Eric Klinenberg’s Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone offers a potentially instructive glimpse into how the other half lives: some out of preference, others out of desperation.
New Light Rail Line Opens Up World of TOD Possibilities
Now that the Westside once again has the “T,” efforts to figure out the “OD” have only just begun.
Book Review: Aerotropolis Promotes Planning Where Land Meets Sky
The somewhat unnerving implication of Aerotropolis is that the great cities of the global age aren’t so much cities but rather are catchment areas for airports — specifically, airports that fling people and goods across oceans.
CP&DR Holiday Book Roundup
Over the past few years, publishers have put out enough books on urban sustainability to make Al Gore blush. Unfortunately, making a city sustainable takes a lot longer than does writing a book about making …
Reclaiming the Interstates from Ike
Just in case you thought that suburbanization of the 20th century was a joint venture between God, the invisible hand, and a pot of gold delivered by the Freedom Fairy, Earl Swift’s Big Roads might …
50 Years Later, Jacobs Still Leads a Sorority of Dissent
There must have been something in the water affecting women in the early 1960s, and it wasn’t just DDT.
From SoHo to Yolo: Community Arts Grants Encourage Placemaking
11 national foundations plus the National Endowment for the Arts announced the founding of ArtPlace America, a nationwide initiative to drive revitalization in cities and towns with a new investment model that puts the arts at the center of economic development.
Parking Reform Measure Strains Relationship Between Infill Developers, Housing Advocates
There was a time when the biggest opponents to infill development were the interstate highway, the barbeque grill, and the American dream. Following the failure of Assembly Bill 710, you might be able to add advocates of affordable housing to the list.
Book Review: ‘Making the San Fernando Valley’
Early in her account of the development of San Fernando Valley, Laura R. Barraclough describes an 1880s-era photo that captures the wholesome spirit of what would become Los Angeles’ great bedroom community: “Captioned ‘Lankershim’s best …
Book Review: Julius Shulman Los Angeles
Yes, it’s a coffee table book. But, even for urban planning wonks, it reveals more about how the built environment evolves than could a million pages of zoning code.
SB 375 Draws Ire of Tea Party
Environmentalists and many fans of cities hail SB 375 as an important step towards both curbing global warming and creating more pleasant cities. But Tea Party activists nationwide have fought against local and regional planning efforts, often invoking the United Nations’ “Agenda 21” sustainable development effort as the enemy.
‘Parklets’ Create Public Space, 120 Square Feet at a Time
Arguably the most adorable urban space to come along in a long time, parklets are to Golden Gate and Griffith parks what amoebas are to elephants. They are multiplying, not by mitosis but by entrepreneurship, all over San Francisco – with Oakland, Long Beach, and other cities in California and elsewhere showing interest in the notion that parking spaces aren’t just for cars anymore.
Nevada Threatens Secession from Tahoe Compact
After 31 years as a supposedly equal party in the Bi-State Compact governing the Lake Tahoe basin, Nevada has taken its first steps towards pulling out of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
Proposed ‘New City’ Banks on Resurrection of Salton Sea
Travertine Point would cover roughly 5,000 acres along the northwest corner of the Salton Sea, roughly 10 miles from Mecca and 35 miles from Palm Springs.
Every City For Itself: Adapting to Climate Change
A great deal of literature has already anointed the hero in the fight against climate change: the city. Beginning with David Owens’ Green Metropolis and including the work of Paul Hawken, Ed Glaeser, and countless …
Joel Kotkin Anticipates How California Will Handle Its Share Of ‘The Next 100 Million’
In his latest book, The Next 100 Million: America in 2050, Los Angeles-based author and urbanist Joel Kotkin discuses who these 100 million new Americans are going to be, where they are going to live, and what type of lifestyles they will lead.
Placemaking for Pot Smoking
What the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 does not do is prescribe how cannabis should be regulated, controlled, and taxed. Nor does it dictate where pot can be sold or grown. It leaves those complex decisions up to cities and counties, which many consider both a blessing and a curse.
AB 32 Backlash Clouds Future of Smart Growth
As public support for global warming mitigation is faltering, the state’s economy remains stuck in neutral, and developments are dying on the vine, California’s landmark environmental legislation is under attack.