Los Angeles seems primed for a development boom, but when developments are built near highways there can be serious health consequences.
Living in Los Angeles can be very expensive, and the city is exporting its poor in part because of high housing costs. But recent developments near highways have raised health concerns. "People there suffer higher rates of asthma, heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and pre-term births. Recent research has added more health risks to the list, including childhood obesity, autism and dementia," Tony Barboza and Jon Schleuss report for the Los Angeles Times. In a city of 2.5 million, city zoning choices impact a lot of people. "In Los Angeles alone officials have approved thousands of new homes within 1,000 feet of a freeway — even as they advised developers that this distance poses health concerns," Barboza and Schleuss report.
When asked for comment mayor Eric Garcetti said, “I take this stuff very seriously, but I also know that in looking for housing we have a very constricted city,” Barboza and Schleuss report. Garcetti favors stricter regulations on building design and tail pipe emissions over limiting developments near highways.
FULL STORY: L.A. keeps building near freeways, even though living there makes people sick
Study: L.A. County's Urban Oil Wells Are Too Close to Homes and Schools
The Department of Public Health recommends taking action to better protect residents from oil operations that are sometimes only a few feet from where people live, work, eat, play and study.
Pollution Does Discriminate in Orlando’s Parramore Neighborhood
Poor air quality has decimated the health of residents in this predominantly black community ringed by highways.
More on those Freeway-Adjacent Affordable Housing Developments
The Los Angeles Times follows-up an earlier article on the dangers of building too close to freeways. It's a trade-off that the California Air Resources Board acknowledged last April with new guidelines that recognize the dire need for housing.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
LA’s Tree Emergency Goes Beyond Vandalism
After a vandal destroyed dozens of downtown LA trees, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to replace them. Days later, she slashed the city’s tree budget.
Sacramento Leads Nation With Bus-Mounted Bike Lane Enforcement Cameras
The city is the first to use its bus-mounted traffic enforcement system to cite drivers who park or drive in bike lanes.
Seattle Voters Approve Social Housing Referendum
Voters approved a corporate tax to fund the city’s housing authority despite an opposition campaign funded by Amazon and Microsoft.
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.
Ada County Highway District
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service