Los Angeles Times

A federal court has knocked down a previous ruling that Los Angeles' billboard ban is unconstitutional.

The city of Los Angeles has instituted an experimental program encouraging people to hail taxi cabs rather than call ahead, an effort the city hopes will create a "cab culture". This column is skeptical about how much impact the plan can have.

Cities in California have been finding creative ways to generate funding and financing in recent years. Now, it seems lenders are coming to cities to collect on loans and many are left scrambling to pay up.

The political climate in San Francisco might seem likely to approve the city's congestion pricing plan, but opposition is strong.

Infrastructure funding in California is grinding to a halt as two crises hit simultaneously: a political impasse unable to resolve a budget gap of $42 billion and a credit crisis leaving the state unable to sell its bonds.

The Pulitzer-prizing winning auto columnist for the LA Times reviews the hybrid version 2010 Ford Fusion - a car that shows Washington it is on the right track, even if a tad late. Neil highlights the importance of its nickel battery technology.

Around already-overdeveloped parts of Los Angeles, large developments planned by Chabad and other Jewish organizations have been facing some strong local opposition.

Although Southern Californian suburbs are more ethnically integrated than ever, the census shows that East LA is 98% Latino--a decline in diversity.

On the edge of Los Angeles' Skid Row, a gleaming white arts complex opens. A "stubborn declaration of hope," the center is intended to show architecture's power to create community.

A Corona del Mar couple have been battling the Coastal Commission over the placement of their shower, tables, and barbecue, all right on the sand. Even though those and other items are within the property line, the Commission isn't having it.

Many residents can still recount when their neighborhoods were far less ethnically diverse than their are now, which is backed by new census data showing that in most cities, the white population is down.

The Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports’ new Clean Trucks program is the object of a legal battle pitting Teamsters, environmental and public health groups, the NAACP, and community groups demanding clean air against trucking companies and shippers.

L.A. Live, the city's new megadevelopment, does little to engage the growing downtown area and ends up being little more than another separate commercial enclave in a city desperately needing closely-knit urbanism, according to Christopher Hawthorne.

As rail expands into East L.A., residents are both excited about economic opportunities and worried about gentrification and the possible loss of the area's distinct Latino character.

The Bureau of Land Management hasn't gone through with its plans to auction off leases on land, apparently intended to be explored for oil and gas.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has an ambitious plan to get L.A. to go solar. Still, without a proper financial analysis, skeptics find it too lofty to be true.

Not even the Christmas season is expected to turn things around for struggling retailers, which are dropping like leaves and littering vacancies in shopping centers across the country.

For years, citizens have been calling for a freeway cap and park in Hollywood. Now, a preliminary design has been released and advocates say work could begin as soon as 2012 -- if funding comes through.

For about a month, commuter rail has been rolling in Baghdad. Where once there was danger, now there are commuters.

An Eero Saarinen house in Indiana has been acquired by the Indianapolis Museum of Arts in a cross effort to preserve and exhibit the famous work. Christopher Hawthonre wonders if this could be a model other cities and museums should follow.