Things to read from the past week:
- Metro Considering Modernizing Highway Program – Making Funds More Flexible: "Proposal would remove limitations, allowing municipalities to do complete streets projects including bus, bike, walk" (Streetsblog LA)
- New law makes foreclosed homes easier to buy — if you’re not a landlord or flipper: "The new rules apply to one- to four-unit properties sold at foreclosure auctions. If an investor wins one of those homes at auction, then people who want to live in it, as well as nonprofit organizations and government entities, get 45 days to submit competing offers." (LA Times)
- L.A. may turn the Convention Center into a pandemic homeless shelter: "This move is a reflection of the increasingly desperate situation thousands of homeless people face living on the streets. As coronavirus cases rise again in Los Angeles, the move is also a reflection of the increasingly slim chances of large-scale events at the Convention Center in the near future." (LA Times)
- 124-Unit Project at 4242 S. Crenshaw Approved by City Planning: A look at some of the things on the horizon along Crenshaw between Exposition and 61st (Streetsblog LA)
- Mapping The Unbuilt Los Angeles: Ocean Freeways and Airport Islands: "This is what LA's coastline could have looked like had city planners from the 1950s/60s actually had their proposed futurist projects been built. Historically these projects were blocked or defunded through protests, environmental concerns, and budget cuts." (LEJ - YouTube)
- Culver City accepts funds for Ballona Creek project: New lighting, fencing, and trees coming to a 1.1-mile stretch of Ballona Creek between National and Duquesne (Culver City News)
- ‘Work from anywhere’ is here to stay. How will it change our workplaces?: "It is a monumental shift for corporate America, one that’s forcing companies to rethink the ways they conduct business, manage employees and shape their corporate cultures. And it has major implications for workers, who are now free to untether themselves from city centers and move to places better suited for their budgets and personal situations. But there is often a catch." (LA Times)
- Back rent in California nearing $1.7 billion, Fed study finds: "Nearly 240,000 renter households in the state have fallen behind on rent, with an average debt of $6,953 per household." (Daily Breeze)
- How Uber and Lyft persuaded California to vote their way: "Facing an uphill battle, Uber, Lyft and other gig economy companies set a spending record, pouring more than $200 million into the ballot initiative. They saturated TV and digital ad space. They bombarded gig workers and customers alike with in-app notifications and emails suggesting that drivers wanted to remain independent contractors and that a yes vote would be best for them." (LA Times)
- Trump’s Defeat Didn’t Stop His ‘Ban’ on Modern Architecture: "The president never signed a controversial 'Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again' executive order. But a neoclassical-only building mandate is still happening." (CityLab)
