California City is a city in the desert that never came to be. But much of its skeleton remains. A recent tour explored the ghost of this unbuilt city.
The tour was led by BLDGBLOG writer Geoff Manaugh as part of Atlas Obscura's Obscura Day, which explored bizarre sites throughout the world. GOOD's Alissa Walker tagged along and reflects on the tour's emphasis on documenting the place as a possible model for historic preservation.
"As Manaugh noted on his blog, Atlas Obscura was the equivalent of both a geographic expedition and a photographic flash mob: "Together we'll produce the largest archive of contemporary California City photographs that exist anywhere in the world." There were certainly a lot of really nice photos taken out in the desert on Saturday. But as I thought about it, these hyper-local concentrations of images could help bring Atlas Obscura out of the business of exploring of weird-and-wonderful places and into a global preservation movement aided by a tech-savvy generation of adventurers."
"
FULL STORY: Obscura Day: Preservation By Expedition

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

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

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
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.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont