SUN Local/Organic Potluck

The Sustainable Urban Network is having a lunch-time potluck on our Veteran's Day Holiday, Nov. 11th. The theme is local and/or organic foods, so go explore your local farmer's market and make something yummy to share. All are invited to attend.

It will start at 1pm, and be held off-campus at Stephanie's house:

3532 Hillcrest Dr. LA, CA 90016

Alex Oster will be coordinating carpools for those who would like - sadly, public transport to this neighborhood is not that easy right now (until they get that Expo line up and running!). Email her at the SUN address - sunetwork@ucla.edu

We hope to see you there!

Future Bruin Planners

They're so articulate and adorable! We should have them to come to a planning event at UCLA.

Local CA Election Results Related to Land Use

The California Planning & Development Report posts results pertaining to land use. Interesting to see who is pro growth and who isn't. Always fun to read these with the Glaeser/Gyourko article in mind (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=302388)

Mobile Garden in Chicago

A MFA student in Chicago (UIC) is planning this mobile garden project - that takes a flatcar (normally used by the transit agency to move around large equipment via rail) and installs a garden of native plants on it. The garden will then run with the regular transit service for hopefully three weeks in April/May (still in the proposal process)in Chicago.

GOOD Cities

GOOD Magazine launches GOOD.is/Cities a place to engage, discuss, and digest the ideas and actions that are pushing our cities toward their potential.

MORE Urban Planning Halloween Costumes!

Hmm...how can I look like marginal consumer surplus?

Metro Westide Subway Station Information Meeting

This Monday, October 26, 2009, Metro will be holding a Informational Meeting discussing the following stations:
*Wilshire and Crenshaw
*Wilshire and La Brea
* Wilshire and Fairfax

They will be discussing "station locations, entrances, easy connections to and from the stations and other issues."
*Translations in Korean and Spanish will be provided.

Meeting Time:
Monday, October 26, 2009
6:00-8:00pm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) - Terrace Room, 5th Floor
5905 Wilshire Blvd. (at Fairfax)
LA, CA 90036

LEED Lofts at Cherokee Studios

Some of us were lucky enough to get a tour of the Lofts at Cherokee Studios today. They're still under construction but will be opening soon. Here's some text from their website:

Cherokee Lofts is the most advanced and distinctive building of its kind in Los Angeles. It will be the "greenest" LEED Platinum* Certified mixed-use development in the state of California. The building honors the significant musical and Hollywood history of Cherokee Studios, and MGM and Republic Studios before it, and all the artists who recorded music on the site from Frank Sinatra to David Bowie to Dave Mathews. Cherokee Studios represents the premiere in green design, form, and function in the epicenter of the entertainment capital of the world.

http://www.loftsatcherokeestudios.com/

Some quick facts:

-construction vehicles used biodiesel

-all paints voc free

-building materials made from recycled products

-tank less water heaters

recycled aluminum screening on the balconies can open and close like windows

the orientation allows sunlight to travel all the way through the units

great views of the hills from this unit

Without a Car in the World

For the fourth and final installment of Almost Utopia, the gallery at 18th Street Arts Center will be dedicated to an unprecedented investigation of 100 Car-Less Angelinos and it will tell their stories of living in Los Angeles.

Public Discussions are as follows (please stay posted to our website for any changes in scheduling and/or change with public speakers:

November 6, 9:30PM
Ride-ARC Ride on Santa Monica Car and Pedestrian Culture with Alex Amerri

November 11, 7:OOPM
“Walking in LA” Panel/Discussion with:
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Professor, UCLA Department of Urban Planning; author of Sidewalks: Conflict and Negotiation Over Public Space
Herbert Medina, Professor, Loyola Marymount University Department of Mathematics
Nigel Raab, Assistant Professor, Loyola Marymount University Department of History
DJ Waldie, author of Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir, Real City:Downtown Los Angeles Inside/Out and Where We are Now: Notes from Los Angeles, Public Information Officer for the City of Lakewood
Damon Willick, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Art History, Loyola Marymount University

November 14, 2pm
“Transportation and the Future of Los Angeles”
Jessica Meaney, Transportation Planner, Southern California Association of Governments
Browne Molyneux, Journalist and Blogger, Shame Train LA
Claude Willey, Artist, Urbanist and Educator, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, California State University, Northridge
Others to be confirmed

November 14 3:30pm
“How to Live in Los Angeles Without a Car”
Chris Balish, Journalist and Author, How to Live Well Without Owning a Car
Paula Hess, Magazine Editor and Single Mom
Siel, Writer and Blogger, LA Green Girl

December 2 7:30pm
Kristina Wong Comedy Slideshow about Riding the Bus