California
Getting Smart About Sewage
This post from IBM's A Smarter Planet blog looks at how advanced monitoring techniques and analytics are helping to improve the management of sewage and wastewater in cities like Sacramento and Dubuque.
Budget Challenges Threaten So Cal Transit Operations
The CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority details the feast or famine of transportation planning in Southern California in 2010: budgets are being slashed while a new sales tax and federal stimulus go online.
Reinventing Mobility in Detroit
PBS documents Detroit's attempts to overcome its history as "the Motor City" to create new ways of getting people around. Transit advocates play a big part in this preview, which includes renderings of projected transit options.
A Farm Grows in San Francisco, Where A Freeway Once Stood
A group of San Francisco farmers are turning a former freeway into a productive urban farm.
Vision Survives Public Process in Berkeley
John King is surprised to find that a bold plan for a public space has somehow squeaked through the Berkeley, CA planning process in an area between BART and campus.
Tiki Preservation
The Royal Hawaiian Estates, a tiki-themed apartment complex built in 1962, was designated an historic district by the City of Palm Springs.
Initiative Underway To Suspend California's Global Warming Act
California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or AB 32, is known throughout the U.S. as being the landmark state legislation that addresses climate change. It is the target of an initiative that aims to suspend it unless unemployment drops.
L.A. to Extend Light Rail
Transportation officials in Los Angeles have approved the extension of one of the city's light rail lines out to Santa Monica. The new 7-mile link will connect the oceanside town to downtown L.A.
Creating Bicycle Corridors
This post from GOOD looks at how a street can become a bicycle corridor.
Parking For Dollars
Los Angeles explores the possibility of selling off parking garages to manage a budget crisis.
Atmospheric Cities
Two interesting video submissions this week, one an atmospheric tour of Vancouver, BC and one of San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake.
Ventura, CA Transitions To Paid Parking, Under Mayor Bill Fulton
Like anything 'free', it's difficult to make the transition to charging, especially when you are City Hall, but pay stations are on their way that will apply charges on the busier streets to 10pm or midnight while the parking garage will be 'free'.
An Experiment of Luxury and Urban Utility
A new luxury hotel with subway access on the ground floor has opened in L.A., creating what Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne sees as a bizarre mix of vanity and transit.
California Considers Full-Cost Parking Bill
Having stalled in the state Senate last June, a bill that aims to "reduc(e) governmental or government-required subsidies for parking" passed out of the senate on Jan. 28. Parking strategies would be eligible for cap & trade credits under the bill.
An Emerging Bike Friendly City
With a rapidly progressing bike infrastructure program, the city of Long Beach, California, is edging its way to becoming one of the country's most bike-friendly cities.
Projects Picked for U.S. High Speed Rail Funding
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are in Florida today to announce a funding package for a variety of high speed rail projects. In total, $7.9 billion in funding is being announced.
California HSR Gets $2.25 Billion Boost
A huge boost for the CA High Speed Rail project will result from an injection of $2.25 billion from President Obama's $8 billion HSR stimulus funds, twice as much as any other project.
How the iPad Affects the Built Environment
The increasing ubiquity of screens in our daily lives and architecture changes the way we experience the built environment, argues Christopher Hawthorne.
Making Use of Stalled and Vacant Developments
A new plan being pursued by the City of San Francisco would allow developers with projects stalled by the economic recession hold on to their development rights as long as they make some beneficial use of the vacant land until construction starts.
An Oasis of Safety in One of L.A.'s Toughest Neighborhoods
In the midst of a dangerous and crime-prone area, one small section of L.A.'s South central neighborhood has retained a lower-than-average homicide rate and higher-than-average property values.
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
