Los Angeles

Richard Florida takes the end of summer, and impending awakening of campuses across the country, as an opportunity to explore which of America's metro areas have the largest higher education concentrations.

August 27, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa launched the city's "50 Parks Initiative," a public-private partnership that plans to add over 170 acres of new park space throughout the city's "park-poor population-dense" neighborhoods.

August 27, 2012 - Streetsblog LA

Los Angeles Fire Code rules requiring helicopter landing zones on the city's high rises has led to one of the most bland skylines in America. As the city updates its fire code, a new working group is seeking to unleash the creativity of designers.

August 26, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

With only one parklet completed in the city thus far, L.A. has its work cut out to catch its pioneering northern neighbor San Francisco, and their 40 parklets. By the end of this week, however, the city hopes to have the ball rolling.

August 21, 2012 - Streetsblog LA

A new study by NOAA scientists and colleagues shows a stunning reduction in vehicle-related air pollutants in the Los Angeles basin over the past several decades. Despite the gains, unhealthy air remains.

August 20, 2012 - NOAA

Back from a recent field trip to L.A., Sarah Karlinsky, Deputy Director of SPUR, the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association, explores the benefits and challenges offered by the region's size, and what lessons it can provide the Bay Area.

August 17, 2012 - The Urbanist

This week L.A. City Council members voted to approve an ordinance that gives the city more flexibility to lower parking requirements in select areas of the city to encourage adaptive reuse and walkability, report David Zahniser and Kate Linthicum.

August 16, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Next time you suggest your child goes outside to play, you might want to make sure they're not packing chalk. Josh Harkinson looks at the nationwide crackdown on chalk art. It's not just adults being cited.

August 16, 2012 - Mother Jones

From Atlanta to Kansas City to Los Angeles, cities across the country are welcoming a return of streetcars to their downtowns in the hopes of boosting economic growth and improving circulation. Some see the cars as just the latest urban planning fad.

August 15, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Enrique Zaldivar, Director of the Bureau of Sanitation, explains the city's efforts to maintain public health and promote water conservation. As urban areas guard natural resources and urban environments, L.A. presents some successful first steps.

August 12, 2012 - The Planning Report

Do we sense a subtle shift in the too often pedantic world of planning and design from private conceits to public conscious constructs, and in of all places Los Angeles, as evidenced by the heralded dedication this summer of a new downtown park? To be sure, the first phase of the 12 acre park is a promising space, linking in a series of terraces edged by select plantings and brightly painted seating, from the neomodern Music Center to the west to the neoclassical City Hall to the east. Helping in particular these dog days of summer is a refurbished memorial fountain that invites wading and splashing, as well as the office workers out of the adjacent government buildings.

August 9, 2012 - Sam Hall Kaplan

Recent articles on uncomfortably loud environments in New York and Los Angeles raise an interesting question - is noise pollution a necessary part of city living or is it a health hazard that should be addressed?

August 8, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Your boss might be interested in this article, which makes the case for working extra long on Fridays to avoid what, in nearly three-quarters of metros across America, is the worst time of the week to drive. Mike Maciag looks at the worst offenders.

August 3, 2012 - Governing

As downtown Los Angeles seeks to cement its nascent transformation into a full-fledged urban neighborhood, Sam Lubell cautions against the threat brought by the suburban mindset of Walmart, Target, and other chain operators.

August 2, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

London's Olympics are just the most recent example of the growing trend in building temporary architecture and urbanism in response to financial and practical considerations. Christopher Hawthorne asks whether this trend is too short sighted.

July 31, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

In the latest entry in its fascinating series on the "Laws That Shaped L.A.", KCET's Jeremy Rosenberg looks at the city's brief, but golden, age of the Jitneys, and whether they deserve a return to L.A.'s growing mix of transit modes.

July 29, 2012 - KCET Departures

Many new light rail lines have been built in western cities in the hopes of attracting new development to greenfields. Los Angeles' Expo Line, however, is threaded through a heavily built-up area, thus complicating dreams of TOD.

July 28, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

This weekend's opening of the 12-acre park stretching from City Hall to the L.A.'s cultural acropolis marks the maturation of a downtown transformed from office park to vibrant neighborhood, reports Sam Allen.

July 26, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Jefferson Graham describes how an influx of tech start-ups are turning Los Angeles into "Silicon Beach" - the newest hot spot for entrepreneurs with an entertainment, celebrity or mobile edge.

July 19, 2012 - USA Today

Jessica Garrison and Angel Jennings report on a new lawsuit filed this week by the City of Los Angeles that is part of "an aggressive attempt to deal with the urban decay caused by the housing crash."

July 18, 2012 - Los Angeles Times