California
L.A. Streetcar Gets Go-Ahead from Voters
Voters in downtown Los Angeles have overwhelmingly approved a special property tax to help fund a $125 million streetcar. The results of the special vote-by-mail election were reported last night.
Bay Area Considers Basing Transit Fares on Need
Transportation officials in the greater San Francisco area have been debating a proposal to provide free public transit for low-income youth. They are now considering the possibility of basing fares on income, rather than age or disability.
Supreme Court to Decide Who's Responsible for Storm Water Pollution
A case over "who can be held responsible for polluted storm water that runs off city streets and into rivers and bays" is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow. The court's ruling on the Los Angeles case could have far-reaching impacts.
CA Searches for Investors for its High-Speed Rail
James Nash reports that Gov. Jerry Brown is turning to the $6 trillion market in sovereign wealth funds, pensions, and endowments to help fill the $55 billion gap between the project's total cost and what state bonds and federal grants will cover.
The Most Expensive Family Housing in the USA
No other place even comes close for values of 4 bedroom, 2 bath single family homes. Five of the six priciest cities in the U.S. are located in Silicon Valley, with median home values ranging from $1.44 million to $1.7 million for #1 ranked Los Altos
Extra, Extra: LA Has a Dense Urban Center
Award-winning research conducted by University of Southern California graduate Samuel Krueger shows that Los Angeles really does have a gooey chocolate - whoops...dense, urban center.
Micro-Apartments Proposal Passes San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Don't call these modern apartments SROs - they go by 'micro-apartments', and they just received a significant approval, 375 of them, that is. One more step awaits: Mayor Ed Lee must give his blessing, and he appears rather non-committal.
High Density Means More Economic Growth and More Happiness, Too
Using new analysis of recent US Census data, Richard Florida demonstrates that “[c]ities and regions where density is more concentrated near their urban cores — appear to gain the biggest economic advantage.” That, and a tad more happiness.
Two Influential Homes: Separated by Time, United in Spirit
Edwin Heathcote examines the common ethos that connects Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa and Los Angeles's Schindler House, "two homes, far apart in time and space, that influenced the modern movement."
Mayor Creates Cabinet to Develop a More Transit-Oriented Los Angeles
Damien Newton reports on L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's creation of a Transit Corridors Cabinet (TCC) to coordinate the work of all City departments and agencies with the goal of producing a "more transit-oriented Los Angeles."
The Piranesian Fantasyland That Runs S.F.'s Mobile Monument
Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley tour the "otherwise nondescript brick building" on San Francisco's Mason Street that houses the machines running the "Endless Wire Ropeway" that hums beneath the city's streets and pulls its famous cable cars.
As CA Turns to Infill, L.A.'s Largest Undeveloped Area Fills Up
Robbie Whelan reports that the last remaining unbuilt parcel in L.A.'s 1,000-acre Playa Vista development has been sold to Brookfield Homes, reflecting a turn by developers away from the exurbs and towards densifying urban cores.
Can Electric Cars Break Out of Niche Market?
Are you an environmentally aware, well educated, upper-middle class white man in your early 50s with a garage equipped with an electric outlet? If so, you meet the demographic to buy an electric vehicle. And that may be the EV's only potential group.
Las Vegas 'Party Train' to Start Intoxicating Riders Next Year
The plan to reconnect Southern California to Las Vegas via passenger rail took a major step forward last week with the announcement that operators Las Vegas Railway Express Inc. have reached an agreement to use Union Pacific's freight rails.
The New Promise of Urban Ecology
Courtney Humphries takes a look at recent federal investment in research on the complex interrelationship between human settlements and the natural environment.
Fighting Homelessness, or Fighting the Homeless?
Martha Bridegam investigates the aftermath of a forced eviction at a homeless encampment in San Francisco. Do the homeless deserve to be criminalized?
Preserving History, Byte by Byte
Completed in 1791, the Mission Dolores is the oldest building in San Francisco. It has survived major earthquakes in the past, writes Alexis Coe, but preservationists are worried about its fate and have begun digitally preserving the landmark.
The Swan Song of Telegraph Avenue?
Soumya Karlamangla profiles a once-thriving hippie mecca, hit by hard times and largely abandoned, even by the nearby student population. Is it down for the count?
Carbon Emissions Now Have a Price - in California
It's official - for large industrial sources in California, the cost for emitting a ton of carbon dioxide or equivalent is $10.09 - nine cents above the minimum price set by the Air Board. That was the price paid at the first auction on Nov. 14.
Wendell's World: In Housing, Supply Equals Demand
Is it really 2012? Maybe so, but Bill Fulton says Wendell Cox isn't living there -- at least based on his latest "analysis" of Southern California's housing trends.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
