California
Judge Tosses Controversial Hollywood Smart Growth Plan
A judge has sided with three civic groups challenging a new community plan for Hollywood that permitted increased density around transit stations. In a tentative ruling, Judge Allan J. Goodman called the plan "fatally flawed".
Crude-By-Rail Slowed by a Red Signal
With many oil pipelines stalled due to popular opposition and/or regulatory hurdles (e.g. Keystone XL and Northern Gateway, or even refineries opting for more flexibility) there seemed to be no end to the growth in moving oil by rail...until now.
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.
What's Holding Up Redevelopment 2.0 in California?
When California shuttered its hundreds of local redevelopment agencies, many believed a new (if smaller) system for funding affordable housing and development in blighted areas would soon follow. Two years later, the state is still waiting.
All Aboard L.A.'s Bike Commuter Train
This train is not steel wheels on steel rail - it is multiple two-wheeled rubber tires, commuting together, providing support and safety to novice cyclists, but sometimes it backfires. Interviewed is a frustrated motorist who intimidated them.
How Would Losing Your Sight Change Your Approach to Design?
Alison Prato speaks with architect Chris Downey, who lost his eyesight five years ago following surgery to remove a brain tumor, about how his approach to design and his experience of the city have changed.
Social Impact Bonds Aim to Attract Investment in Public Health
A pilot project hopes to pioneer a new type of investment by alleviating asthma among lower-income children. Project developers hope the Fresno Asthma Impact Model could become a national model for improving health and reducing costs.
Strike Two for Calif. High Speed Rail: Setback by Surface Transportation Board
After suffering a major setback from a court decision that prevents the authority from selling $10 billion in voter-approved bonds, a key federal agency has ruled that the authority must comply with environmental regulations before laying tracks.
Engineer is Focus of Metro-North Derailment Investigation
With the train's black box showing that the speeding commuter train entered a 30 M.P.H curve at 82 M.P.H, causing the derailment, attention has turned toward the engineer. CNN reports that the engineer admits to "nodding off" before the crash.
Tale of Two Californias Misses the Bigger Story of Inequality
California's inequality is usually described in geographic terms that distinguishes between the state's affluent coastal areas and impoverished inland areas. When considering the cost of living, a statewide poverty crisis comes into focus.
Do Psychological Barriers Doom L.A.'s Transit Transition?
Creating a culture of transit in Los Angeles will require more than just expanding the area's train and bus infrastructure. New riders will have to overcome the psychological barriers that prevent many people from ditching their cars.
Comprehensive Survey of L.A. Pools Dips Its Toes in Privacy Debate
A project by two researchers to map and measure all of the swimming pools in the Los Angeles basin is revealing not just for the information collected, but in how it exposed the ways in which personal privacy is being eroded by digital technology.
Downtown L.A.'s Residential Revolution
A plan to build 1,500 rental apartments where six parking lots now sit is just the latest sign of the insatiable demand for housing gripping downtown Los Angeles.
L.A. Addresses its Growing Homeless Population by Making it Harder for Them to Eat
Forced onto the street by decreased public spending, a poor economy and congested prisons, L.A.'s homeless population surged by 27 percent last year. Tensions are growing between those trying to help and those uncomfortable with the inundation.
Healthy School Food Initiative Nourishes L.A.'s Economy
A push by the Los Angeles Unified School District to increase its supply of healthy and locally-produced foods is paying dividends for area farmers and businesses.
Ten Billion Dollar Tally for Fixing S.F.'s Transportation Infrastructure
What would $10.1 billion in transportation-directed funding buy San Francisco? Not as much as you might think. That's what a Task Force has determined it will take to modernize the city's existing infrastructure.
Cities Pursue Different Paths to One Goal: Safer Streets
In the face of rising pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities, the District of Columbia's police department began deploying automated photo enforcement technologies while San Francisco took a multi-agency, collaborative planning approach.
Has CA's High-Speed Rail Been Dealt a Mortal Blow?
In issuing two stinging decisions on Monday, a superior court judge has erected significant obstacles to the construction of California's high-speed rail project. His invalidation of the project's financing plan has put its future in doubt.
Frank Gehry Rides to Grand Avenue's Rescue; Will Officials Cheer or Jeer?
Christopher Hawthorne reports that Frank Gehry is back in charge of the design for the quixotic $650-million Grand Avenue redevelopment after a disastrous redesign nearly scuttled the star-crossed project.
San Francisco's Crisis of Affluence
The booming tech industry has brought economic development to the Bay Area. But lavish lifestyles, astronomical housing prices, and rising evictions has put the industry in the crosshairs of a very public backlash. Can the city broker peace?
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
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
