General Plans Getting Increasingly Specific

As cities like Long Beach and Santa Monica get more focused on urban design, their general plans become more and more proscriptive.

1 minute read

April 3, 2010, 1:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur

Nate Berg talks to planners and architects about the plusses and minuses of more restrictive general plans. Sacramento is one of the California cities Berg considers where plans are coming loaded with increasing guidelines for design.

"Kris Barkley, a principal at Sacramento-based Dreyfuss and Blackford Architects who has watched Sacramento planners take more control over the design process, said, 'It's like an idealized, theme park attitude rather than coming up with interesting pieces that come together into a whole that's interesting in itself. It can be very difficult from a design perspective.'"

FULL STORY: Specifically Speaking

Friday, April 2, 2010 in The Architect's Newspaper

Architecture California Urban Design General Plans

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Start Learning

Advertise with us

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.