California
Big Ads are Hazards to Safety, Business
Outdoor signs, some of them quite large, have gone up around Los Angeles despite a 90-day moratorium on them. Tenants of buildings with such multistory "supergraphics" draped over their windows share their grief.
Carbon Emitters Anonymous
Berkeley, California has launched a citywide program that offers support to residents who wish to reduce their carbon footprints. Like Alcoholics Anonymous, these support groups are "part social, part confessional and partly about accountability."
Key Highway Lawsuit Settled In California
One down, nine to go - that's how many hwy projects Gov. Schwarzenegger wants exempted from environmental review in order to be 'shovel ready' for the Obama stimulus. Hwy 50 was settled to the delight of enviros who negotiated a big win for transit.
States Prepare To Raise Gas Taxes
Plummeting gas prices, roads in disrepair, and soaring state deficits have caused some state politicians to, gasp, attempt to raise gas taxes - last raised over 15 years ago in some states.
Cars Are Here To Stay, Transit Is Not The Answer
UC Davis Professor Daniel Sperling, a transportation expert and member of CA's ARB has co-written "Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability". In this radio interview, Sperling describes cleaner auto technologies but dismisses transit's role.
Seeking Sponsors As Infrastructure Dies
This piece from New Geography looks disparagingly at an idea in San Francisco to allow corporate sponsorship of the Golden Gate Bridge in order to raise money for infrastructure projects.
Restoring the San Joaquin
One of the largest and most complex river restorations in the West, on the San Joaquin River, should pass the Senate later this week- but not without controversy.
No Superfund Status for Rocketdyne Site
California has rejected a proposal to list a polluted nuclear testing facility as a federal Superfund site. State officials believe they can clean it up more quickly and thoroughly.
'Green' Governor Fast-Tracks Highway Construction
Environmentalists reject CA Gov. Schwarzenegger's attempt to waive new highway construction projects from environmental review to qualify for Obama's stimulus package, offering 'fix-it-first' construction and public transit projects as alternatives.
SF's Parking Experiment to Test Shoup's Theories
San Francisco's federally-funded parking experiment SFPark will be a live test of the theories of dynamic parking management popularized by Donald Shoup.
Critics May Miss The Green Point of the SmartCode
Communities aren't going to get a green code implemented, or any code, without that code appealing to developers, says Sandy Sorlien. They're building our new sustainable places and infilling our old ones.
California's High Speed Rail Struggles Through Recession
The economic recession is hurting the California High Speed Rail Authority, the lead agency developing the high speed rail network for which the state's voters approved $10 billion in bonds in 2008. With no buyers, the bond money is unavailable.
L.A. Subway Construction Timeline is "Unacceptable"
It will take more than two decades to expand Los Angeles' Subway to the Sea by 10 miles, according to an MTA timeline. The mayor's office and transit activists are pushing for it to get done more quickly.
One Victory for the City in Billboard Battle
A federal court has knocked down a previous ruling that Los Angeles' billboard ban is unconstitutional.
TOD at Hollywood & Western, 10 Years Later
Stephen Box, a bicycle advocate in Los Angeles, reviews the famous TOD project at the intersection of Hollywood and Western 10 years after it opened. Is "It's Not As Bad As It Used To Be" enough?
Importing the Tijuana Model
Architect Teddy Cruz is creating new models of affordable housing using the shantytowns of Tijuana as his inspiration.
'Instant Cab Culture' Unlikely in L.A.
The city of Los Angeles has instituted an experimental program encouraging people to hail taxi cabs rather than call ahead, an effort the city hopes will create a "cab culture". This column is skeptical about how much impact the plan can have.
Rand: Best Congestion Strategies Are Price-Based
In 2008, RAND Corp. conducted a study on mitigating traffic congestion in Los Angeles. They studied two types of strategies: conventional, e.g. signal timing, and market-based, e.g. increased the price of driving. The results were surprising.
Bell Tolls for California Cities and Their Creative Borrowing Schemes
Cities in California have been finding creative ways to generate funding and financing in recent years. Now, it seems lenders are coming to cities to collect on loans and many are left scrambling to pay up.
California's Biggest Land Use Story Is Not The Housing Market
The deepening of the housing market crisis is certainly a big deal in California. But the land use story of the year was the Legislature's passage of a measure mandating regional planning.
Pagination
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