L.A.'s New City Planner Named

"Among her achievements in San Diego was creation of a concept called "City of Villages." The idea is that each village — there are five underway — will include housing, businesses, schools and public facilities such as libraries, and be pedestrian friendly with access to mass transit.

Goldberg said she does not intend to try the same concept in Los Angeles, but wants to find neighborhoods that want change and help them formulate plans that will foster new development and the amenities that go with it.

San Diego covers about 73 square miles, compared with 465 in Los Angeles. But in the last two decades San Diego has remade its downtown with a new convention center, baseball stadium and the bars and eateries of the Gaslamp Quarter.

...She initially studied economics, switching to planning in her fourth year of studies.

In 1988, at age 45, she was hired as a junior planner in San Diego. She worked her way up the ranks and was made chief of the department in 2001."