Los Angeles' budget shortfall could mean sending its zoo's only elephant to a Northern California sanctuary. Over time, funding for city services are also predicted to get slashed.
"The City Council voted Wednesday to halt further funding for the planned $42 million Pachyderm Forest exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo while it debates what should happen to the partially completed exhibit, which already has cost $12 million. The vote came two days after the council's budget committee recommended canceling the project as a cost-saving measure.
The move is an example of how shrinking city budgets are forcing hard choices that can kick up local ire.
Declining tax revenues, triggered by the recession, mean Los Angeles is facing an expected $110 million shortfall in its $7 billion budget, which runs through June 30. The expected shortfall could surpass $300 million next year, prompting the city to discuss a wide variety of measures, such as cutting funding for crossing guards, public libraries and numerous other services.
Over the next few weeks, committee members will review options for the exhibit that include possibly privatizing the zoo.They also will be deliberating the fate of 21-year-old Billy, and whether to transfer him out of the zoo."
Read the full story: City Budget Crunch Hits the Zoo
An Inside Look at Making L.A.'s Difficult Decisions in a Time of Austerity
LA Councilmember Paul Krekorian discusses reducing the city's budget deficit, the impacts his decisions will have on core services and civil servants, and the tolls that come with taking on a budget crisis during a period of fiscal austerity.
From robotaxis to robotrains: LA, DC weigh driverless transit
If approved, the projects will take years to implement and face financial and technical hurdles.
LA accused of breaching $1.4 billion sidewalk repair settlement
The city faces a backlog of nearly 5,000 street repair requests.
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.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
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.
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