California
Burning Man Does Good At Home
Burning Man -- the annual arts festival and self-reliance experiment -- is more than a party in the desert. Its organizers are starting a new effort to revitalize the neighborhood around their San Francisco office.
Tenderloin National Forest
An unconventional outdoor spaces has helped transform a small part of a problem-riddled San Francisco neighborhood.
Lies and Confusion in Neighborhood Naming
Neighborhood naming is fraught with confusion, misunderstandings and downright deception. Take Los Angeles, for example.
Windfarm Concept Inspired by Schools of Fish
Current wind farm technology requires a lot of space between blades. A new report proposes that "counter-rotating vertical-axis wind turbines" would draw power more efficiently on less land.
Red-Light Running Cyclist Kills Pedestrian
On 7/14, a cyclist riding in the bike lane on The Embarcadero hit a pedestrian crossing with the traffic light. She died a month later. While rare, this fatality shows why all vehicles, motorized or not, need to respect traffic laws.
BMW Unveils Design Alternatives for BART
A follow-up to last month's story, BMW Group DesignworksUSA released three interior concepts - each one more posh and modern than the last - for BART's "Fleet of the Future." No spy shots needed.
A $1.5-Billion Forward Pass by L.A. City Council
Unanimous approval of the five-year outline to build a 72,000-seat football stadium in Downtown L.A. goes to show that the City Council is all game for a politically radioactive project.
Goats Clearing Brush and Luring Crowds in L.A.
Goats being used to clear brush on a hillside in downtown Los Angeles are a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way to deal with overgrowth -- and they're attracting fans.
Section 8 Renters Encounter Resistance
Lancaster, California has experienced a surge of Section 8 renters, and they are facing discrimination from residents and city officials, Jennifer Medina reports for The New York Times.
Reinterpreting the City Clutter of Utility Boxes
Utility boxes are cluttering city streets all over the world. But they're not going away, and cities should start to try to find new ways to blend them into the urban fabric, according to this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Hot "High Line" Firm Designing Small Park in Santa Monica
With no "rusting relic" like The High Line's trestle to hang the design on, will James Corner Field Operations create a memorable public park for Santa Monica's coastline?
Surprising Advice for Peninsula Planners
San Francisco Chronicle urban design critic John King cautions against too much redevelopment and not enough preservation along El Camino Real in San Mateo County, where a major initiative is attempting to change much of the corridor's character.
Entertainment Industry is Now an Urban Business
With digital cinematography replacing location shooting and huge soundstages, the entertainment industry is becoming a lucrative, sought-after tenant in downtowns and urban areas.
"Phonehenge West" Relegated to the Dustheap of History
In Antelope Valley, Calif., Alan Kimble Fahey's 70-foot tower - aka "the highlight of his life's labor" - was eviscerated on Friday along with the rest of his 20,000-square-foot quirky concoction. The court found it in violation of local codes.
L.A. Mayor Pushes Bus-Only Lanes
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced plans to implement more bus-only lanes throughout the city.
Delighting in Urban Light
Photographer Colin Rich created this mesmerizing video of the endless urban fabric of Los Angeles at night.
Going in the Out Door
Want to speed up your transit? Follow San Francisco's lead and let your passengers enter any door they please, says Yonah Freemark. A pilot program on the J-Church line is testing out the idea.
Los Angeles Retooling its Neighborhood Representation Experiment
After 10 years in operation, the Neighborhood Council system in L.A. represents a great deal of unfulfilled potential, say City Councilmember Paul Krekorian. With that, and the city's dire financial straits in mind, Krekorian is proposing reforms.
Portable Gardens Move Into Urban San Francisco Space
The Yerba Buena District Street Life Plan starts off its 10-year life to improve public space by placing six mobile gardens in parts of the district that have more concrete and asphalt than vegetation, reports John King for San Francisco Chronicle.
Minorities Move Up Social Ladder, Stay in Poorer Neighborhoods
A new study shows how even as minorities move up the social ladder, they tend to live in poorer neighborhoods, reports Joanna Lin for California Watch.
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
