Los Angeles Times

Now that the eco-friendlier--albeit more unsightly--way to dry laundry is making a comeback, line-drying activists go face-to-face with homeowners associations to make it safe to do it.

Most states are required to balance their budgets. The economic crisis combined with lowered expectation for federal stimulus relief means that the only option left is to start cutting budgets.

This editorial lauds the new president for acting hastily on granting the waiver to allow CA and 13 states to require higher mileage vehicles, but warns it must not be an end in itself. A higher gas tax, it notes, will do more to reduce emissions.

In an effort to improve gas mileage, 400 drivers in Denver participated in an experiment that tracked and reported the bad driving habits -- idling, rapid accelerating and braking -- that waste fuel. Faced with the data, driving habits have changed.

Many commuters still find buses, trains, and subways to be more cost-effective than driving. However, mass transit funds are drying up, and increased fees and decreased service may deter riders from sticking to mass transit.

The long-term planning principles that have made the National Mall a successful and adaptable public space were in the spotlight during the Inauguration. Cities should take a lesson, argues Christopher Hawthorne.

On Tuesday, over a million Americans made it to Washington, D.C. to attend President Obama's inauguration. Christopher Hawthorne relates the nation's refreshed optimism to an impending revival of urbanism and public space.

Outdoor signs, some of them quite large, have gone up around Los Angeles despite a 90-day moratorium on them. Tenants of buildings with such multistory "supergraphics" draped over their windows share their grief.

California has rejected a proposal to list a polluted nuclear testing facility as a federal Superfund site. State officials believe they can clean it up more quickly and thoroughly.

Environmentalists reject CA Gov. Schwarzenegger's attempt to waive new highway construction projects from environmental review to qualify for Obama's stimulus package, offering 'fix-it-first' construction and public transit projects as alternatives.

It will take more than two decades to expand Los Angeles' Subway to the Sea by 10 miles, according to an MTA timeline. The mayor's office and transit activists are pushing for it to get done more quickly.

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.