1/ personal thoughts on expanding + improving bus stops. There are more than 12000 bus stops served by LA Metro buses. Fewer than 25% have shelter and fewer than 50% have seating. 2/ provision of shelters and seating at vast majority of these bus stops is the responsibility of local cities, yet as. Metro’s first customer experience plan noted: “customers do not care who owns bus stops, nor should they have to be concerned with jurisdictional distinctions.”

1/ now that California has taken baby steps by allowing ADUs and duplexes, nice to think about allowing more diverse plex types that could be a little taller than 1-2 stories. Detached 5-story, four-unit bldg in Tel Aviv 2/ detached, 6-home, 4-story bldg in Amarante Portugal

1/ Early years of CEQA seem like it hadn’t been fully discovered yet. In 1974, LA city circulated EIR for its first citywide land use plan, which proposed big policies yet only got 5 comments from public, and 2 comments were ‘we didn’t have enough time’ - guess that’s not new.. 2/ plan proposed concentrating growth in 20+ high rise, mixed-use centers linked by new high rise transit system, preserving most single family areas and avoiding growth in undeveloped natural areas.

1/ a thread about Hiawatha T. Estes, the prolific, LA-based, Native American designer and house-plan entrepreneur who said of his work: “I design the type of home no one talks about but in which nearly everyone lives.” 2/ Estes was born in Oklahoma, and raised partly by his aunt Te Ata, a Chickasaw folklorist and storyteller. He was trained as a civil engineer, served in the air force in World War 2, and then, like many veterans, relocated to Southern California.

1/ when I recently posted on 70s LA plans + population control, it may have seemed like the city’s general plan concept was all about downzoning. This thread is for broader context- and scans of the key documents 2/ LA was a zoning pioneer in late 19th and early 20th century (early and active use-districts, 1st US city to divide into residential + industrial districts, 1st large US city w/ single family zoning + parking requirements) but didn’t adopt a citywide general plan until 1974

1/ in 1971 the planning director of the city of LA wrote a memo to the planning commission + city council planning committee on population, zoning & the concept for LA’s first general plan 2/ part of the context was that ecology and population control social movements were newly organized. They were over-represented in commenting on the city’s general plan development. And city council had held hearings on how zoning and planning changes could help limit growth

1/ Homelessness in LA county has risen (count will be released soon). A paradox is that a significant percent of people becoming homeless do so after getting evicted.. but places with high eviction rates have low homelessness 2/ homelessness is correlated w/ high rents & high poverty & low rates of home building. California and Hawaii have high rents, significant poverty despite lots of wealth, and low homebuilding. The high-eviction regions have cheaper housing