The 10 Freeway, Looking West from the 17th St. Bridge | Photo by GarySe7en via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The battle over Proposition T, a ballot initiative Santa Monica voters will be voting on in November, is heating up. $428,879.00 has been raised since June by a group named "Save Our City" to oppose the proposition. 15 of the 37 givers, mainly developers, were from outside the city, according to a document Prop......

This map, found on page 82 of the plan, shows some of the project areas Today, the Mayor and the four councilmembers who represent the South LA region will be presenting a 96-page common agenda called the South Los Angeles Initiatives (.pdf). They are "intended to facilitate the eventual completion of targeted economic development projects in the area," a brief press release states. "The strategic plan defines, sets targets for, and measures the progress......

Photo by susan catherine via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr 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......

Photo by GarySe7en via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr 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......

Photo by gas station sushi via Flickr 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.......

It's another day in the fight between Santa Monica City Hall and proponents of Proposition T, the city measure that would "establish an annual limit on commercial development" in an effort to slow down traffic growth. In this round, city staff asked city council about beginning to impose a traffic impact fee on developers, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press (.pdf). But Prop T proponents said the city already took a similar action in......

Did you know that if we stretched all of Downtown LA’s parking spaces across one lot, more than 80 percent of downtown would be reserved for cars? But while there’s ample space for our cars (for a price), two-thirds of the county's children don't have a park within walking distance of their homes. Tomorrow night, “Park City, L.A.” – a panel discussion hosted by the Center for Healthy Communities at The California Endowment –......

Streetsblog LA reports that the state legislature passed AB 1358, The Complete Streets Act, last week. It's a pretty important bill to help make (or force) cities to become more livable. As Streetsblog notes, it didn't get much press, but the Sacramento Bee briefly covered it: Pedestrian safety: Assembly Bill 1358 would require cities and counties to accommodate all users – including bicyclists, pedestrians and transit passengers – when building new streets and highways. This......

The Mt. Hollywood Trail in Griffith Park | Photo by Steve Zaslavsky via Flickr Environmental and neighborhood groups are organizing to save Griffith Park from the possibility of development. Last month, Col. Griffith J. Griffith's grandson and the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust put in an application to formally preserve the park by getting it designated as a historic landmark. "We're doing it to stop commercialization," the grandson told the Daily News last month.......

This morning, we shined a light on the rebirth of Bob's Big Boy. But with all highs are lows before it. Earlier this year, Bob's at Wilshire and Highland was served with an eviction notice to make way for Beverly Hills BMW (note that this location is not in Beverly Hills.) When these below photos were taken earlier this month, a neighbor stepped out to explain his frustrations about the project. He said the neighborhood......

The birth of a new parking structure that will serve the future redone Reseda Theater began yesterday near the intersection of Sherman Way and Reseda Blvd. "The 8,500-square-foot theater will be gutted and reconfigured into an 11,000- square-foot, state-of- the-art, live-performance and special-event venue," reports the Daily News. It will get a $7.7 million makeover and is being rehabilitated by the CIM Group, who runs Hollywood & Highland, among many other redevelopment properties in the......

It's rare urban farm land against young womens apparel at the old site of the South Central Farm where two years ago farmers were kicked out by owner (now in the Central Valley) real estate developer Ralph Horowitz. After a media blitz of dramatic protests, he kicked the farmers off the land in preparation to develop something, which is now a Forever 21 manufacturing plant that locals and farmers are protesting, says the LA Times.......

Photo by iboy_daniel via Flickr It's the usual story about the Department of Transportation. It's either lack of community relations, or lack of something else. Today, it's a lack of efficiency when compared to all other departments that review applications for projects. "The lack of an expedited program in the DOT [Department of Transportation] renders the programs in other departments ineffective," Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said today in a statement. She's talking about when developers......

There's a local initiative facing Santa Monicans this November regarding development in the name of traffic. The Residents' Initiative to Fight Traffic's (RIFT) ballot measure would amend the land use element of Santa Monica's general plan "to establish an annual limit on commercial development" within the city until 2023. The working theory is that traffic can't increase much if new jobs aren't made available in new developments. These days, SaMo traffic is pretty gridlocked and......

The Northridge Fashion Center area is getting a development boost with an influx of development projects. Three of the four are mixed use with retail/commercial space on the first floors and the site Kmart is expected to be razed for one of the residential buildings, according to the Daily News. Of course, there are major concerns over increased traffic and to date, there are no major public transit lines in the immediate area. Add to......

What? So, Metro is set to vote this week on a mixed-use residential/commercial development that will literally be feet from the Orange Line Sepulveda station in Van Nuys (you know, in that huge parking lot no one uses). "When they first came to me about it, it was supposed to be all residential," Councilman Tony Cardenas, who represents the area, is quoted saying in the Daily News. "Now they are talking about having commercial development."......

Usually, building codes are not at the forefront of state politics, but recently, as Los Angeles and other cities are setting their own building standards, a statewide standard was passed. It's a good step, but Schwarzenegger and environmentalists have differing views on if it is strong enough or not, even though it is the strictest in the U.S. "Nationwide, buildings consume 39% of energy, 12% of potable water, and 40% of raw materials, according to......

Think LA's relationship with underground rail transit began with the first tunnels blasted out to make way for the Red Line? Think again! LA's first subterranean transit system was a short stretch of tunneling dubbed the "Hollywood Subway," which moved its first passengers under the city in 1925 via electric interurban rail cars. Opening Day in Toluca Yard (end of the Hollywood Subway at 1st and Glendale); original source unkonwn, via California Trolleys The idea......

Not so fast hotel builders and Bevelry Hills politicians. Residents who fought (see the protest photos here) to keep the Beverly Hilton from turning into a new huge hotel/condo project have gotten their issue qualified for the November ballot, according to LA County who counted and verified the petition signatures. The Beverly HIlls city "council could decide to put the issue before the voters, or repeal the resolution which was the subject of the referendum......

Capitol Records was hoping the plan for a 16-story condo building next door to their iconic Hollywood & Vine tower would not go through. They're worried that construction of an underground 242-space parking lot and vibrations from traffic will cause damage. It "will interfere with and potentially ruin the operation of the unique echo chambers and sound studios at the Capitol Records tower next door," the record company said in a statement. On Tuesday at......

The music venue that is the Knitting Factory has been a mainstay in the resurgence of Hollywood since 2000. As an anchor tenant and early adopter of the area, the New York City based club saw Hollywood change from having the 18th Street Gang territory sit one block away to having tourists flock the area making it a likely candidate for one of the most pedestrian dense areas in the city. Now that the area......

The Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council’s “Panel Of Visionaries” led over 300 community leaders in Saturday’s “The Destiny of the West Valley” forum, challenging the community to demand walkable streets, complete and effective mass transit, park-once concepts, circulators and people movers, sustainable infrastructure, green streets, improved property values, reduced utility bills and, quite simply, greatness!......

Capitol Records wanted to leave it's iconic Hollywood building and turn it to condos back in 2006. But then the city said "no, you're so special to us, stay and prosper and keep the cultural economic engine of Los Angeles going." So Capitol agreed, but now this: "Capitol Records believes that the planned construction of a 16-story building and 240 car underground garage at 6230 Yucca Street (old KFWB radio building), will interfere with and......

As you drive "over the hill" from the Valley to Hollywood along Laurel Canyon Blvd., there's a sign there asking for donations to save some plots of land from development. No, it isn't a citizens' group or a non-profit for wilderness, it's a government agency. "Donated funds needed immediately to save these six acres under option by part agency," it reads. In a cash-strapped time for governments, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is asking......

Starting last month, the Beverly Hills City Council voted to approve a series of amendments to city ordinances and laws, including the General Plan -- the bible of city planning. The changes were set to help pave the way for the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and condos, which will replace the current Beverly Hilton with a 170-room, 12-story hotel and an additional 110 condos that are said to be each sold for an average of $5.6 million......

In January, Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti announced that City Hall and other downtown facilities would provide bicycle lockers, more racks, access to showers and a subsidy to City Hall staffers who ride a bike to work. Yesterday, Garcetti blogged that they have already won an award, the Rideshare Diamond Award, for their efforts. In other bike facility news, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is hosting a bike/walk tour that is open to......

Photo by Adam Rose/LAist After last Friday's urban deforestation of 2nd and 4th Streets in Santa Monica (see photos of it happening here), Treesavers, who advocated to leave the trees as is, are holding an over night protest on the front steps of Santa Monica City Hall beginning tomorrow evening as City Council meets. The protest is "to demonstrate their sadness and anger with the City’s May 16 ficus tree chainsaw massacre along Second......

Oh, you've got to love rumors, especially those that both anger and please people, depending on who you're speaking with. This rumor comes via a report during the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council* meeting last Monday night. During a Land Use Committee report, someone asked what the status was on the old Ventura Club building at Colbath and Ventura (just East of Hazeltine). Originally it was slated as a Walgreens, but after that got scrapped, the......

Photo by digablesoul via Flickr What is a slight inconvenience and change of habit to most people is freaking others out. Official as of yesterday, the Valley is getting a new area code, 747, that will overlay the proud 818 (come on, 747 is much cooler than the 310 overlay, 424). "I think it's too much. It's crazy," a Van Nuys resident told the Daily News. "I think people would feel much better if......

Starting in November, Los Angeles will begin enforcing a new ordinance, one that significantly reduce carbon emissions into the air. Today, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve the new measure that will "reduce the use of natural resources, create healthier living environments and minimize the negative impacts of development on local, regional and global ecosystems." It will also... Lower more than 80,000 metric tons of carbon emissions in Los Angeles annually by 2012.......