Despite years of community engagement, political discussion, and planning, the city of Los Angeles has struggled to pass updated community plans, and in many neighborhoods, developments may suffer through years of litigation and bureaucracy.
The Westside Urban Forum, a networking organization dedicated to the land-use dialogue impacting Los Angeles’ Westside, hosted a May panel, “The Art of Getting to Maybe: Why has Updating LA’s Community Plans become Impossible?” examining the failure of the Hollywood Community Plan. Despite years of community engagement, the plan was challenged by community groups, thrown out by a judge, and repealed by the Los Angeles City Council in compliance with a court order. Moderated by Michael Woo, Dean of the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona and former Los Angeles City Councilmember representing Hollywood, the panelists—Jane Usher, former Senior Assistant City Attorney and Planning Commission President; Dale Goldsmith, Partner, Armbruster, Goldsmith & Delvac; and Tom Donovan, West Los Angeles Area Planning Commissioner and Attorney—answer the “Why” question, citing a lack of political will behind community plans and the uniqueness of Hollywood.
Los Angeles' Community Plans are supposed to be updated on a regulate basis. The lack of support behind planning at the City Council and in neighborhoods, however, can severely slow down the process. With the Hollywood Community Plan now void, planners and developers must rely on the 1988 plan and the Los Angeles City Council for direction and approval.
The Planning Report shares the following excerpts from the Forum, focusing on how things operated in City Hall and whether Angelenos believe in real planning. Panelists agree that the scale of the geographic and social diversity of Los Angeles makes uniting constituents behind a common vision particularly challenging for City Councilmembers and officials. As Dale Goldsmith notes: "It is certainly a question of political will. If the city council was really focused on getting the plans up to date, I think you’d see a lot more progress. But keep in mind that Los Angeles is a vast city. Mike, when you were a city councilmember you had more constituents than a Senator in Wyoming. And you have huge geographic variation, even with some of the 35 community plans. Hollywood, for example, has hillsides, dense urban areas, and ethnic neighborhoods—I think that makes the planning process a lot more difficult. I agree with your professor that LA is different and harder because of the scale. Size does matter in planning."
FULL STORY: Mike Woo Moderates WUF Panel: The Impossibility of Updating City of LA’s Community Plans
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.
How California Transit Agencies are Addressing Rider Harassment
Safety and harassment are commonly cited reasons passengers, particularly women and girls, avoid public transit.
Significant Investments Needed to Protect LA County Residents From Climate Hazards
A new study estimates that LA County must invest billions of dollars before 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, and climate-induced public health threats.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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.