When will California listen to the experts and stop building in fire prone areas? Not today.
Don Thompson reports for the Associated Press in the wake of a devastating year of wildfires in the state of California.
Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott is leaving his job after 30 years with the state fire agency and is making some fairly bold statements on the way out," according to Thompson. Pimlott told the Associated Press that the state's residents and political leadership must rethink its approach to development in fire-prone areas: both in the thick forests of Northern California and the chaparral environments of Southern California.
Pimlott's words fell on deaf ears in Los Angeles County, however, as the County Board of Supervisors this week approved 19,000 homes for development in Tejon Ranch, in a fire-prone area on the edge of the county's border with Kern County. Nina Agrawal provides news coverage of that approval.
FULL STORY: Cal Fire chief: State must mull home ban in fire-prone areas
Can Insurance Woes Finally End Sprawl?
Environmental risks are becoming too much for the home insurance industry to bear. Could this be the first signs of the collapse and reversal of sprawling land use patterns?
Massive Tejon Ranch Development Paused; Judge Cites Wildfire, Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In the works since 1999, the Centennial Project by Tejon Ranch Co. seemed to have cleared its final hurdle in 2018, but a Los Angeles County court ruling has created another hurdle for the sprawling development.
Planning for Proximity, for the Climate’s Sake
A new global platform will help the world identify and encourage opportunities for more proximity in the built environment—development patterns that can help reduce sources of greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of pollution if built well.
Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.
Trump Cuts Decimate Mapping Agency
The National Geodetic Survey maintains and updates critical spatial reference systems used extensively in both the public and private sectors.
Washington Passes First US ‘Shared Streets’ Law
Cities will be allowed to lower speed limits to 10 miles per hour and prioritize pedestrians on certain streets.
Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions