Los Angeles

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

L.A.'s Blue Line Reopening Soon, With a New Name

The Blue Line light rail line, connecting Los Angeles and Long Beach, is almost finished with a $350 million repair program. When it reopens to service it will be called the A Line.

October 21, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles, California

L.A. Wants Fewer Parking Podiums

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission has approved a new Advisory Notice regarding above grade parking, in the hopes of limiting the massive parking podiums proliferating around the city.

October 20, 2019 - Urbanize Los Angeles

Homeless Encampment

Massive Discrepancies Identified in Official Homeless Counts

The Los Angeles Times crunched data from the 2019 point-in-time count of homelessness in Los Angeles County. What they found diverged profoundly from official findings.

October 19, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Light Rail

Light Rail Could Finally Get Priority Over Cars at Intersections in Los Angeles

The city of Los Angeles controls the streets and the intersections crossed by the Expo Line as its connects Downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monic and the beach. The city has made its first progress toward prioritizing trains. at those intersections

October 16, 2019 - Urbanize Los Angeles

Poor Returns for L.A.'s Transit on Demand Pilot

Similar to microtransit on demand programs in other cities, Los Angeles' ongoing experiment is proving to be very expensive (for the public) for the benefit of very few riders.

October 11, 2019 - Streetsblog LA

Los Angeles Subway

L.A. Metro Report Examines How Women Travel

Findings from a new study about the mobility needs and concerns of women in Los Angeles will inform future initiatives and planning.

October 7, 2019 - Streetsblog LA

Arrivals and Departures

Congestion Tipping Point: Uber and Lyft Banned from LAX

Automobile traffic to LAX has increased by half in the last decade, and congestion has passed a tipping point.

October 7, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Wheelchair

For Wheelchair Users, L.A. Poses Many Hazards

A trip through the city of Los Angeles reveals the largely overlooked challenges that people with physical disabilities must overcome.

October 5, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles River Bike Path

L.A. River Restoration Challenged by Gentrification, Environmental Concerns

A massive effort to restore the Los Angeles River to more public access and open space amentias continues to raise the specter of gentrification in neighborhoods already feeling the pressure of the housing market.

September 30, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

South Los Angeles Market-Rate Housing Development

'Anti-Displacement Zones' Proposed in L.A. Following Development Controversy

As more development investment focus on historically black neighborhoods in Los Angeles, local politicians are searching for policies that can protect current residents from displacement.

September 23, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Garcetti Expo Line

Frequencies Restored on L.A.'s Expo Line After Rider Backlash

Trains were already crowded on the Metro Expo Line when they ran every six minutes during peak hours. When Metro cut frequencies to every eight minutes in June, riders were not pleased.

September 16, 2019 - The Source

Echo Park

L.A. Unveils Plans for Historic Water Infrastructure Tax

Katy Young Yaroslavsky discusses the the Measure W Implementation Ordinance and the committee appointees tasked with determining how this new funding will flow into community water projects.

September 15, 2019 - The Planning Report

Downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles Could Broaden Homeless Sleeping Prohibition to a Quarter of the City

There won't be many places left to sleep for the massive population of homeless living in the city of Los Angeles.

September 11, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Eastside Gold Line and Los Angeles skyline

Anti-Development Forces Strike at L.A.'s Transit Oriented Communities Program

There's a new front in the city of L.A.'s ongoing conflict between anti-development forces and efforts to add density at and around transit.

September 10, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

A Rainbow Halo to Memorialize the Location of Traffic Fatalities

A Vision Zero program in Los Angeles is memorializing the tragedies of traffic collisions at 100 locations around the city.

September 8, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Solar Power

Union Opposition Puts Brakes on 'Record-Cheap' Solar Installation

Under a proposed 25-year solar contact, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power would pay record-cheap prices for 400 megawatts of power. But the utility declined to approve the deal after a utility workers' union raised concerns.

September 1, 2019 - The Los Angeles Times

Metro Bus

Bus Ridership Declines Challenge Los Angeles

The Wall Street Journal reports that bus riders on the Los Angeles County Transportation Authority system has declined significantly in recent years.

August 29, 2019 - The Wall Street Journal

Los Angeles Grand Park

Former L.A. Planning Director Admits to Ethics Violation

A Los Angeles Times investigation reveals that the city of Los Angeles' might not have revealed every layer of ethics violation committed by Michael LoGrande after he left the Department of City Planning in 2016.

August 23, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Metro Cable

On Public Transit, Some of the World’s Best Sightseeing

From Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Sydney, the best—and the cheapest—views are on ferries, buses, trains, and gondolas.

August 23, 2019 - The New York Times

Los Angeles STreet

Level of Service Canceled in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles City Council voted to officially end the use of Level of Service in measuring environmental impact in favor of a more people-friendly measure: vehicle miles traveled.

August 12, 2019 - Streetsblog Los Angeles

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.

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.