Los Angeles

Damien Newton reports on L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's creation of a Transit Corridors Cabinet (TCC) to coordinate the work of all City departments and agencies with the goal of producing a "more transit-oriented Los Angeles."

November 28, 2012 - Streetsblog LA

Robbie Whelan reports that the last remaining unbuilt parcel in L.A.'s 1,000-acre Playa Vista development has been sold to Brookfield Homes, reflecting a turn by developers away from the exurbs and towards densifying urban cores.

November 28, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Ever wonder what happens to your car after you hand it to a valet? You probably don't want to know the answer. A new ordinance to be considered by L.A.'s City Council may finally rein in "the wild, wild West at our curbs."

November 19, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Given its unprecedented “scale and scope”, California's bullet train poses a plethora of complex challenges to engineers and train planners, reports Ralph Vartabedian, yet it also seizes their imaginations.

November 14, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

As a special election gets underway to determine whether 10,000 downtown L.A. residents support taxing property owners to build a new streetcar system, the editors of the Los Angeles Downtown News offer their qualified support for the project.

November 13, 2012 - Los Angeles Downtown News

AP covers the opening of the first toll lanes in LA county: 110 Freeway Express Lanes that allow solo-drivers to use a carpool lane for a toll that varies with the level of congestion (i.e. congestion pricing). Shoup asks: "Why did it take so long?"

November 13, 2012 - AP via San Jose Mercury News

The 1970 Concept Los Angeles plan is a history lesson for urban planners and a vision of what the city could have looked like.

November 12, 2012 - cate miller

In the aftermath of the seemingly narrow defeat of his pet measure to speed up the expansion of L.A.'s transit infrastructure, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa remains unbowed in his attempts to accelerate his key initiative, writes Ari Bloomekatz.

November 9, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

While the federal government balks at increasing money for transportation projects, local officials across America are turning to their constituents to get the go ahead for significant transportation investment. What projects are at stake today?

November 6, 2012 - the transport politic

California Watch, a project of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, evaluated the 2009-11 American Community Survey and determined that CA's 'drive-alone' rate to work was 73%. Joanna Lin points the finger at free parking as chief cause.

November 6, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

Amid all the attention L.A.'s recent transit expansion and car culture receive, you couldn't blame the area's pedestrians for feeling like the odd ones out. But with the city’s first official pedestrian coordinators on the job, that may soon change.

November 5, 2012 - LA.Streetsblog

Critics of the proposed $500-million Southern California International Gateway, which is being touted as “one of the 'greenest' freight yards in the nation," contend it will actually reduce air quality and harm low income, minority residents.

November 1, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

For 10 years now, Michael Lejeune, Creative Director for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (M.T.A.), has made taking transit in L.A. seem a lot cooler. These re-branding efforts have contributed to a 38 percent increase in ridership since 2005.

November 1, 2012 - The New York Times

The predicted "New Yorkification" of Hollywood appears to have finally found its incarnation in the proposal released last week to build twin 500- and 600-foot towers adjacent to the historic Capitol Records building.

October 30, 2012 - Curbed LA

Pershing Square occupies a special place in the physical and historical landscape of Los Angeles. But the city's first park has been the victim of poor redesigns and a "massive failure of civic vision." Can anything be done to fix it?

October 29, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

In 2008 Los Angeles voters passed a half-cent sales tax to finance construction of a new transit system. In November, Angelenos will decide whether to extend this tax to 2069, allowing Metro to borrow more in the short term and expedite construction.

October 26, 2012 - The Planning Report

An ordinance designed to help stop a Walmart "Neighborhood Market" from opening in L.A.'s Chinatown neighborhood fell short of the necessary votes at a City Council meeting held yesterday, reports Alice Walton.

October 24, 2012 - KPCC

City officials and leaders are considering an adaptive reuse ordinance for industrial buildings, modeled on the one that helped spark downtown L.A.’s residential boom, to help push forward the sputtering vision of a "CleanTech Corridor."

October 19, 2012 - Los Angeles Downtown News

These are heady times for public space advocates. At long last the promotion of streets, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds has become part of the eminent design and development dialogue, and with it hopefully the recognition of the needs and rights of the user. This certainly is the situation in California where the approval of parklets, and other smaller scaled, vest pocket, public projects are being hotly pursued, and in other cities where the noble if not naive Occupy movement raised the profile and purpose of public space.

October 17, 2012 - Sam Hall Kaplan

In today's news of the ironic, and weird, an L.A. car dealer is developing a mixed-use "town center" adjacent to a future light rail station that will be anchored by their auto showrooms. The twist - they want to get people out of their cars.

October 16, 2012 - SantaMonicaPatch