California
Tackling Climate Change With Land Use
This opinion piece looks at how technology alone can't be depended on to solve the environmental threats of climate change. Land use and development patterns must also be addressed.
Growth Pushes People Into Fireplace
Increased development in wooded and fire-prone areas is one of the major causes of California's recent "megafires".
Flashback: Ignoring Warnings, Feds Cut San Diego Fire Prevention Funds
This past April, agencies responsible for fire prevention in the San Diego area were warning the Bush Administration not to cut funding for deadwood removal, saying it was only a matter of time before another major fire.
Not Putting Out The Fire With Land Use Planning
As fires devastate Southern California and cause the evacuation of more than half million people, Bill Fulton laments how land use planning has largely been ignored as a fire risk reduction method.
Fire-Prone Suburban Southwest Built At 'Catastrophic' Densities
Burgeoning migration to the American southwest has resulted in suburban expansion into wilderness areas prone to fires, which are now more severe due to the impacts of climate change.
The Limitations Of Infill Development In The Bay Area
A home builder points to the "no-growth, anti-housing environmental alliance" that restricts greenfield development as the primary reason the Bay Area is unable to house its growing population.
San Diego Lures Second Home Buyers
Homebuyers increasingly look to developing downtown San Diego, California, as the site for their second homes.
Fighting Crime With Design
Law enforcement in Sacramento, California are using urban design to reduce crime in the city.
Cities To Go Dark
San Francisco and Los Angeles will turn off their lights tonight in a voluntary effort to show how simple changes in behavior can have a big effect, especially on big city skylines.
The Race To Be The 'Greenest' City
A local columnist touts Sacramento, California, as an up and coming star in the green city movement.
Is Los Angeles Ready To Adopt Inclusionary Zoning?
Two years after a prior proposal failed to pass, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has once again challenged the city's developers to help solve L.A.'s affordable housing crisis by including lower-cost units in new projects.
Eminent Domain Battle Won't Go Away
California voters are likely to decide on two eminent domain initiatives in 2008. One is a very limited measure backed by local government organizations, while the other is a far-reaching measure that would also prohibit rent control.
San Francisco's Congestion Program Touted By U.S. Transportation Chief
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters came to San Francisco to praise their proposed multi-pronged congestion pricing programs and other technologies that are designed to reduce traffic congestion increase transit usage.
Planners Say Traffic Light Sync Money Won't Do Much
Los Angeles will receive $150 million from the state to improve synchronization of its traffic lights, but transportation planners say the new money won't really do a lot to ease congestion.
Affluent Community Torn By Housing Allocation Numbers
In Palo Alto, California, -- one of the country's most affluent and least affordable cities -- the City Council and residents are now wrestling with a regional housing allocation assigned by the Association of Bay Area Governments.
Proposed Gold Rush Street Updates Rile Preservationists
A proposal to update the streetscape of a historic Gold Rush-era street in California has local preservationists on the defense.
The Details On California's Great Park
In this Q&A, Metropolis Magazine talks with landscape architect Mia Lehrer about her work on the 1,300 acre California park taking shape in Irvine.
Two Routes Suggested For California High-Speed Rail
Transportation planners say two routes are needed for the long-planned high-speed rail link between Southern and Northern California.
Skewed Coverage Of The Homeless?
A San Francisco lawyer and housing activist questions the paper's focus on problematic street behavior and on law enforcement as the only way to deal with the city's homeless population.
Saintly Street Stories In L.A.
A Los Angeles artist has recently completed a project documenting each of the city's street named after saints, and has crafted murals of each one to show how the life of the randomly-named streets mirrors the lives and work of their namesakes.
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
