The first 'firescape' garden is in Santa Barbara, CA, and stands as an educational tool for landscaping homes for fire protection.
"In a nutshell, the objective is to break the outermost masses of vegetation into an archipelago of plantings, offer minimal fuel leading toward the structure, and maintain an inner ring of fire-retardant plants like moisture-rich succulents and well-thinned shrubs.
For those, like my two friends, whose homes were miraculously spared, I have to wonder how much the landscaping was a factor. I had lunch with one of them today, a landscape architect with a home at the intersection of Stanwood and Sycamore Canyon - Hell Central, from what I've heard. Though she's "in the biz" she admitted that she ignored some of the basic principles of fire-wise landscaping. Perhaps this was where the firefighters made a stand."
Read the full story: Firescape for Edhat
NorCal's First Certified ‘Wildfire-Resilient’ Community Opens Near Sacramento
The 24-home Stone Canyon development goes beyond California’s building code for fire-resistant individual homes to include neighborhood-level fire resilience standards.
The next era of climate resilience will be measured in co-benefits
Why the strongest resilience investments solve more than one problem at once.
Nearly a third of US housing is in the wildland-urban interface — and at growing risk of wildfire
As suburbs increasingly mingle with undeveloped land, homes face a higher risk from destructive fires.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority