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FEATURED WORK

Writing on urban planning, city trends, transportation, design,
and education.

Mobility Plan Nudges Los Angeles Towards New Transportation Modes

October 19, 2015 • CP&DR

The City of Los Angeles has, finally, formulated an ambitious vision — some say too ambitious — to redefine nearly every facet of mobility in the city.

Planners Across America: Philadelphia on the Rebound

October 12, 2015 • Planetizen

Garry Jastrzab, executive director of the Philadelphia Planning Commission, explains how a new comprehensive plan and a focus on the public realm guide the city as it searches for a balance between the old with the new.

Flight Segments

September 24, 2015 • The Architect's Newspaper

LAX renovation gains momentum with Terminal 5.

Crises and Innovation Converge on San Francisco Planning Director John Rahaim’s Watch

September 21, 2015 • Planetizen

The latest installment of the Planners Across America series interviews John Rahaim, planning director for the City and County of San Francisco, about the heightened passions and perpetual controversies of planning in the City by the Bay.

Book Review: Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change

September 3, 2015 • CP&DR

Tactical urbanism’s entry into the mainstream comes in the form of the enthusiastic volume Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change.

Critical Thinking And The College Applicant

September 1, 2015 • Scary Mommy

Time and again, though, it’s the students who see through the platitudes who are the most attractive college applicants.

Stop Blaming Airbnb for Your Apartment Search Woes

August 17, 2015 • Los Angeles Magazine

Focusing on how home-sharing sites are worsening L.A.’s rental market is diverting us from addressing much bigger housing problems

Planners Across America: Josh Whitehead Helps Memphis Live Within Limits

July 31, 2015 • Planetizen

Josh Whitehead, planning director of the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning & Development (OPD), discusses competing with suburbs, implementing a new zoning code, and redeveloping, for a second time, historic streetcar corridors.

How One City Will Change Its Entire Bus System Overnight

July 25, 2015 • Next City

After three decades, Houston is revamping its entire bus network — more than 80 routes, 1,200 buses and a quarter-million daily passengers — literally overnight.

Mega-Building Projects and their Impact

July 23, 2015 • No Tags

Guest on KOCE/PBS’s public affairs show “Studio SoCal,” discussing the impact of Los Angeles’ development boom.

California City Moves Toward Innovation Zone for Marijuana

July 20, 2015 • Next City

City officials believe it would be the country’s first-ever land use designation specifically meant to promote and regulate the production of marijuana and cannabis-related products.

L.A. Wants to Throw a Different Kind of World Party

July 16, 2015 • Next City

Ambitiously called Los Angeles World’s Fair (LAWF) — no “proposal” or “candidate city” about it — the group is promoting what it describes as a new type of World’s Fair, one that is fitting not only for Los Angeles but also for the 21st century.

San Francisco Tries to Combat the Business Side of Gentrification

July 2, 2015 • Next City

Campos has proposed a ballot initiative that, while it will not save every threatened legacy business, may buoy enough of them to prevent the city’s commercial landscape from being overrun by Starbucks and Chipotle.

Silicon Beach Misses Chance to Curb Rising Rents

July 1, 2015 • Santa Monica Next

As of last month, Silicon Beach can officially blame themselves for some of this housing crisis.

L.A. Asks Makers to Stand Up and Be Counted

June 29, 2015 • Next City

With over 350,000 manufacturing jobs, Los Angeles County has more than any other county in the U.S., and an attendant number of factories.

Review of ‘Water to the Angels’

June 27, 2015 • Los Angeles Review of Books

Les Standiford, an accomplished novelist, sets out to tell this gripping story in Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles.

Planners Across America: Brad Buchanan Shepherds Denver’s Explosive Growth

June 22, 2015 • Planetizen

In this interview for the “Planners Across America” series, Denver Planning Director Brad Buchanan details Denver’s efforts to reactivate the urban core with strong planning, transit investments, and new residential and commercial developments.

Papacy Comes Down to Earth on Climate Change

June 18, 2015 • No Tags

It turns out that two of the world’s biggest proponents of smart growth are Catholic.

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