Orange County

Modular Housing for Homeless in San Francisco Hits Roadblocks

Lego-type housing construction has attracted the attention of two separate developers as an efficient means to provide housing for the city's large homeless population but has met objections from labor unions and the Mayor's Office.

September 22, 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle

Bike Lane

Conventional Bike Lanes Left These Cities Wanting More

A case is made in the Orange County, California, city of Garden Grove for protected bike lanes. And a new protected bike lane opens in Southern California's bike infrastructure capital, Long Beach.

August 15, 2016 - KPCC

Fire

Orange County Fire Chief on Southern California's Year-Round Fire Season

California has suffered at least 700 wildfires since the beginning of 2016, and that number is only expected to rise this summer. Orange County Fire Chief Jeff Bowman explains what California must do to combat unprecedented risks.

June 23, 2016 - The Planning Report

W-S_125_pipe_yard

Feds Approve New Natural Gas Pipeline Despite Corruption Probe

Federal regulators approved a pipeline critical to a natural gas power plant currently embroiled in a federal corruption investigation.

May 19, 2016 - Politico New York

Historical I-5 Freeway

The Backbone of Orange County

In the 1950s, southern Orange County, California was a place of open hills, citrus groves, and scattered towns. The I-5 Freeway changed that, paving the way for today's subdivisions.

May 10, 2016 - KCET

Legal Spat Over Plan to Widen I-405 in Orange County

Orange County, California transportation officials want to widen the 405 to reduce travel times and ease predicted congestion. The cities of Seal Beach and Long Beach are concerned about how that will impact traffic on surface streets.

April 11, 2016 - KPCC

Plans Advance for Orange County Streetcar

The $289 million streetcar would serve the cities of Santa Ana (population 329,00), county seat and second densest in California after San Francisco, and Garden Grove (population 170,000) on a 4.1-mile route. Service could begin 2020.

April 2, 2016 - Orange County Breeze

Orange County Retooling Bus Service to Reverse Transit Declines

Orange County provides the latest development in the ongoing experiment with transit in Southern California, hoping that a high-frequency bus grid can reverse slumping ridership numbers.

February 17, 2016 - KPCC

SunRail Phase II Receives $93.4 Million FTA Grant

Florida's SunRail commuter rail received a $93.4 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to extend the 61-mile line. The grant will cover half the capital costs for the 17.2-mile extension from Orlando to Osceola County.

October 11, 2015 - Federal Transit Administration

When Too Many Farmers' Markets Are Too Much of a Good Thing

Few locations are such a natural fit for farmers' markets as Orange County—but the number of certified farmers' markets in the county are shrinking and others are struggling.

October 7, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Southern California Counties Set National Migration Pace

More residents moved from the counties of Los Angeles and Orange to the nearby counties of San Bernardino and Riverside than anywhere else in the country.

September 1, 2015 - The Sacramento Bee

Toll Lanes Continue to Spread on Southern California Freeways

To the chagrin of many Orange County transportation leaders, two express lanes will be added to each direction on a 14-mile stretch of the 405 (San Diego) Freeway, one through conversion, and a general purpose lane funded in part by Measure M added.

May 3, 2015 - KPCC

Ca73

A Pedestrian's Perspective on Sprawling Orange County

Southern California's Orange County isn't exactly known for its walkability. Frank H. Wu decided to test that notion on a recent carless visit.

March 11, 2015 - Huffington Post

$188 Million ARTIC Transit Hub Opens in Anaheim

The Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center opened earlier in December. Although planners expect 10,000 daily boardings at the hub, the big payoff will come if a high speed rail and a streetcar find their way to the station.

December 15, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Struggling Toll Roads Make for Good Investments

In another example of a struggling toll road attracting no shortage of investors, the poor revenue performance of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency in Orange County, California has not dissuaded investors, as the returns are high.

October 30, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

Caltrans Overrides OCTA: 405 Freeway Widening Must Include Toll Lane

Transportation decisions are best made locally, not by the state DOT, right? For those advocating for tolled, managed lanes over free, general purpose lanes, the 405 Freeway in Orange County may prove the exception.

July 29, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Roundabouts: A Tool for Placemaking

Designed properly, roundabouts enhance placemaking and the pedestrian experience.

May 7, 2014 - Better! Cities & Towns

Orange County Expanding its Recycled Wastewater Program

Southern California takes a lot of heat for sucking up the water from Northern California and the Colorado River, but the Orange County Water District, at least, is doing its part.

March 7, 2014 - KPCC

Orange County Opts for Free Lanes over HOT Lanes

Orange County, birthplace of the nation's first high occupancy toll (HOT) lane, may never see another. Not only did they reject a plan to add one (or two) toll lanes, to the 405 Freeway, legislation to ban them altogether may be introduced.

December 11, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Can a "Rare Slice of California" Stave Off Sprawl?

San Luis Obispo County, along California's Central Coast, is at a crossroads. Will it go the way of Orange County and succumb to development pressures or will it follow Napa and Ventura Counties and protect its rural lands from exurban sprawl.

September 21, 2013 - TraceSF

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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