The Downtown Los Angeles-adjacent neighborhood of Echo Park is set to get its first towers—including one new building reaching 49 stories.

The Los Angeles City Council recently approved a cluster of tall buildings—towers of 49 and 30 stories as well as a 17-story building and a sprinkling of two- to four-story buildings in a Downtown-adjacent neighborhood.
David Zahniser reports on the planned development for the Los Angeles Times, the 1111 Sunset Project, planned by L.A.-based Palisades Capital Partners, which could include a hotel, commercial space along Sunset Boulevard, and 737 residential units.
According to the project website, the designs for 1111 Sunset also includes more than two acres of open space designed by James Corner Field Operations, “which include terraces, gardens, courtyards, water features, and an overlook with views of downtown.”
The project has encountered opposition from groups who fear that the development will spur rising rent in the already gentrifying surrounding neighborhood of Echo Park.
“Chinatown Community for Equitable Development, a neighborhood group devoted to fighting gentrification, criticized the developer for only setting aside 76 units within the complex — about 10% of the total — for low-income residents,” reports Zahniser.
1111 Sunset is the first development approved to allow skyscraper height for developments in the neighborhood of Echo Park where it abuts Downtown Los Angeles to the northwest. Los Angeles’ downtown skyline has for years has been most visibly creeping the south, near the Los Angeles Convention Center and the Crypto.com Arena, though some downtown-scale development is also expanding to the east.
FULL STORY: L.A. clears the way for skyscraper project, remaking the edge of Echo Park and Chinatown

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.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Seattle Safe Parking Site to Close, Relocate
A nonprofit leases lots during permitting stages to erect tiny homes and RV safe parking sites for unhoused residents. But the model means constant uncertainty and displacement.

LA ‘Mobility Wallet’ Increased Quality of Life for Participants
The city distributed a monthly $150 transportation subsidy to 1,000 low-income Angelenos. It dramatically improved their lives.

Texas, California Rail Projects Seek Out Private Funding
In the wake of Trump’s cuts to high-speed rail projects, rail authorities are looking to private-public partnerships to supplement their budgets.
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