The Planning Report

Ken Bernstein, Principal Planner for the City of L.A., explores how the expansion of transit in Los Angeles is changing how the department approaches its plans and the planning process.

As utilities and energy companies move towards distributed power, building owners, businesses, and developers are seeing the possibilities.

A recent Urban Land Institute panel discusses where real estate is headed, based on the publication 'What's Ahead for Real Estate Through 2020'. From Baby Boomers to Gen-Y, demand is changing, and developers are beginning to tune in.

Congressional support for transportation and infrastructure projects has traditionally been bipartisan. In an interview, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon discusses how political tantrums in Congress may handicap the US in the long run.

The Mayors of West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Culver City, and the Vice Mayor of Beverly Hills discuss local redevelopment and planning in the face of state intervention. The conversation centers on politics, projects, transportation, and parking.

CA Speaker of the Assembly John Pérez discusses the current challenges faced by government in California, drawing particular attention to the struggle for consensus on how the State should support economic development at the local level. (VIDEO)

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.

Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneors, now the executive chairman of CityView, makes the case for urban markets as the driving force of the real estate market (including investment from foreign investors) in the near future.

Despite 40 percent fewer employees, the department recently announced a reform plan to expedite the development approval process by bringing the city's Planning Department and the Department of Building and Safety under one roof.

Beachside Santa Monica recently launched an ambitious Land Use and Circulation Element, which will balance growth, neighborhoods, and traffic. The plan has received accolades, and the city has become a model for consensus-based planning.

The L.A. County Department of Public Works was in a constant battle with its contractors, until they moved from the standard "design, bid, construct" to a "design-build" model.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and a group of local stakeholders is circulating a proposal that would help the state of California and generate revenue for local redevelopment. Is it too late for a win-win in California?

A new organization in California is advocating for reforms to make infill a more viable option for communities around the state of California. Their three talking points: redevelopment, CEQA reform, and parking requirements.

A developer is turning the former site of the Hughes Aircraft Company--adjacent to the huge new Playa Vista mixed-use development--into an office complex catering to the technology and creative industries.

The skyscraper, developed by Thomas Properties and financed by Korean Air, required a new signage district and a TFAR transfer. The development will provide a link between the Financial District and the emerging Figueroa Entertainment Corridor.

The name has changed, butt he reform game stays the same. Chief Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner has promised a more transparent project approval process. A team of consultants is just beginning to pitch their ideas.

A panel of experts met in Los Angeles last month to discuss 'eco' cities in terms both abstract and practical.

The Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust's mission is to bring parks and gardens to underserved communities in Los Angeles, where problems of obesity are bad enough that the city recently banned new fast food operations.

The city of Bell made news in 2010 with rampant misappropriation of public funds, but the problem is still (as ever) more widespread than anyone realizes.

Having brought the Staples Center, L.A. Live, and a convention center hotel complex to the South Park neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, Tim Leiweke, is now pitching an NFL stadium that will double as an addendum to the convention center.