City officials insist that public safety is the number one priority in the complex plan surrounding next month's closure of the 405 but administrators at four area hospitals fear that essential staff will be unable to commute to and from work. more ›

The inaugural CicLAvia event last month was a tremendous success, and now planners are looking to get going on a repeat event for 2011. "The CicLAvia board is looking to host the next CicLAvia event in more-or-less the same 7-mile route as we did on 10-10-10 (more on some possible tweaks - soon!) extending from East Hollywood to Boyle Heights," blogs CicLAvia. They're planning on a Sunday in April 2011, but want input from riders, residents, "area organizations, businesses, city agencies, Metro, etc." to help settle on a date that won't compete with other big events, or let them "dovetail" an appropriate event. Ultimately, there could be 4-6 CicLAvia events in 2011. more ›

The seven acres of space in front of and across from the Santa Monica City Hall [map] are going to be turned into two public parks, and the planners are turning to the community for input, according to the Argonaut. more ›

Abandoned shopping carts lining the streets are a neighborhood nuisance, but one the city has had trouble solving. That could change today when the L.A. City Council takes on a proposal to institute an ordinance that would have businesses control their shopping cart inventory by using technologies to stop them from leaving store grounds. more ›

Today, the Los Angeles City Council is scheduled to make their second and final vote on zoning changes to portions of the Glassell Park and Cypress Park communities. The problem? "Many in the Glassell Park and Cypress Park communities felt these areas had been long neglected from a planning perspective," explained Julie Wong of Council President Eric Garcetti's office. "This addresses some community concerns, including what they feel to be an over-saturation of auto-related businesses and fast food drive throughs." more ›

Phase Two of Metro's Gold Line Eastside Transit Corridor project is poised to move ahead into the community meeting phase, as plans to add on rail service extending the line from East Los Angeles to cities further east are in motion. more ›

With billboards and supergraphics as one of the hot topic items at city hall, a new staff report and proposed city sign ordinance has finally been released. It will be voted on next week Wednesday at a City Planning Commission. more ›

"Let's not forget the local perspective when talking national policies," LA City Council President Eric Garcetti said last night in a telephone press conference about the federal stimulus package going through Washington D.C. right now. "The economic recovery isn't going to happen in Washington, it's going to happen on our streets." more ›

Wrought with the economy hitting them hard and community and city opposition, Home Depot officially announced today that they are done trying to open a store in the Northeast Valley and are dropping their $10 million lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles. more ›

And when you hear that, you might find yourself asking which Realtor came up with that ranking. Luckily, this time there is some creditability behind the designation: the American Planning Association. They "singled out Echo Park because of its breathtaking topography set in the hills above downtown, historic architecture, pedestrian-oriented streets and stairways, and engaged residents who, over the years, have gone to great lengths to protect and preserve their community," according to an APA release (add: their website has more info and history on why EP was chosen) . more ›

The RAND Corporation came out with a study today focusing on short-term transportation policy options that could improve transportation in the city. They based their findings on what they see as the problem of Los Angeles traffic: mainly cheap and abundant parking and polycentricism (various sub-centers instead of one downtown area). And one of the more interesting reasons why traffic reductions are usually temporary seems to be the human psyche: more ›

A bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger last night will encourage smarter growth for a California that's expected to largely increase in population in upcoming decades. The bill requires the California Air Resources Board to set regional targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions dovetailed into regional transportation planes resulting in a Sustainable Communities Strategy. It also hopes to give developers incentive to build high-density projects near transit hubs.
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Presidential candidate Barack Obama took a relaxing Sunday bicycle ride with his family to a friend's house and then on a beachside ride. It's sexy that he's sporting a helmet, too (even if some say it was an unflattering choice). more ›

"I don't know if I'm more sad or more angry," Treesavers founder Jerry Rubin said this morning as he witnessed Santa Monica workers cut down 23 ficus trees on 2nd and 4th Street. He stood on a stump where one of the trees used to stand for over 40 years -- it only took a matter of minutes to cut it down. "We'll be back again, and we won't get caught with our pants down this time. It's sad, I feel guilty. I feel that maybe there were things we could have done more to save these trees." more ›

The Silver Lake reservoir has been drained for sometime now due to rare photochemical reaction that created carcinogens. In June, the Department of Water and Power plans to fill it back up, but its use as a place to hold drinking water is being phased out -- it will now become purely eye candy by 2015 (as well as the nearby Ivanhoe Reservoir). So if the water aspect has no functional use and takes up plenty of real estate in a city that is in desperate need of urban parkland, why not make some changes? USC journalism teacher and blogger Sara Catania has an idea: more ›

Simon Pastucha is the kind of city government employee Los Angeles needs more of. Why? He walks the talk and the Daily News tagged along for a day of his car-free, public transportation life. The Pasadena resident is an urban designer and planner at the Urban Design Studio, a two-person office charged with making the city a more community oriented, walkable and people friendly one. With his salary, Pastucha used to lease a Mercedes... more ›

Making the fight that "Los Angeles is not Manhattanizing," William Fulton of the School of Planning, Policy and Development at USC lays down the groundwork on what LA was supposed to be and why it never happened in one of the single most informative articles about Los Angeles that we've read in recent months:In the 1970s, when L.A.'s suburbs began sprouting, the city adopted, in 1974, an innovative general zoning plan that called for... more ›