Barry Siegel’s new book about the 1932 Olympics shows how much chutzpah counted in early Los Angeles
How Los Angeles Landed Its First Olympics
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.
Top California Planning Stories of the 2010s
CP&DR’s retrospective of the triumphs, failures, and tensions that influenced California’s built environment in the 2010s
Luxury (and Layups) at the Chase Center
The Golden State Warriors’ privately financed arena in San Francisco reflects the moneyed interests of big tech.
Bidding Unhappy Trails to the Old Retail Landscape
The “retail apocalypse” has claimed a particularly unfortunate victim: the homegrown outdoor equipment chain Adventure 16. California’s cities and wilderness are both worse off
Inadvertent Praise For California’s Environmental Ethic
This Land skewers the federal land management agencies — and, in the process, indirectly provides a good reason to keep CEQA and California’s other environmental laws
The Top Urban Planning Books of the Decade
These 14 books, selected by Planetizen for lasting relevance and excellence in research and rhetoric, will continue to define the ambitions and the shortcomings of the urban planning field in the decade that was the 2010s.
The Top Urban Planning Books of 2019
The decade wraps up with another engaging crop of highly readable and recommendable books on the subject of urban planning. There’s a lot to learn, on many related subjects, among this year’s top planning books.
El Cerrito Discovers Key to Infill Planning
While many Bay Area cities resist growth, El Cerrito is booming with transit oriented plan on San Pablo Avenue
Tightening The Belt
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is tying the world together—but what’s the end game?
Mobility Revolution Arriving Fast … and Slow
Advances in mobility technologies — from electric cars to robotic shopping carts — are dazzling. But planners will be hard-pressed to predict which ones will prevail.
The Coming Uberapocalypse
If the Uberpocalypse (Lyftaclysm?) transpires, cities are going to find themselves time-warped back to 2009
Santa Barbara Celebrates “Authenticity,” Faces Housing Crunch
Santa Barbara will be on full display at next week’s conference of the California Chapter of the American Planning Association. In advance of the conference, CP&DR’s Josh Stephens spoke with Santa Barbara Community Development Director George Buell.
Thunberg’s Voyage May Be a Stunt, But She Has a Point for Planners
If we can rebuild our cities according to those models, with an eye towards human scale and away from the automobile, Americans won’t need to travel abroad just so they can find a decent sidewalk cafe.
Incoming Berkeley Design Dean Seeks to Unite East and West Coasts in Responsible Urbanism
CP&DR’s Josh Stephens spoke with Vishaan Chakrabarti about his transition to Berkeley and the urban environment he will encounter upon moving west.