The Los Angeles Conservancy has entered the realm of Hollywood cause celebrity, with stars like Jack Nicholson, Steve Martin, Ben Stiller, and Ellen DeGeneres joining the organization devoted to preserving historic architecture.
"Why the growing industry involvement? In many cases, the answer is indeed a fervent commitment to architectural preservation. But some say the Conservancy, like many other causes, attracts its share of supporters who see the organization as a networking venue or an image-building tool. The badge of membership can make certain Hollywood stars seem smarter, more culturally sophisticated or more philanthropic, turning the Conservancy into, as one longtime member wryly asserts, 'the intellectual person's ASPCA.' It's a notion that [Executive Director Linda] Dishman disputes.
...Last fall, when Keaton threw a cocktail party at her Colonial Revival-style Bel-Air home for the Conservancy, guests who turned out to raise money for the group included Linda and Jerry Bruckheimer, Alicia Silverstone, Martin Short, Helen Hunt and Raquel Welch."
FULL STORY: History: the new cause celeb
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.
EPA Terminates $116 Million in Grants for Reducing Emissions from Construction Materials
C-MORE grants were earmarked for industry trade groups and universities.
BART Closes $35 Million Deficit
Cost control and revenue generation measures prevented service cuts.
The New Parisian Hearse is a Bicycle
Sleek, silent, and sustainable, a green trip to the graveyard has hit the streets of the French capital.
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