Los Angeles

Understanding L.A. in Dark and Light

This piece from Places discusses Los Angeles as a place difficult to wrap one's head around, and how light and darkness are so important to the city's identity.

April 8, 2011 - Places

The Role and Impact of Preservation in L.A.

In this Q&A, architect Brenda Levin talks about the role of preservation in Los Angeles, and how restoring and reusing some of the city's historic buildings has created a long-term benefit.

April 5, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Keep Your Car Looking Great: Use Transit

This 1950s commercial for the Los Angeles Metro poses another benefit of using transit: your car will stay looking brand new!

March 27, 2011 - Cartoon Brew

24 Hrs. In Terrible Traffic

Data from mobile app Waze is used to create a visualization of the throbbing, insistent pulsing of Los Angeles traffic.

March 24, 2011 - GOOD Magazine

Bike Plan Foresees Vastly Different Los Angeles

The recent adoption of a citywide bicycle plan in Los Angeles could bring about broad changes to the city's physical environment.

March 22, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

Borrowing Against Future Revenues to Expand Salt Lake City Rail

Salt Lake City is aggressively expanding its light rail network thanks to a voter approved tax increase. This post wonders whether the city could follow mimic a proposed plan in Los Angeles to speed up the use of those taxes.

March 20, 2011 - The Source

Proposed Stadium Needs More Than Football

Plans to build a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles hinge on more than football. A major element in making the idea work financially for the city is to make it an attractive site for conventions and conferences.

March 18, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Federal Lending Should Support Local Transit Funds

The federal government should play a larger role in lending money to local governments for transit projects, and not just spending money, according to this oped.

February 24, 2011 - San Gabriel Valey Tribune

Forget The Automobile, More Streets for Pedestrians and Cyclists Coming to L.A.

Despite the city's heavy dependence on cars, a newly-approved project in Los Angeles will transform a Downtown street into a better experience for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit-riders.

February 18, 2011 - GOOD Magazine

Urging Sponsorships to Fund L.A. Transit

One way to help build an expensive new extension of L.A's subway system is to accept corporate sponsorships, argues Joel Epstein in this op-ed.

February 15, 2011 - Los Angeles Business Journal

Nicing Up the City

With millions of people, Los Angeles -- like many big cities -- can be a rude place. And though it makes sense that the city can be impolite, it doesn't have to be, argues Amy Alkon in this op-ed.

February 11, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Museum Steps in as Budget Cuts Threaten Watts Towers

As the city of Los Angeles's budget faces deep cuts, money to pay for the upkeep of the city's iconic Watts Towers folk art installation has dried up. But a museum is stepping in to try to keep the Towers alive.

February 9, 2011 - The New York Times

Bus-Only Lane in Los Angeles Faces Political Trouble

The decade-long plan for a proposed bus-only lane on Wilshire Blvd. faces yet another political battle as politicians relent to public complaints.

February 5, 2011 - The Los Angeles Times

Revisiting Early L.A. Reviews

Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne begins a year-long series reading and reviewing 25 books all about L.A.

February 2, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Proposed Los Angeles Stadium Gets a Name

Entertainment Giant AEG appears to have partnered with Farmers Insurance for naming rights to the proposed stadium in Downtown L.A.

February 1, 2011 - Bloomberg

Apartments Replace Retail At Los Angeles TOD Site

At the subway stop at Wilshire Blvd. and Vermont, developer Jerry Snyder halted construction on his planned vertical retail mall, saying that the apartment market is comparatively "very strong."

January 28, 2011 - The Los Angeles Times

Decades of Failure in the Sea of Dust

When Los Angeles drained Owens Lake to bring water into its quickly growing urban basin, it simultaneously created a dry lakebed and one of the worst dust pollution problems in America. Various efforts to fight the problem have only failed.

January 27, 2011 - Places

San Diego Looks to Cram 50 Years of Work into 10

While transportation activists in Los Angeles are getting behind a plan to cram 30 years of transportation projects into a decade, environmentalists in nearby San Diego want to do 50 years worth in the same amount of time.

January 26, 2011 - Streetsblog LA

Amid New Leadership, Villaraigosa's Transit Plans See Less Support

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently visited Washington D.C. to discuss his plans for expedited transit projects in L.A., but the new congressional leadership is not as supportive as the old.

January 22, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

California Redevelopment Rush In Full Throttle

Redevelopment agency officials throughout California are moving rapidly to prevent a threatened takeover by the state (to reduce deficit) by signing deals on projects potentially prematurely. LA just turned $1 billion in 275 projects to the city.

January 20, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

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.