The L.A. County Department of Public Works was in a constant battle with its contractors, until they moved from the standard "design, bid, construct" to a "design-build" model.
Jacob Williams, assistant director of the L.A. County Department of Public Works, explains what a significant shift in thinking design-build has been for implementing county capital projects:
"The problem that we began to understand was our relationship with the key provider-the contractor. That relationship was strained, very adversarial, very negative, and fraught with delays and overages in budget. If you look at how that relationship emerges, it's called bid day. On bid day, for about an hour, general contractors line the halls, making phone calls so they can submit a bid at the last minute from random subcontractors all across town for giving them their last and final price a few minutes before midday. That's why general contractors refer to bids as a "wild-ass guess." There isn't a relationship there when we select using low-bid, and that's part of the problem. It's just-who is the cheapest?"
FULL STORY: Design-Build: the 'New, New Thing' in L.A. County—Wow!
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
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