California

Yosemite Fire Threatens Bay Area's Power and Water Supplies

Over the weekend, a massive fire burning near Yosemite National Park continued to grow, prompting Governor Brown to declare a state of emergency for San Francisco County (more than 100 miles to the west) and altering the area's treasured landscape.

August 26, 2013 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Diego Mayor Finally Succumbs to Scandal

A mayoral tenure that began with so much promise (especially for planners) has ended in disgrace, only months after it began. After mounting pressure from those outside and within his own party, a defiant Bob Filner announced his resignation Friday.

August 26, 2013 - San Diego Union-Tribune

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.

August 24, 2013 - Curbed LA

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.

August 23, 2013 - Zocalo Public Square

In Absence of Global Action, Regional Partnerships Pursue Cap-and-Trade

California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols signed an agreement with Australia to share policy on reducing green house gas emissions. The Planning Report presents the following transcript of her remarks at the signing.

August 23, 2013 - The Planning Report

New Report Aims to Help L.A.'s Urban Gardens Grow

A group of graduate planning student at UCLA have compiled the first comprehensive survey of urban agriculture in Los Angeles County, providing tools for planners and policy-makers to boost the area's agricultural fecundity.

August 23, 2013 - UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

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.

August 22, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Plan Bay Area: Sued From the Right, Now the Left

Plan Bay Area must be doing something right as it seems to be antagonizing those on both ends of the planning spectrum. First, a libertarian group sues because of "densification", and now environmentalists sue because not enough funds go for transit.

August 22, 2013 - KQED News

Welcome to California: CEQA Does Not Apply To CEQA

You know this could only happen in California: An appellate court has ruled that the California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to ... the California Environmental Quality Act. At least in this case.

August 20, 2013 - California Planning & Development Report

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.

August 20, 2013 - The Planning Report

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.

August 19, 2013 - The New York Times

Court Ruling May Derail CA's High-Speed Rail Project

Unlike prior litigation based on environmental grounds, this suit, brought by a farmer, homeowner and the Kings County Board of Supervisors, is based on the rail project's business plan violating the bond measure the voters approved to fund it.

August 19, 2013 - Sacramento Bee

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."

August 18, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

The Great 'What If': Cities Engage the Unbuilt

A spirit of reflection seems to be in the air across America this summer. Exhibitions in Chicago, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles catalog major projects that were never built and allow visitors to imagine what might have been.

August 17, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper Blog

The Modernist Home: Born and Razed in L.A.

Andrew Romano explores the ironic fate of the modest mid-century home in the cradle of modernist residential design, where a hot housing market imperils their existence.

August 17, 2013 - Newsweek

CA Redevelopment Bill: Communist Land Grab or Catalyst for Affordable Housing?

Amid political demagoguery, a bill to help spur infill redevelopment and the creation of affordable housing in California, following the dismantling the state's redevelopment agencies, is advancing through the California legislature.

August 16, 2013 - Frying Pan News

More Hype on Hyperloop

LA Times' technology blogger Jon Healy takes a look at Elon Musk's Hyperloop, and after careful analysis, decides he'd bet on a proven, high-speed technology - the same one that inspired Musk to do an all-nighter to draft plans for an alternative.

August 16, 2013 - Los Angeles Times - Opinion

San Francisco Gains Affluence and Loses Its Identity

The latest 'digital gold rush' has been a boost for the Bay Area's high earners, but a blow to its diversity and affordability. Conspicuous transportation modes - fleets of private buses and black town cars - epitomize the area's growing divide.

August 15, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Community Gardening Program Feeds Those Hungry for Improving San Jose's Poor Neighborhoods

San Jose's Garden to Table program is just one of several initiatives led by CommUniverCity that are collectively giving disadvantaged residents the tools to improve their personal health and the health of their communities.

August 15, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

California Already Confronting ‘Significant’ Impacts of Climate Change

A new report by state scientists identifies three dozen environmental indicators that confirm the effects of climate change on California are ‘significant and growing.’

August 14, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

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.