that tackle the effects of climate change, by planner Clement Lau.
Friday Eye Candy: Social Pool in the Middle of Mojave Desert
Alfredo Barsuglia's latest work, "Social Pool," is located in an undisclosed location in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Visitors only receive keys and GPS coordinates as their directions on the day of their reservation.
Can the Tea Party, Property Rights Activists, and Planners Find Common Ground?
Dr. Karen Trapenberg Frick suggests that in public participation processes, planners may find common ground with Tea Party and property rights activists.
Southern California First: Freeway Teardown Project Coming to Long Beach
Funded by a grant from the California Department of Transportation, Long Beach released an RFP for conceptual and design services for a plan to transform the Terminal Island Freeway into a "regional serving greenbelt and local serving road."
First Net-Zero Energy Apartments Planned in South Sacramento
Housing 120 units, the first net-zero energy transit-oriented development complex in South Sacramento will feature a rooftop farm and resident-run onsite bicycle repair.
Oil Industry Dumping in Healthy Aquifers Amid California's Drought
Inadequate state enforcement of protected underground aquifers led to a group of emergency cease and desist orders. The failure of regulators is "especially disturbing" in a state stricken by a historic, economy- and life-threatening drought.
Caltrans Overrides OCTA: 405 Freeway Widening Must Include Toll Lane
Transportation decisions are best made locally, not by the state DOT, right? For those advocating for tolled, managed lanes over free, general purpose lanes, the 405 Freeway in Orange County may prove the exception.
Applying Moses to Modern-Day Green Space Projects
Could the Los Angeles River use its own 'power broker'?
Rules of the Road: Reckless 'Driving' Brings Dire Penalties for Bicyclist
A California Court of Appeal wades into the history of driving laws to determine if a drunken cyclist who maimed a jogger can be charged with reckless driving. The cyclist was not charged with drunken driving. Not all laws are applied the same.
Los Angeles Housing and Incubator for Artists Hopes to Grow to Every Community
A review of Art Share LA by Los Angeles County planner Clement Lau.
California Water Districts Might Skirt Prop 13 to Fund $25 Billion Canal Plan
Californians who take low property taxes and high quality drinking water for granted might have reason to rethink both those realities if the state's water districts figure out a way to raise property taxes—the same might be true if they don't.
The Value of Fast Transit—Under Construction in Paris
The proposed Grand Paris Express program, which began construction this summer and is expected for completion in 2030, will serve 2 million people a day at "wildly fast speeds." Then there's light rail in the United States.
San Francisco Considering Property Tax Break for Urban Gardens
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering adopting an "Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone" policy to incentivize the development of urban gardens on empty lots (which actually do exist in San Francisco).
Los Angeles City Planner Imparts Department Priorities
It will come as no surprise to those tracking the built environment in Los Angeles that City Planning currently faces a number of challenges.
Luck May Be Changing for California High Speed Rail
No, the debilitating lawsuits haven't been resolved, so the HSR Authority still can't tap the $10 billion in voter-approved bonds, but the new state budget based on cap-and-trade revenue for HSR is sparking inquiries from private investors.
A Call to 'Retire the Myth' of the Palm Tree in Los Angeles
Victoria Dailey has some strong words for the palm tree in its various forms around Los Angeles in a long read for the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Treasure Island's Big Mixed-Use Developments Bring Transportation Improvements
Located between San Francisco and the East Bay, with harrowing on- and off-ramps for ingress and egress to the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island will soon add 8,000 homes, 500 hotel rooms, and 550,000 square feet of offices.
Review: New Oakland Hospital a Case Study in Urban Design Failure
John King describes a new, 7.6-acre hospital campus in the heart of Oakland, California as accessible only by car or ambulance—in other words, "enough to make you sick."
New Zoning Query App Answers the Question: 'Where Can I Open My Business?'
A new app called ZoningCheck provides users a responsive query function. In addition to the obvious layer of bureaucratic interface saved by the process, the app also makes a compelling case for the benefits of open municipal codes.
How Apps Can Help Track How Angelenos Move
In a review of the iPhone app Human, Los Angeles County planner Clement Lau examines how the daily movement of residents can be measured.
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.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
