An art installation called "The Back 9" is planned for Los Angeles' Skid Row to tackle the issues of gentrification, zoning, and back room deals for development rights.
The opening paragraph of an article by Linda Poon has to be read for itself and then probably reread to let it sink in:
Los Angeles’ newest miniature golf course will not be like any other. Instead of safari-themed obstacle courses, this one will feature edifices that address the city’s zoning issues. Oh, and it will sit right inside Skid Row, a neighborhood that has the densest concentration of homeless people in the country.
Educational artist Rosten Woo and the Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) collaborated on the project, which is planned for exhibition at the Skid Row Museum in 2017. The installation received a $50,000 grant from the Mike Kelley Foundation, according to Poon.
Poon quotes John Malpede, founder and artistic director of LAPD, to describe the ideas behind "The Back 9," as the installation is called. The name refers to the golf format of the installation as well as the use of that term to describe clandestine conversations.
It’s a fitting name, Malpede says, because the project is all about transparency. “Are [zoning] decisions going to be made ‘on the back 9,’ or are they going to happen in a public process in which [decisions] aren’t predetermined by the time they’re public?”
FULL STORY: L.A. Is Putting a Mini-Golf Course on Skid Row
Still Gritty: Crime Wave in Downtown Los Angeles
As people and jobs stream into the district, downtown's long-simmering problems butt up against vigorous urban renewal. Crime is up, but so are property values.
Conflicting Stories From Los Angeles' Skid Row
As the city considers new ordinances making it easier for police to break up homeless camps, residents say forced displacement is already underway. Police deny an increase in homeless sweeps.
Residents Disillusioned with the Planning Process in Los Angeles' Chinatown
Sharon McNary reports on a proposed development in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles that predates, and could thus avoid, the guidelines put forward by one of the most progressive plans in the city—the Cornfield Arroyo Specific Plan.
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.
Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.
Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.
Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.
LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
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.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie