Los Angeles' extended Purple Line subway may very well spur an extension of the "linear downtown" along Wilshire Boulevard. Luxury high-rises are the most conspicuous new arrivals.
With LA Metro's Purple Line subway set to extend from downtown to the Westwood neighborhood by 2024, a spate of ostensibly transit-oriented residential high-rises has recently come online. Antonio Pacheco discusses these predictably luxurious new digs.
Constructed in the Great Recession's wake, "The new buildings are not innovative so much as they are novel, imported typologies for a city in which the wealthiest denizens typically occupy mountainside perches, not the tops of towers."
The new buildings, though close to transit, don't exactly embody the egalitarian spirit. "Their final manifestations, hard-fought as they were, hint at some of the shortcomings the recession generated: generic podium-and-tower massing, use of conventional materials like smooth stucco and glass, and generous, if not overly fussy, shared amenity spaces."
Pacheco closes, "A big question moving forward will be whether developers and city agencies can forego their penchant for oversized parking podiums and whether, when faced with fewer budgetary and entitlement restrictions, architects and developers will begin to truly work toward a locally derived variant of the luxury tower typology." Of course, the other question is: will residents actually use the transit waiting right outside their doors?
FULL STORY: L.A.’s expanding subway line spurs first crop of luxury towers
Op-Ed: Los Angeles Needs a Vermont Avenue Subway
As the second busiest bus corridor in the area, Vermont Avenue is currently a candidate for bus rapid transit. But would rail be a better choice?
Beverly Hills Students Protest Subway Construction
Students from Beverly Hills staged a high-visibility "walkout" to protest L.A. Metro's extension of the Purple Line subway past Beverly Hills High School.
Purple Line Extension Gets $1.6 Billion Boost in Los Angeles
The Purple Line subway extension is picking up momentum in Los Angeles. With construction already underway on the first phase, the second phase should commence in 2018.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service