California

Smart Growth Threatens City's Character

Pasadena residents say new denser mixed-use development is threatening the character of the city.

September 28, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

Farmland Divided In Central California

2,800 acres of Central California farmland has been effectively split into a collection of 40-acre parcels, all of which have been zoned to contain up to two residential units. Many in the nearby community are upset at the loss of farmland.

September 28, 2006 - Modesto Bee

Downtown Shopping Malls Are Ripe For Expansion

Bloomingdale's opening in San Francisco on Sept. 28 is just another sign of major retailers investing in downtowns despite the higher costs.

September 27, 2006 - The San Francisco Chronicle

California's Not As Green As It Thinks It Is

The state with the most wind-generated energy is not California but Texas. Notwithstanding all its headline-making, landmark laws, renewable energy has increased a mere 1% in 4 years. The obstacles appear to lay more in bureaucracy than technology.

September 27, 2006 - The San Francisco Chronicle

L.A. Taxi Riders Pay More For The Ride

Inspectors found an unusually high rate of fraud, but taxi drivers and owners challenge the findings, citing the small sample size.

September 26, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

USC Planning School Dean Interviewed

The Planning Report interviews USC Planning School dean Jack Knott about the school's ambitions of preparing students to lead in regions throughout the world.

September 25, 2006 - The Planning Report

California's Prop 90 Threatens Environmental Protections

In the guise of an anti-eminent domain measure, California's Prop 90 seeks to trick voters into adopting a policy that would devastate the state's ability to set aside land for conservation.

September 24, 2006 - The Planning Report

California Sues Auto Industry Over Global Warming

With the State of California recently moving to seek damages from car makers, could auto manufacturers be the new tobacco industry -- ripe for litigation due to the global warming emissions from the vehicles they produce?

September 24, 2006 - The New York Times

ULI Honors Peter Calthorpe With Nichols Prize

Peter Calthorpe, an early pioneer of the new urbanism and smart growth movements, recently received the prestigious J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development by the Urban Land Institute.

September 23, 2006 - The San Francisco Chronicle

S.F. Redevelopment Opposition Denied On Technicality

A referendum opposing a redevelopment plan signed by more than 33,000 San Francisco voters has been ruled invalid, angering many who feel that the city is bending rules to appease developers and gentrify their neighborhood.

September 22, 2006 - San Francisco Bay Gueardian

The Wal-Mart Battle In Southern California

A Wal-Mart supercenter celebrates its opening in Rosemead, while the city of Long Beach joins a growing list of cities that have adopted measures making it harder for mega-stores to open.

September 22, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

Community Voices Heard in L.A.

Neighborhood Councils in Los Angeles have stopped the city's elected Council from using a misleading title for a ballot initiative facing voters in November. The volunteer groups are moving closer to providing a voice for the community at City Hall.

September 20, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

California Emission Law Has Its Day In Court

In U.S. District Court in Fresno on Sept. 15, a California deputy attorney general asked Judge Ishii to dismiss a suit by the auto industry that would void the state's new emission standards, applicable in 2009, that target carbon dioxide.

September 19, 2006 - AP via Los Angeles Daily News

The Darkside Of Building New 'Green' Homes

The waste generated from demolition, and the large floor space of many new eco-mansions, is an environmentally unfriendly result of the new green home trend.

September 18, 2006 - LA Weekly

Planned Tollway Causes Great Divide In Paradise

Surfers and environmentalists are waging war against the planned six-lane roadway through Trestles, considered a Southern California icon, immortalized in 'Surfin' U.S.A.'

September 18, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

California's $20 Billion Transportation Bond

Despite facing no organized opposition and proponents having spent over $5 million to date, support for the $20 billion transportation bond, which will finance new roads and public transit, stands only at 54 percent.

September 17, 2006 - The San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco's Eye For Design

Ten homes on the 2006 tour for "Architecture and the City" month in San Francisco highlight what's hot in local residential design.

September 16, 2006 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Carbon Sequestration In the North Sea

Norway's oil giant Statoil has been injecting carbon dioxide deep into the North Sea floor for 10 years as a carbon sequestration method intended to reduce its "carbon dioxide taxes" to the Norwegian government.

September 15, 2006 - The Los Angeles Times

California's 'Other' Global Warming Bill

With the media captivated by the landmark "Global Warming Solutions Act", a sister-bill has gone mostly unnoticed, yet will have an almost immediate impact in changing California's energy portfolio by targeting the 20% of imported, coal-based energy.

September 15, 2006 - Capitol Weekly

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.

Associate/Senior Planner

Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development

Senior Planner

Heyer Gruel & Associates PA

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