California
Los Angeles Leader Steps Up On Homelessness Crisis
Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, a veteran leader at the city, county, and state-level, addresses the funding gaps to address this urgent issue and shares some innovative models being deployed by the county.
A Call for Housing in Bay Area Suburb
Bay area town Brisbane looks to provide commercial development to cater to San Francisco residents, but resists building housing.
Is the Company Town Back? Sort Of.
Unlike the earlier iteration, today's full-amenity tech campuses provide their well-paid engineers with Millennial-friendly upper middle class comforts. But is that enough?
San Francisco Ellis Act Restrictions Struck Down
An attempt to protect San Francisco tenants from some no-fault evictions was overturned in court.
Planning for a Microgrid: Santa Monica Reclaims Industrial Space for Renewable Energy
Cities throughout California, including Santa Monica, have been awarded research and development funding through the California Energy Commission to plan community-scale microgrid solutions.
Why New Affordable Housing Draws the Short Straw in Los Angeles
Cecilia Estolano, former Executive Director of Los Angeles’s Community Redevelopment Agency, diagnoses why the region has been unable to provide housing for working-class citizens.
Critiquing the $1.9 Billion Project to Widen I-5 in Los Angeles County
Streetsblog slams Caltrans for wasting $1.9 billion on futile freeway widening projects.
Downtown L.A.'s Chinese Real Estate Cycle
Chinese developers are pouring money into high-rise housing projects in Los Angeles. But will these be pieds-a-terre for absent buyers? And how are developers dealing with the American regulatory environment?
The Battle Against McMansions Continues in Burbank
With a two-year Interim Development Control Ordinance set to expire in March 2017, Burbank, California is working on new design guidelines for single-family homes.
How Detroit Beat the Silicon Valley to the Breakthrough Electric Vehicle
It costs less than $40,000 and gets over 200 miles to a charge. The Tesla Model 3? Yes, and also the Chevy Bolt, which goes to market first. A New York Times technology columnist writes that 'size matters' when it comes to innovation.
Everything You Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask About Prop. 13
A new report from the California Legislative Analyst's Office demystifies the highly consequential and controversial property tax limit enacted by Proposition 13.
Bay Area City Rejects Crude-by-Rail Terminal, Could Set Precedent
Crude-by-rail opponents are hoping that Benicia's rejection of a proposed rail terminal for a Valero refinery will set a precedent: it was enabled by a U.S. Surface Transportation Board decision allowing the city to have the final word.
Safety Gets Top Priority in San Francisco Street Reconfiguration
Pedestrian safety and transit performance won out over parking concerns on San Francisco's Taraval Street.
Planetizen Week in Review: September 24, 2016
More than one city made big planning news this week. You only need two minutes and thirty seconds to find out more.
California Transit Agencies Bring Affordable Housing to Scale
From developer incentives to swapping parking for housing units, two transit systems have come up with plans that tackle the region's housing shortage and its economic inequality. What have they agreed to do, and who will hold them accountable?
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.
Crowds of Pedestrians Prompt Lombard Street Study
San Francisco is looking for ways to manage—and protect—the masses of tourists who want to walk "the World's Crookedest Street."
L.A.'s Grand Central Market at a Turning Point, Faces Gentrification
The historic Grand Central Market has ridden the ups and downs of Downtown Los Angeles better than most retail locations, but can it retain its heart in the face of gentrification.
Sweeping Parking Reform Approved in Oakland
The City Council of Oakland, California has approved a far-reaching reduction of parking requirements.
Climate Equity Agenda Key to Passage of California's Climate Legislation
Environmental advocacy is not enough. Environmental and social justice must play a role in California's legislative effort to battle climate change, opine two professors from UC Berkeley and USC in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Pagination
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello