An enterprising developer and experimental architect are pushing the boundaries between L.A.'s suburban style of single-family housing and its need for dense infill development on a site in the city's Echo Park neighborhood.
Carren Jao examines developer LocalConstruct and architect Barbara Bestor's plans to "turn a one-acre hillside parcel in Echo Park into a prime example of smart growth." Dubbed "Blackbirds," the scheme to build 18 small-lot homes around "an internal living street designed after the Dutch
Woonerf concept, where pedestrians and cyclists have priority," is seen by LocalConstruct co-founder Casey Lynch as, "a needed step in the evolution of LA typologies."
"I am curious as to why larger scale housing projects so often have a
lower level of finish and stultifying repetitiveness given their
prices," commented Bestor. "We are attempting to add quality and
individuality to each of these units as well as a structure engendering
community and neighborliness in the way they are grouped together."
Read the full story: Stealth Density
Cluster Homes Invade L.A.'s Hip Hillsides
Small-lot homes are popping up in the hillsides north of downtown L.A. While the new occupants, often young buyers who can't afford or aren't interested in traditional single-family homes and high-rise condos, are pleased, some neighbors are not.
Skyline-Shifting Development Approved in Los Angeles
The Downtown Los Angeles-adjacent neighborhood of Echo Park is set to get its first towers—including one new building reaching 49 stories.
Pre-Fab Tiny Home Village Takes Shape in L.A.
Along with communal showers and bathrooms, the village will also include laundry, storage facilities, and offices for social service providers.
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.
Housing is the top priority of Seattle’s sole new councilmember
Jenks campaigned on building 1,000 new units of affordable housing.
New tax cuts may slash $1.5 billion in funding for Miami transit, public parks
Amendment 3 will save Miami-Dade residents homeowners $2,700 in 2028.
Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania hope to finally advance climate goals post-midterms
The three states have spent years under Republican or divided control.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority