“YIMBY” Movement Heats Up in Boulder
A loose affiliation of activists fed up with what they consider undue political influence of NIMBYs, the YIMBY movement has cropped up all over America.
Rent Control Gains Traction Amid Housing Crisis in Bay Area
Over the past year, cities have again turned to what is, in many ways, the tool of last resort to preserve affordable housing.
Renters vs. Tenants: A Distinction with a Difference
I think of renters expansively, as more than just parties who signed a piece of paper. Renters are demographic group, and an enormous one at that.
OpEd: Expo Line
Why Westsiders needs to stop worrying and learn how to love the train.
Why Winning Park Design Is a Win for Los Angeles
If all goes according to plan, by 2020, Los Angeles’ Pershing Square will be flattened, scraped clean and reintroduced to a public that has long crossed the street to avoid it.
What If Houston Fell in Love With Planning
Houston’s expansion is going in two directions at once. While development on the suburban fringe continues, there is intense focus on the urban core.
Jane Jacobs: 100 and Timeless as Ever
This is not your grandmother’s city. But it may yet be.
Insight into New University of California Application Essays (Part I)
If these prompts inspire more candid, creative answers, then UC might be on to something.
Intellectual Tourism, Near and Far: Review of ‘The Geography of Genius’
Organized chronologically, each chapter travels to a different city and investigates a different type of genius, spanning some 3,000 years. There’s a fun, parlor-game quality to anticipation, both of what city will come next and of what might qualify as “genius” for Weiner.
California Needs ‘Minimum Housing’ to Go Along with Minimum Wage
Minimum wage increases don’t mean much if housing supply does not increase.
New Faces in Long Beach
Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio rethinks a neglected Long Beach corner.
Book Review: From Steel to Slots
Chloe E. Taft explores the transition of Bethlehem, Pa., from Rust Belt company town to gambling mecca.
Fetishizing Families: Review of ‘The Human City’
Kotkin has long been a contrarian and critic of contemporary planning — sometimes a perceptive and welcome one, especially when urbanists, myself included, have gotten too cute or too smug. “The Human City” is probably his most comprehensive critique and surely his most off-putting.
Columbus Bucks Trends, Grows Steadily
Smack in the buckle of the Rust Belt, Columbus, Ohio, has managed to avoid some of the hard times that have befallen its neighbors.
2015 Year-in-Review
I haven’t kept precise count, but 2015 may have been my most prolific year yet in over 10 years as a journalist. I’m back at the California Planning & Development Report and have been delighted …
2015 Year-in-Review
I haven’t kept precise count, but 2015 may have been my most prolific year yet in over 10 years as a journalist. I’m back at the California Planning & Development Report and have been delighted to …
Los Angeles’ Moral Failing
urking behind every data point and every policy are forces like curiosity, relationships, open-ness, diversity, civic self-image, and values. These factors are often disregarded by short-sighted wonks and bureaucrats not because they’re not crucial but because they aren’t easily quantified.