For all the tumult that 2018 brought, the world remains an interesting place. I was glad to write about a few corners of it, and I am pleased to present a few of my highlights, in rough geographical order. 

As always, I owe thanks to my editors, including Bill Fulton (Calif. Planning & Development Report), James Brasuell (Planetizen), Martin Petersen (Common Edge Collaborative), and Stefanie Sobelle (LA Review of Books). And, of course, thanks to all of my sources and readers in the urban planning community and beyond. 

In 2019, please be on the lookout for my usual slate of articles, blogs, and book reviews, plus two books of my own: The Urban Mystique, a collection of blogs and essays, to be published by Solano Press; and Planners Across America, a collection of my interviews with planning directors across the country, to be published by Planetizen Press. Both have been a long time coming, and I’m looking forward to getting them out into the world. 
I wish everyone happy reading and thank you, again, for your support.

Los Angeles & Environs
Letter from Southern California: Packing Books as the Woolsey Fire Approaches, Common Edge Collaborative
The Opposite of Gentrification, CP&DR
After 30 Years, Clock Strikes (Net-) Zero for Newhall Ranch Opposition, CP&DR

California (The Place)
Scooters Propel Cities Toward New Regulatory Approaches, CP&DR Opportunity Zones Look Promising For California, CP&DR  Suit Attacks Greenhouse Gas Scoping Plan in Name of Social Justice, CP&DR New General Plan Seeks to Banish Stockton’s Demons, CP&DR Regions Contemplate New, Tougher Carbon Emissions Targets, CP&DR California Cities, Counties Grapple With Cannabis, CP&DR Housing Bills Flood Sacramento Again, CP&DR

California (The Idea)
 Book Review: State of Resistance, CP&DR
The Transit Crisis Is Really A Housing Crisis, CP&DR
Undoing the Legacy of Segregation in California, CP&DR
Cannabis, Urbanism and Storefront Ethics, Common Edge Collaborative On Seismology and the Humanities, Medium
Sierra Club California Blazes Wrong Trail on Urbanism, CP&DR

Seattle
Seattle Planning Director Pursues Equity Amid a Pro-Growth Agenda, Planetizen

Princeton
The Clarity of Robert Venturi, Planetizen

New York City
 Lago Approaches New York City as a ‘City of Neighborhoods’, Planetizen Overcoming Affluence: How Students of Modest Means Can Defy the Odds, Medium

Honolulu
Reconsidering Paradise: How Honolulu Became a Poster Child for American Autocentric Urbanism, Common Edge Collaborative 

Sri Lanka 
A Tale of Two Cities: Tourism and Imperialism in Sri Lanka, Common Edge Collaborative

Democratic Republic of Congo (via NYC)
Urban Utopias Under African Skies, Planetizen 

The Planning Universe
The Social Importance of Public Spaces, Review of Eric Klinenberg’s Palaces for the People, CP&DR
Balancing Act: Richard Sennett’s “Building and Dwelling”, Los Angeles Review of Books
Top 10 Urban Planning Books – 2018, Planetizen
Beating the Amazon Con, CP&DR
Eviction Is Only Part Of The Housing Crisis, CP&DR