California

A new study has created unexpected tensions between public health advocates and smart-growth-oriented urban planners.

January 12, 2012 - California Watch

The City's top budget official has warned that dismantling the Redevelopment Agency could cost the city more than $109 million in new expenses.

January 12, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

With strong advocates in Washington and in City Hall, planning continues for an ambitious multi-billion dollar effort to overhaul the Los Angeles River and its relationship to the city.

January 11, 2012 - Planning

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Bob Pool profiles a project by Urban Planner James Rojas, who's constructed an 80-square-foot scale model of Long Beach that residents and business owners can tinker with to illustrate their own vision of the city.

January 11, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Dozens of renewable energy projects completed in California's national parks and forests have yet to be utilized due to a years-long squabble with Southern California Edison, wasting tens of thousands of dollars in potential savings.

January 11, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Across the city, in areas as diverse as tourist friendly Venice Beach and the largely immigrant community of Westlake, local officials are leading the charge to crack down on illicit street vending.

January 10, 2012 - New York Times

If California doesn't start work on high speed rail by September, 2011, it will lose $3 billion in funding. If California does start work without securing future funding, it could end up with a $6 billion track to nowhere.

January 10, 2012 - The Washington Post

Jerry Brown has proposed a huge governmental streamlining to make the state more efficient. But in the process he is proposing separating transportation and housing -- now housed in one agency -- and putting them in separate agencies.

January 10, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Architect Peter Calthorpe lays out a forceful argument for the lower costs and higher benefits of constructing high speed rail versus expanded highways to serve the state's growing population and economic development.

January 10, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

Writing on the topic of Los Angeles Times Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne's year-long series exploring the city through its literature, Nate Berg talks to the author about his critical touchstones and common themes.

January 10, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

SF Park is an outstanding success when measured by 'ticket anxiety'; i.e. the new program allows motorists to reduce the likelihood of being ticketed by making payment easier and allowing for longer parking stays, thus avoiding a $55-65 citation.

January 9, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

Researchers look at the largely suburban South Bay area of Los Angeles to offer ways to retrofit auto-oriented suburbs for more pedestrian travel.

January 9, 2012 - Access

Cities and redevelopment agencies are pushing for legislation that give them a stay of execution. Meanwhile, cities are evaluating which projects will be impacted.

January 9, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Nearly 10 years in the works, a connector between Oakland International Airport and the BART transit system is taking shape.

January 8, 2012 - The Contra Costa Times

San Francisco's Coit Tower is one of the city's historic and iconic buildings, and it's also home to a collection of historic fresco paintings of Depression-era California. But the building and its paintings are falling apart.

January 7, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

A 'peer review' committee advises that the legislature should refuse to authorize funding for the first phase of California's high speed rail project, citing a "immense financial risk" for the state.

January 6, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

In last week's court ruling, the California Supreme Court didn't just kill redevelopment. The court also upheld a drawn-out process of other agencies picking the meat off redevelopment's bones.

January 5, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

The California State Supreme Court recently upheld the eradication of the state's roughly 400 redevelopment agencies, and now officials from those groups are trying to convince legislators to give back some of their spending powers.

January 4, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

There's no budget for anything over-the-top, but it is an opportunity to bring in drought-resistant landscaping. The Department of Recreation and Parks is evaluating ideas.

January 3, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Tens of billions of dollars are to be side aside for a plan to protect against flooding of the San Joaquin River basin. Cities wonder if this "broad road map" is enough to protect those truly at risk, and, of course, who pays for it.

January 3, 2012 - Stockton Record