Changing the color of L.A. streets and growing out the urban canopy are part of a campaign to fight the heat island in and around Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is undergoing a proactive campaign to fight the effects of a warming planet but trying to mitigate or reverse the effects of its urban heat island. Among the city’s strategies for doing so is the use of white street sealant so that the street will hold less heat. "This is what the city of Los Angeles is calling 'cool pavement'—whitening blocks in each of LA’s 15 council districts to see how changing the color of streets can bring down the overall temperature," Nate Berg reports in Gizmodo.
The city also encourages property owners to plant more trees on their land to create shade, "They hold more than 100 tree adoption events a year, and gave away nearly 18,000 trees in 2016 alone. Though street trees can play a part in cooling the city, Skrzat says there’s much more potential in the front and back yards of L.A.'s low density residential areas," Berg writes. Changing the colors of streets, roofs and maintaining more trees are all part of "Sustainable City pLAn," which includes a goal drop the city's heat differential by 3 degrees.
FULL STORY: The Radical Plan to Cool Down LA as the World Heats Up
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The new exhibit explores the hidden network that allows heritage coast live oak trees to communicate with one another.
Expanding LA's Urban Forest
The County of Los Angeles Chief Sustainability Office is leading the effort to prepare the county's first Urban Forest Management Plan.
Planning for Trees in Los Angeles
The County and City of Los Angeles are working together on community engagement efforts for their Urban Forest Management Plans (UFMPs).
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
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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.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
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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.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
