California
Streets Improved, And Now the Bill
A variety of road and streetscape improvement projects in San Francisco are reviving the city's streets. But now, the city has to ask itself whether it wants to keep paying for these improvements.
"Funky, Casual" Urban Market Coming to Downtown San Jose
Former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery is heading up an ambitious project to transform a mediocre public space into a Granville Market for Silicon Valley.
Schwarzenegger Loots Redevelopment Agencies
A Sacramento State Court gave the Governor permission to redirect money from local redevelopment agency funds to prop up local education.
The Urban Jungle, Expressed Literally Through Art
Los Angeles developer Barry Shy commissioned a muralist to paint an "urban jungle" in the lobby of his new residential high-rise. He got lions and waterfalls snuggled up against the downtown LA skyline.
Sidewalk Busted? Fix it Yourself
The city of Los Angeles is considering a plan to stop paying for repairs to broken sidewalks and driveways, shifting the economic burden to property owners.
Mix of Successes and Failures for Pedestrian Malls
New York's Broadway goes pedestrian, while Sacramento's K Street goes back to having car traffic. Are pedestrian plazas a relic of the past, or the wave of the future?
Peak Hour Parking Pricing Working In Greenwich Village & Brooklyn
Marketplace reports on the parking market from NYC. Peak hour parking is being applied on Sixth Ave in Greenwich Village as a trial to increase parking availability and decrease congestion. Due to positive results, it's now being tried in Brooklyn.
City Planners Caught in Porn Scandal
Three planners and the zoning administrator in San Francisco's Planning Department are accused of circulating raunchy emails around the office and are at risk of losing their jobs.
The Urban Jungle, Expressed Literally Through Art
Los Angeles developer Barry Shy commissioned a muralist to paint an "urban jungle" in the lobby of his new residential high-rise. He got lions and waterfalls snuggled up against the downtown LA skyline.
Economic Woes Decimate Planning Departments
The budget crisis in California, as elsewhere, has forced planning departments statewide to bid farewell to valuable staff members and come up with creative ways to handle caseloads.
A Crowdsourced Tree Census for Cities
GOOD points us to a new project that harnesses the power of citizens to create a census of trees in San Francisco.
California Bill Would Allow Personal Vehicle Sharing
Does your car sit unused for long periods of time? A proposed law in California would allow you and your car to be part of a unique car-sharing system.
Reintroducing Cars To Pedestrian Malls
Downtown Sacramento's 'K' St. has been one of the city's most notable economic failures. Banning cars while providing the light rail an undisturbed path never fulfilled the hopes that urban planners had for the pedestrian mall. Now cars will return.
L.A. is Still #1
In terms of smog, metropolitan Los Angeles is still the worst city in the United States. In fact, all 10 of the smoggiest counties are in California, according to an annual report from the American Lung Association.
Toxic Suburbia
A 50-acre section of the Los Angeles suburb of Carson is contaminated with methane gas and benzene. Owners of the 285 homes in the area are left with few options.
Electrify Or Die
That's the verdict from a report released April 22 by officials of Caltrain, the nearly 150-year-old commuter line connecting San Francisco, San Jose, and Peninsula suburbs. In turn, the key to electrification is cooperation with the CA HSR Authority
Consolidating Stops to Make Buses Run Faster
Riders of San Francisco's Muni bus system often complain that the buses stop too much. Now, evidence is building that simply consolidating bus stops will help to make the buses run faster and more reliably.
Vintners in the City
The Wall St. Journal reports on a growing trend for wineries to set up show in cities, trucking their grapes to warehouse "cellars" to be closer to the people.
Comparing San Francisco's Tenderloin and L.A.'s Skid Row
This blog post from Governing explores the similarities between San Francisco's troubled Tenderloin district and Los Angeles' Skid Row-adjacent Spring Street corridor, and why one struggles and the other has found some developmental success.
From Bedroom Communities to Jet Engine Communities
More and more people working in the San Francisco Bay Area are opting for cheaper housing outside the region. Some are going way outside the region, commuting by airplane from Portland or Seattle.
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
