California
Cramming Three Decades of Transit Improvements into One
Despite a less-than-stellar reputation of public transit, Los Angeles has plans to expand its system of light rail and BRT over the next 30 years. But now momentum is growing to fast-track that work into the next 10 years.
State Seeks 1.5 Million Missing People in 2010 Census
How many people live in California? The current count could be off by 1.5 million people, and a lot is riding on the results of the 2010 Census. Josh Stephens talks to planners and state leaders about the flaws in the Census and how they'll shape state policy.
Does Land Conservation Drive Housing Costs?
A new study in the San Francisco Bay Area says no, that had there been no controls in place there would be only 6.5% more housing built over the past 50 years.
Want Your TOD To Work? Add Parking
A panel of experts at a ULI Los Angeles came together to talk best practices for transit-oriented development. Their recommendations include better security, improved connectivity, and yes, more parking.
Guerrilla Sharrows
In Los Angeles, wheat-pasted posters that indicate bike lanes have been cropping up on utility boxes all over the city.
Residents Get More Say in Redevelopment
A scandal over bonuses and the recession leads to change in project to redevelop Southeast San Diego, but some critics want to see more construction, not just kumbaya.
Neighborhood to City: Project Is Too Suburban
Here's one you don't find often - a neighborhood may sue the city of Sacramento for approving an infill project they categorize as 'too suburban and car-oriented', while the city council woman extolls the infill qualities, citing SB 375 and AB 32.
General Plans Getting Increasingly Specific
As cities like Long Beach and Santa Monica get more focused on urban design, their general plans become more and more proscriptive.
LEED Certification For Parking: Reserve Space For Low Emitters
A Marin County shopping mall hopes to be the first LEED-certified mall, partly by reserving parking space for low emitting vehicles. All spaces, for guzzlers and green vehicles alike, are unpriced, perhaps pointing to shortfalls of green building.
Creative Class Breathes New Life into Empty Spaces
The recession has left many real estate properties empty across the country. In Los Angeles, some of those empty spaces are being revived by the city's artists.
Success in San Francisco Alleyways
This piece from The Examiner looks at the alleyways of San Francisco and how they have become activated in recent years.
San Francisco Takes Lessons From Seattle Over Sidewalk Sitting
San Francisco's recently passed and controversial sit/lie laws that prohibit sitting on sidewalks were based on a similar rule passed in Seattle in 1993. Though that rule has been on the books for years, its controversy remains.
The De-Evolution of a Suburban Gated Community
Inside this gated community in the L.A. suburb of Hemet, the recession is taking a tough toll and making life difficult for the families that had moved there for quiet calm.
San Francisco Counts its Parking
Very few large cities can claim to know how many parking spaces they have. San Francisco has counted its publicly accessibly parking supply and released the data to through Data SF website.
Feds Put Faith in L.A. Transit Plan
Federal officials are looking at an unlikely city as a model for urban public transit: Los Angeles.
Revitalizing A San Francisco Port
The Port of San Francisco is considering plans to redevelop Port 70, one of the last working sections of the city's waterfront.
Regional Housing Plan Trumps Growth Control Ordinances
A court has ruled that, contrary to its zoning laws, the bedroom community of Pleasanton must add more bedrooms. The ruling wipes out local, voter-approved growth control ordinances.
Wampanoag Indians Fight Windmill Farm
The giant Cape Wind turbine farm project has overcome significant opposition, but now two Massachusetts tribes are attempting to block its construction, claiming cultural and religious issues.
Sadik-Kahn Comes to Car-centric L.A.
NY DOT head Janette Sadik-Kahn spoke in Los Angeles earlier this week to a adoring crowd, with advice on how to make room for bikes and pedestrians.
Do Housing Tax Credits Create Jobs?
With Gov. Schwarzenegger promising $200 million in tax credits to homebuyers, Paul Shigley says it's worth looking closely at the promises that such credits create new jobs and bolster the economy.
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
