California

Hundreds of S.F. Transit Stops To Be Eliminated

Municipal Railway officials in San Francisco recently unveiled a proposal to remove a certain amount of bus and street car stops.

June 13, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle

Economic Benefits of Urban Creek Cleaning

Restorationists and environmentalists are placing their focus on urban streams and creeks, which struggle with urban pollution. Working to clean them up is turning out to be a good way to create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

June 13, 2009 - High Country News

Friday Funny: Elected to the House, But Abandoned Her Own

Congresswoman Laura Richardson has gotten on the nerves of her Sacramento neighbors, mainly because she's never around. As a result, her home has gone untended and turned into a blight on the neighborhood.

June 12, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

California's Classrooms Going Green

With what some are calling the worst classroom conditions in the nation, California is trying to solve the problem by replacing all of its portable classrooms with green buildings.

June 10, 2009 - Good

Handling Growth in the Bay Area

A roundtable discussion on the projected growth in the Bay Area of California, and the planning tools being unveiled that will help mitigate the projected increase of an additional 2 million inhabitants to the region by 2035.

June 9, 2009 - KQED.org

Nearly Car-free Housing Development: A Radical Experiment

Hayward, which is an East Bay suburb of San Francisco, has laid the groundwork for a nearly car-free housing development for environmentally conscious living.

June 9, 2009 - San Francisco Chronicle

City Twitters

The City of Santee is using Twitter and Facebook to protest a planned prison expansion on nearby county land.

June 9, 2009 - San Diego Union-Tribune

Caltrain: Fees Raised, Service Cut

Caltrain officials are planning to cut midday service by half, raise parking fees by 50 percent, and charge more for the monthly Go Pass.

June 8, 2009 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Reductions in Vehicle Miles Traveled a Slow, Difficult Process

Two representatives of a committee charged with implementing reductions in VMT to meet California's SB 375 goals discuss the challenges.

June 7, 2009 - The Planning Report

Biden Plugs CA High-Speed Rail For Funding

Notwithstanding a $24.3 billion state budget deficit, CA is well-positioned to receive at least 10% of the Recovery Act funding for high speed rail, says Biden. Two corridors in southern and northern CA have been identified for funding.

June 7, 2009 - Los Angeles Times Blog

Roadmap for a Sustainable Car Industry

John DeCicco, senior fellow for automotive strategies at the Environmental Defense Fund, and author of the Green Book--a rating system for the environmental impact of cars--talks about the regulatory reforms necessary for the car industry.

June 6, 2009 - VerdeXchange News

Friday Funny: Puppets Impede Public Process

There was much ado at a recent L.A. City Council meeting when a group opposing a new 7-story development was allowed to speak after the project had been approved. It also appears the public speakers were cut short by a puppet show.

June 5, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

L.A.'s Neighborhoods Defined and Mapped

After months of input on boundaries from readers, the Los Angeles Times has released its map of neighborhoods in the city.

June 4, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

Finding the Silver Lining in California's Drought

Water Lawyer Michael George details the causes and effects of the current California drought, and sees hope that pinched water supplies may drive innovation and collaboration in building sustainable water systems in the West.

June 4, 2009 - The Planning Report

California Budget Crisis Derails Open Space Acquisition

With a budget proposal that threatens to close 80 percent of California state parks on the table, Joe Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, explains how the state's budget crisis left the SMMC "dead in the water."

June 3, 2009 - The Planning Report

The BMP Map Really Sucks?

Los Angeles released the first piece of its Bike Master Plan and received a variety of reactions.

June 3, 2009 - la.streetsblog.org

Struggling LA MOCA Lays Off Its Curator of Architecture and Design

LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) announced on May 19 that it was laying off Brooke Hodge, its curator of architecture and design.

June 2, 2009 - The Architect's Newspaper

220 California Parks to be Terminated?

With California facing a $24.3 billion deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has released a budget that eliminates $70 million in funding for the state's parks system.

June 2, 2009 - Yahoo! News

Preserving A Modernist Hotel in LA

A debate over preserving the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City is a question of not just a building, but the historic preservation of an entire model of planning, says Christopher Hawthorne.

June 1, 2009 - The Los Angeles Times

California Housing Market Looking Rosier

The median home price in California notched up 1.4% in April from the previous month, prompting some to announce the market has bottomed out and is recovering.

May 29, 2009 - The Wall St. Journal

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.