A cliche about art is that it is supposed to help people see the world differently. Christo literally made the world look different.
COVID Crisis Revives Tactical Urbanism
Low-cost transformation of streets to public — and restaurant — spaces may help enliven city neighborhoods and revive their sales tax bases
The Urban Mystique: Notes on California, Los Angeles, and Beyond
The first book from veteran urban planning journalist Josh Stephens, The Urban Mystique: Notes on California, Los Angeles, and Beyond covers everything from the minutiae of setbacks, the impacts of transit investments, the promise of smart growth and sustainability, and the precariousness of urban politics in the 21st century.
Planners Should Not Let Density Debate Infect Their Work
Many armchair planners are trying to blame the virus crisis on density. Real planners shouldn’t let them get away with it.
The Dreadful Secret Behind a Nearly Perfect Commercial Strip
Many elements of great, but forbidden, urbanism are on display in a bygone version of Los Angeles
Planning Meetings Move Online
Visual depictions of projects remain an issue — though accessibility might actually be improved for some. Brown Act has been loosened for the duration of COVID-19
Housing Development Likely To Crash Because of COVID
Even entitled buildings won’t be built unless they have financing
Solvang Reconsidered
We’re supposed to hate Solvang’s kitsch. But it’s got great bones — for several blocks in all directions
Virus Crisis Forces Planning to Go Virtual
As the coronavirus shuts down California, planning departments across the state are adapting and staying on-task
College Counseling Update 2020
I send warm greetings from Los Angeles and hope you are all healthy and safe wherever you may be. I am in the annual lull following the college application season. My students had a fantastic …
On Tea and Density in Old Delhi
The best tea shop in Old Delhi is not a shop at all. It’s a cart, a bottle of propane, a guy, and his assistant…
YIMBYism’s Golden Moment
In Golden Gates, Conor Dougherty chronicles the rise of the YIMBY movement and California’s battle over housing — with the aplomb of an East Bay skateboarder
What’s On The March 2020 Ballot?
A typical jumble of land-use measures — but they suggest California’s future direction
How Los Angeles Landed Its First Olympics
Barry Siegel’s new book about the 1932 Olympics shows how much chutzpah counted in early Los Angeles
New Housing Laws Bring Design Standards to Fore
To cut down on discretionary review, new housing laws require cities to approve housing projects so long as they conform to “objective” design standards. Cities are scrambling to draft standards that promote housing and promote desired aesthetic goals
Year-in-Review 2019
Not until the first week of December or so did I realize that the change of the year also ushered in a change of decade. My ignorance must have been due to equal parts denial …
Wiener Loses Again. Or Does He?
SB 50 went down in flames once more. But the bill gave the state cover for other bills that would otherwise would have been considered radical. And RHNA is forcing upzoning all over the state.