If the hiring of the city's first Chief Sustainability Officer is any guide, the Garcetti administration intends to make sustainability a priority for Los Angeles.
"Signaling he intends to focus on creating a more environmentally-friendly Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti Friday named Global Green USA CEO Matt Petersen as the city’s first Chief Sustainability Officer," reports Frank Stoltze.
“I am proud to have him lead my citywide effort to make every neighborhood healthier, create green jobs, and hold every city department responsible for cleaner air and water,” Garcetti said in a statement.
"Since 1994, Petersen has led Santa Monica-based Global Green USA," notes Stoltze. "It is the American affiliate of Green Cross International, which was founded by former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev to 'foster a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future,' according to the group’s website."
“'Cities are on the front lines of solutions to climate change and creating a clean energy economy,' [Peterson] said. [He] mentioned all of the usual green goals: more mass transit, more solar energy, more local water supplies, and more energy efficiency. He also said he’d like to see L.A. allow more food to be grown locally by small farmers."
Read the full story: Garcetti names LA’s first Chief Sustainability Officer
L.A. Seeking Funding for New Transit Projects Prior to the 2028 Summer Olympics
Los Angeles officials have been working for years to deliver a suite of transit projects in time for the 2028 Olympics. Planners now hope federal infrastructure funding could reinvigorate the effort.
L.A. Mayor Proposes Guaranteed Income Program
The city could give 2,000 families $1,000 a month in what would be the largest program of its kind in the country.
Los Angeles Mayor Blames COVID Outbreak on Density
Appearing on a Sunday news show, Mayor Eric Garcetti noted that the Los Angeles metropolitan region is the nation's densest and one of two primary reasons why "we're seeing a person every six seconds contract COVID-19 here in Los Angeles County."
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority