Judy Chang

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.

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."

A proposed bridge going over the Columbia River in the Portland-Vancouver area may be able to power itself with wind turbines integrated right onto the design.

Due to consumers cutting back, the global market for recyclables has collapsed and even begun to cost some cities' recycling programs.

<p> I decided to apply to graduate schools in urban planning before I had even finished up with my undergrad work. Urban planning spans many topics, and when I minored in it in college I realized I had a lot still to learn about architecture and design, the environment, and public policy. What really got me interested, however, was when I saw how planning intersects with community organization. I first saw the two forces at work while I volunteered with a philosophically grassroots, non-profit planning organization. I think we did some good work in some not-so-glamorous places, which still encourages me as I think about my career goals.