Los Angeles
Can L.A.'s New Mayor Drag the City's Operations Into the Digital Era?
With a goal of improving the quality of life for the city's residents, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is embarking on a titanic task: using technology, transparency, and accountability to transform the city's "lumbering" bureaucracy.
A Fight Over the Future of "America's 'Most Livable' Community"
LA's trendy Silver Lake neighborhood "is going through a full-blown, divisive identity crisis." Amid trendy boutiques and million dollar homes are bastions of poverty and crime. Activists are divided on how to define, let alone address, its problems.
Latina Bicycling Group Challenges L.A.'s Macho Cycling Culture
The Ovarian Psyco Cycles Brigade is making inroads in changing Los Angeles's male-dominated cycling culture and altering traditional concepts of Latino women.
Are America's Cities Doing Enough to Protect Pedestrians?
Though more and more cities realize that walkability and livable streets are essential to their prosperity, their approach to pedestrian safety is often lacking. The slow pace of policy change isn't fast enough for the victims of "accidents".
Will L.A. Put the Brakes on Planning Department Consolidation?
Two Los Angeles councilmen have introduced a measure seeking to delay implementation of one of former Mayor Villaraigosa's last major initiatives - the merging of the city's Planning and Building & Safety departments.
Feds Weigh In on L.A. River Restoration After Seven Years of Study
While the alternative outlined in a long-awaited U.S. Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study envisions a major reshaping of an 11-mile stretch of the L.A. River, the recommendation falls far short of what local leaders and activists had preferred.
Mind the Gap: Funding Hole Could Halt Downtown L.A. Streetcar Plans
When voters in downtown L.A. approved a special taxing district to help fund a new $125 million streetcar line, one small detail was left out of project cost estimates - $166 million in potential utility work. Might this gap kill the project?
Might Councilman Foot-Dragging Doom a Complete Street Project for Downtown L.A.?
The redesign planned for Figueroa Street is supposed to bring bike, pedestrian, and transit amenities to downtown L.A. But with a deadline to begin construction looming, a new city councilmember is asking for the project to undergo further study.
Developers Hack Conventional Office Spaces to Attract Corporate America
The decline of the 9 to 5 business district and changing corporate culture have landlords and tenants clamoring "to make their offices less square" and architects and planners eager to help transform conventional office spaces.
A Vision for LA's New Web-Based Zoning Code
For the first time since 1946, Los Angeles is completely revising its zoning code. Urban Insight, the team behind Planetizen, is pleased to be part of this project. One of our key goals is to create a modern web-based version of the zoning code.
Is Los Angeles' Car Culture on a Collision Course with Economic Ruin?
Architect and planner Gerhard W. Mayer asserts that a city developed to accommodate cars is no place for paltry public transit offerings; Los Angeles needs major changes to its DNA if it wants to remain viable.
Updating the Book on Parking Reform
A Donald Shoup devotee offers new insight into the problems and solutions associated with parking in Los Angeles and other cities. Urban Planning professor Richard Willson says it'll cost you, but parking systems are going to get more efficient.
Los Angeles Lifts Ban On Public Murals
By a 13-2 vote, the Los Angeles City Council lifted an unevenly applied decade-long ban on public murals on Wednesday, ending a dark period for a city that had long celebrated its social and cultural identity on public walls.
Attractive New Park Makes Angelenos Realize How Ugly Downtown Buildings Are
Since it opened last year, throngs of Angelenos have flocked to downtown's Grand Park. With those crowds now paying attention to the massive public buildings that form the park's boundaries, some are wondering if they need to be replaced.
LA Conservancy Makes Case for Landmarking City's Pioneering Modernist Homes
After nearly a decade of work, the Los Angeles Conservancy's Modern Committee has succeeded in getting 10 of the homes built under the aegis of Arts & Architecture magazine's Case Study House program onto the National Register of Historic Places.
The Real Jurassic Park: Why a Highway Widening Project Hasn't Been Entirely Bad for L.A.
The highway widening project that's slowed traffic along the already slothful 405 freeway for the past four years, and brought us the revelatory event known as "Carmageddon", hasn't been all bad news. It offers a glimpse of the city's oldest rocks.
Congressional Congestion Threatens L.A.'s Transit Projects
Could L.A.'s ambitious transit expansion plans become a victim of Congressional budget battles? The extension of the city's subway and downtown Regional Connector are among the projects funded by the Senate but neglected by the House.
Powering L.A.'s Future Without Breaking the Bank
Through determined investment, L.A. is on track to generate a third of its power from renewables by 2020. Varun Sivaram, formerly Mayor Villaraigosa's senior advisor on energy and water policy, explains how the city must modernize its power system.
Is Change By Another Name Still Gentrification?
Those investing in the largely Latino enclave of Boyle Heights prefer to use the term "gentefication" - a play on the Spanish word for people - rather than the pejorative gentrification, to describe their efforts to improve the L.A. neighborhood.
Mixed-Income Development to Replace Notorious L.A. Housing Project
A scheme to transform a Watts housing project with mixed-use development earned final approval from the L.A. City Council on Wednesday. Shops, town homes, and open spaces are to replace "one of the city's most poverty-stricken and violent areas."
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.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)
