Los Angeles

Developer Pins Los Angeles' Infrastructure Problems on Bureaucratic Bloat

According to developer and consultant Michael P. Russell, the city of Los Angeles has a chronic shortage of funds for infrastructure due to a bloated bureaucracy, small district city council elections, and term limits.

September 15, 2014 - UrbDeZine

Downtown Los Angeles Punching Above its Weight in Residential Development

Shane Phillips shares the results of his own analysis about how completely Downtown Los Angeles has dominated the supply of new housing units in the city since 1999.

September 10, 2014 - Better Institutions

$213 Million for Homeless Tracking, Support System in Los Angeles

Broadening a system first tested in Los Angeles in 2013, a coalition of local and national government agencies and philanthropic organizations has provided $213 million for the Home for Good program—described as "match.com for homeless people."

September 9, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Lyft

Comparing the Price of Uber and Car Ownership

Kyle Hill compares the cost of exclusively riding Uber to owning a car in the car-centric city of Los Angeles.

September 3, 2014 - TechCrunch

Broadway Los Angeles

Streetscape Overhaul Opens on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles

Broadway in Los Angeles is the historic lifeline of Downtown and a key corridor in the ongoing renaissance of the neighborhood. Yesterday the city opened a brightly colored, pedestrian-friendly, vehicle-lane-reducing makeover of the street.

August 29, 2014 - Trending City

A New System for Combating 'Quality-of-Life Crimes'

A proposed ordinance currently making its way through City Hall in Los Angeles would provide a new form of enforcement for crimes such as barking dogs, loud parties, and littering—which often go unenforced under the current penal system.

August 28, 2014 - Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles is the Least Affordable Rental Market in the Country

A new study confirmed that the average Los Angeles renter allocates 47 percent of their paycheck towards rent.

August 22, 2014 - KPCC

Cracked Sidewalk

The Solution to Los Angeles' Crumbling Sidewalks

Parking guru Donald Shoup discusses how the city of Los Angeles can fix its roughly 4,300 miles of sidewalk that require some degree of repair, for free.

August 21, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Small Lot Townhouses

How Small Lots Yield Urban Density

A recent article explains how, and why, small lot subdivisions get built in Los Angeles. Also, the city has recently updated a procedural glitch to make permitting easier for small lot projects.

August 20, 2014 - Urban Land Magazine

Echo Park

Olmsted Alive! 'Emerald Necklace' Plan Proposed for Los Angeles

Inspired by a park system proposal by Frederick Law Olmsted from 1930 to build a network of parks and open space throughout the city, a coalition of advocates is reviving the idea of connecting people and parks throughout Los Angeles.

August 19, 2014 - Next City

Anatomy of a Complete Streets Controversy: Los Angeles Edition

Advocates for a more multi-modal lifestyle in Los Angeles have achieved tremendous successes in the last decade. But ongoing bike lane controversies shows there's still a long way to go.

August 18, 2014 - Citymetric

Los Angeles Skyline with houses

Some Like it Hot: Adapting Los Angeles to Climate Change

Closing out the "Just Add Water" lecture series, four panelists came together to discuss climate change, cultural shifts for sustainability, and adapting Los Angeles's urban fabric for greater climate resiliency in the future.

August 14, 2014 - Maayan Dembo

Luxury Developments Moving into the Sunset Strip; Porn and Clubs, Moving Out.

The 1.6 mile stretch of Sunset Boulevard in the city West Hollywood is destined for more than $600 million in developments planned or already being built, mostly composed of luxury hotels and condominiums.

August 6, 2014 - Bloomberg

Construction Blocking Sidewalks in Booming Downtown Los Angeles

The construction boom in Downtown Los Angeles has had the unintended, and largely unregulated, consequence of closing access to sidewalks. The practice might be illegal under federal law.

August 4, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

'Urban Acupuncture' Prescribed for Los Angeles' Streets

Pulling from Jaime Lerner's famed expression of 'Urban Acupuncture,' Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has chosen 15 major thoroughfares to transform into hubs of neighborhood activity as a part of the Great Streets initiative.

August 2, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Rules of the Road: Reckless 'Driving' Brings Dire Penalties for Bicyclist

A California Court of Appeal wades into the history of driving laws to determine if a drunken cyclist who maimed a jogger can be charged with reckless driving. The cyclist was not charged with drunken driving. Not all laws are applied the same.

July 28, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

Paris Metro Train

The Value of Fast Transit—Under Construction in Paris

The proposed Grand Paris Express program, which began construction this summer and is expected for completion in 2030, will serve 2 million people a day at "wildly fast speeds." Then there's light rail in the United States.

July 24, 2014 - the transport politic

Los Angeles Sunset

A Call to 'Retire the Myth' of the Palm Tree in Los Angeles

Victoria Dailey has some strong words for the palm tree in its various forms around Los Angeles in a long read for the Los Angeles Review of Books.

July 22, 2014 - Los Angeles Review of Books

How Apps Can Help Track How Angelenos Move

In a review of the iPhone app Human, Los Angeles County planner Clement Lau examines how the daily movement of residents can be measured.

July 20, 2014 - UrbDeZine

How Los Angeles’ Union Station Came to Be

Los Angeles County Planner Clement Lau reviews the "No Further West: The Story of Los Angeles Union Station" exhibit, on display at the Central Library.

July 15, 2014 - UrbDeZine

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.