California

Oakland Architecture in Music Video

Does Oakland Have a Future as a Public City?

The city is experiencing significant growth and development, but it has a complicated history of booms and lags and its civic future is uncertain.

May 30, 2019 - Places Journal

Carpool Lane Sticker

Nancy Pelosi Not the Only Powerful California Woman Disrupting the Trump Administration

No issue is more important to California's air and climate regulators than ensuring that the state retains its ability to set tailpipe emission standards. Mary Nichols, the head of the Air Resources Board, has threatened to ban tailpipes.

May 30, 2019 - CALmatters

California Streetcar

Free Transit Rides for Students Possible in Sacramento

The Sacramento City Council could ensure that more students arrive at school every day, as future lifelong transit riders, by offering free public transit.

May 30, 2019 - The Sacramento Bee

North Berkeley BART Station

Plans for TOD Housing at Berkeley BART Station

The city is behind plans to turn parking lots around the North Berkeley BART station into much-needed housing.

May 29, 2019 - Next City

Utility Meter

How Much Should Electric Vehicles Be Charged in Lieu of Gas Tax?

Currently, electric vehicles pay a $17.50 annual registration fee in Illinois. A bill to double the 19 cents per gallon gas tax, unchanged in almost 30 years, would also increase the EV fee over 57-fold to $1,000.

May 28, 2019 - Chicago Tribune

Thailand

New on Netflix: How Street Vendors Create Vibrant Cities

Street vending has been a contentious issue in many places, but this part of the informal economy is important to the social and economic well-being of cities.

May 28, 2019 - CityLab

Hollywood Sign

Report: Ballot Measure Intended to Spur Affordable Development Had the Opposite Effect in L.A.

L.A. voters approved Measure JJJ in 2016 in the hopes of encouraging more affordable housing as a trade-off for discretionary approval. The result has been no development at all.

May 27, 2019 - Urbanize LA

Red Light

Mulling the Idea of Ending Right Turns on Red Lights

San Francisco might follow the lead on New York City when it comes to right turns on red lights.

May 27, 2019 - San Francisco Examiner

Washington, D.C. Apartment

Eleven Units of Affordable Housing Coming to S.F. Bay Area Suburb

A new apartment building is going up in Danville, California, but the affordable housing it will provide is a drop in the bucket compared to the state’s massive housing needs.

May 26, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Garcetti Expo Line

From April to May in L.A.: From a Green New Deal to Transit Service Cuts

Can Los Angeles convince drivers to cut the number of automobile trips in half while also transit frequency on several light rail lines?

May 24, 2019 - Curbed Los Angeles

Los Angeles Metro Bus

Transit Needs Improvements Sooner Rather Than Later

The Los Angeles transit system is losing riders, but L.A. Metro has been slow to implement changes that could keep people using it.

May 24, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Scooter Citations

State Preemption and Electric Scooters

The great battle between local control and state preemption shifts focus again in California. This time micromobility, electric scooters and the like, are on the front line of the conflict.

May 21, 2019 - CityLab

Tailpipe

As EV Sales Soar, Transportation Emissions Continue to Increase

California has embraced electric vehicles like no other state, with success reflected in increased sales and registration data, yet transportation emissions have increased for the last four years, primarily from light-duty vehicles.

May 20, 2019 - CALmatters

Handcycle

Oakland's Adaptive Bike Share Program

The pilot program seeks to make bike share more inclusive by providing bikes designed to make biking easy and accessible for disabled riders.

May 20, 2019 - The Mercury News

Homeless Cars

Ban on Living and Sleeping in Vehicles Approved in San Diego

A recently reinstated ordinance prohibits people from living out of their cars. The city says it wants to people to use "safe parking lots" where other services are available.

May 20, 2019 - CBS News 8 (San Diego)

Los Angeles, California

Four Bus-Only Lanes Under Consideration Around Los Angeles

The transit planning agency in Los Angeles is preparing to make a major addition to the city's number of bus-only infrastructure.

May 20, 2019 - Urbanize LA

Proposed Tower In San Jose Distracts From Good Urbanism

A group has proposed a monumental tower to advertise San Jose and Silicon Valley to the world. The city would be better off focusing on its streetscape rather than its skyline.

May 19, 2019 - California Planning & Development Report

Google bikes

Google Expanding its Presence in San Jose

Google has expanded its footprint in North San Jose to cover 1.27 million square feet. Local officials are saying that the company's acquisitions ensure the long-term financial stability of the city.

May 18, 2019 - The Mercury News

Uber Driver

Uber and Lyft Worry They'll Be Forced to Share Ride-Hailing Data After Sharing Scooter Data

A fight over the travel data of shared use mobility companies is just starting in Los Angeles.

May 17, 2019 - Wired

President of the United States

Trump Pulls $1 Billion from California High Speed Rail Project

The California High Speed Rail Project is a political pawn in a contentious back and forth between the Golden State and the Trump administration.

May 17, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.