An uncharacteristic home on Sunnyslope Ave. in Sherman Oaks | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist The Los Angeles City Council passed the first citywide anti-mansionization ordinance today, stopping the development of single-family houses that are built more than the half the size of their lots. Mansionization has been an ongoing point of discussion in neighborhoods as community members saw out of scale and uncharacteristic homes built by developers. For example, on a block full of......

A view of the Valley from Sherman Oaks | Photo by Dan Wuh via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Hear that sound? That's not a jetliner landing at Van Nuys Airport. Those are moans and groans about the impending new area code overlay in the San Fernando Valley. A March 24 judicial decision recommended that the 747 overlay, which would require Valley residents to dial 1 plus the area code within the......

Photo by striatic via Flickr Unfortunately, in a city (and country) where the motto should be "pedestrians first," things are just the opposite of that. The law states that vehicles must yield to pedestrians at marked and unmarked crossings throughout the state. But the culture is not that and one can prove that to themselves by trying to cross any busy street at an unmarked crosswalk (or even a marked one in some areas).......

It's a bear market for the city's budget | Photo by BigMcGuire via Flickr The city is entering on of the worst budget woes it has ever faced. And while it's been talked about for sometime now, the effects are now becoming more apparent. Yesterday in a long city council meeting over most things money, the most controversial subject of water and power rate hikes ended with the increases on hold for further discussion,......

Mayor Villaraigosa celebrated “Metro with the Mayor" day by riding the Rapid to the corner of Wilshire & Western where he held a press conference announcing the implementation of the “New & Improved!” traffic signal synchronization program for Wilshire Boulevard. Joined at the podium by Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and LADOT General Manager Rita Robinson, the Mayor explained that the new Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) as implemented on Wilshire Boulevard, would increase capacity by 20%,......

February may well be the month of the year we think about love the most, but our local schools are banking on us sharing our love with them right now, too. This month, a project called "LA Loves Its Schools" is taking place. It's a donation drive based on the pages of DonorsChoose.Org that calls for caring individuals to pitch in a little to help local schools, classrooms, and teachers get the things they need......

More advertising on street furniture can help raise revenue for the city | Photo by el monstrito via flickr Today, Wendy Greuel announced a top ten list of sorts on new measures to save the city millions of dollars. It's good timing. On February 5th, we go to the polls and vote on Measure S, which will determine if $270 million will be taxed on our phone bills or not. If no is the......

After questioning 1200 Los Angeles County residents in a survey, Metro might be confident it could get the two-thirds stamp of approval from voters if such a measure went to the ballot. If passed, it could generate $4.5 billion within 6 1/2 years, according to an investigation by the Daily News. That amount is nearly enough to pay for the 'Subway to the Sea' Purple Line extension. But unless county residents as far as......

Yesterday's citywide public relations blitz, "A Day Without a Bag," to bring awareness to our bad habits of using and and ditching paper and plastic bags in the trash was a quaint effort by city and county leaders -- a step in the right direction, as it were. Though, in a nation where the average household consumes 750 plastic bags a year, one day, or two bags, is hardly habit forming. And habit is......

Every Monday morning, Rick Orlov of the Daily News and Steve Hymon of the LA Times write their weekly "what's going on at city hall" columns. Orlov brings an interesting story about City Council Member Dennis Zine, who represents the 3rd District in the West Valley. Zine has been given a cease and desist order from Warner Bros. over a lapel pin he has used for years as a political token to supporters. It......

Los Angeles has over 180 official neighborhoods. These are those communities designated with the city sealed blue sign. However, if you tried to figure out your neighborhood and its official boundary, there's a good chance you are going to come upon a) conflicting information b) no information, or c) confusing information. Trust us, we know. We've been digging into official Los Angeles city neighborhoods with our Neighborhood Project and have yet to come upon......

Home Depot is suing the city of Los Angeles because they didn't get what they wanted they say Councilwoman Wendy Greuel acted in a biased manner by helping neighborhood groups challenge the project while voting to require an environmental review. Greuel calls shenanigans in an LA Times article: "Is Home Depot and their lawyer suggesting that if a council member supports or opposes a project before it comes to the council, that there is......

She has her eye on becoming City Controller and maybe she has a knack for it. After working on a "Clean Money" system for City elections and helping to create the Waste, Fraud and Abuse Investigation Unit in the City Controller's office, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel introduced a motion yesterday that asked the City Ethics Commission to expand the City's ethics code to ex parte communication with City Commissioners. Whoa, what? Ex parte communications are communications......

You're walking in a dark alley. Maybe you are just walking. Maybe you are spraying graffiti. Flash. Beep! Beep! "Leave now!" a voice from somewhere in the dark says.......

The 15 Commuter Express lines that provide non-stop and express bus service between residential areas and work centers in the City of Los Angeles have not been updated in 20 years. So it's a good thing that Councilwoman Wendy Greuel introduced a motion on Wednesday, calling for a review of those lines. Let's hope it goes through. "Our commuting patterns have shifted dramatically in the last 20 years," said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, Chair of......

31 traffic collisions in the past two years at this intersection and what do you get? A new Photo Red Light (PRL) system which will activate this morning at 7:30 a.m. with Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and the LAPD. Across the city, the threat of a $381 ticket has reduced the collision rate by an average of 10-15% at PRL intersections. 12 more intersections in the city are slated to receive this technology with today's addition......

With one-third of the worst freeway junctions in this land o' freedom according to Forbes Magazine, somehow, this city still runs. It must be due to the fact that Los Angeles is economically successful: that is, if we go by the theory of economist Anthony Downs who said in the Washington Post that more economic activity equals more cars and more driving. He continues to say that "congestion will remain a fact of life......

It's bike to work week and tomorrow is the big day. Here is some of what is happening: Rush-Hour Bike Rally to City Hall Taking off from the Hollywood/Western Red Line station at 9 a.m., hundreds of cyclists will ride to city hall in demonstration of cycling solidarity. It's an 8-mile ride that will be escorted by the LAPD with arrival at city hall. At 10:30 a.m., there will be another rally or "bang......

While it may be true that no one walks in LA, people do ride their bikes, and this week is your chance to ride your bike to work while feeling superior to your coworkers. Metro will kickoff its 13th annual celebration of Bike to Work Week with a bike rally and fair featuring Ed Begley, Jr. and a free concert by the Ditty Bops at Los Angeles City Hall, Monday, May 14. Metro also......

Tomorrow night, Councilwoman for District 2, Wendy Greuel, will be hosting a rather large public town hall meeting on crime in The Valley. Even LAist is showing up to represent a booth (okay, we'll actually be repping a neighborhood council). In any case, if you live in the Valley and you want the best part of LA to stay the best, then this meeting is extremely important. Greuel, along with the LAPD will declare......

If you don't know Melrose Larry Green, you might recognize him from Howard Stern. Or maybe you know of his book, Why The Clintons Belong in Jail. Maybe not. Maybe you knew him in Brooklyn in the 50s as Laurence Victor Greenblatt. Whatever the case is, Green is a local celebrity of some sort. Last Saturday at the Keep America Beautiful launch, where Hillary Clinton spoke, Green popped into our little video as we......

The Golden Globes came and went, all while many, if not more, watched the second two hours of Los Angeles being terrorized in 24 on FOX. It was still brisk for the stars on the Red Carpet and the weather is expected to continue in the 60's throughout the week with the lows in the 40's. Luckily, the fire department has determined that the Red Flag will be lifted this morning. People celebrated Martin......

This March, we will vote again. All even-numbered Los Angeles council districts will be up for grabs. Well... sorta. A few will be running unopposed: CD2: Wendy Greuel CD4: Tom LaBonge CD12: Greig Smith Competition will be found in: CD6: Tony Cardenas CD8: Bernard Parks CD10: Herb Wesson CD14: José Huizar (a story about this race) And since Alex Padilla will resign his seat in CD7 to go to the State Senate, there will......

When one neighbor gets lazy, another gets pissed... and a little creative (we love the double-meaning). This picture was taken fifteen feet away from the infamous Rye St. pedestrian bridge in Sherman Oaks, making this not the first time the small cul-de-sac has had to fight for their rights by taking things into their own hands. After the jump, AsianImage (YouTube Handle) shows the all too often irony of "Curb Your Dog" signs.......

Last night Council District 2's Wendy Greuel held a community forum, The Intersection of Planning and Transportation, in discussion with Director of Planning, Gail Goldberg and Gloria Jeff, General Manager of DOT. If we were better hackers, we would have live blogged, but LA Valley College protects their WiFi. Nevertheless, some highlights from last night: Buzz Word of the Night: Mobility New Phrase to Learn: Envelope Entitlement Goldberg: Maybe The Unofficial MTA Prez In......

music for a Valley high American Idol top 3 finalist Katharine McPhee visited Notre Dame High School, her alma mater, and got an official welcome from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. She also drove some high school boys to the brink when she sang "God Bless the Child" (check out the guy on the right). young love The LA Times finds a modern Romeo & Juliet at the racially divided Jefferson High......