APA LA is proud to introduce our latest series, Wednesdays at the Mercado, a monthly series that will feature various panelists who will speak on current topics in planning in Los Angeles. These events will provide CM credits and provide refreshments and appetizers from restaurants in the Mercado.

This month’s topic, “Infrastructure and Mobility” will focus on the past, present, and future transportation landscape in Los Angeles. The panel will feature Dr. Marlon G. Boarnet, Director of Graduate Programs in Urban Planning at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at USC, Dr. Lisa Schweitzer, Associate Professor, Sol Price School of Public Policy at USC, and Amanda Berman, a Los Angeles based cultural planner and one of the original strategist behind the nation’s largest car-free event, CicLAvia.

Amanda Berman is a Los Angeles based cultural planner, whose credits include the development of such temporary interventions as CicLAvia, Chinatown Summer Nights, and Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City. As the Director of Community Development and Planning at Community Arts Resources (CARS), a Los Angeles cultural planning and event production company, Amanda works to create strategies for the temporary and permanent implementation of arts and culture throughout the built environment.

Dr. Marlon Boarnet is co-editor of the Journal of Regional Science and an associate editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association. He has published extensively on questions of land use – transportation planning, urban growth patterns, and urban economics, and has conducted funding research on transportation topics for various state and national agencies.

Dr. Lisa Schweitzer is Associate Professor at the Price School of Public and specializes in urban studies, and, in particular, analyses of social justice, environment and transport. Her work has appeared in multiple popular and scholarly outlets, and her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health.

We will be serving refreshments and appetizers provided by the Mercado.

When: Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 7-8:30 pm
Where: Mercado La Paloma (Dove Marketplace)
3655 South Grande Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Tickets are free for APA Members
$15 for Non-APA members.

RSVP at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/244670

Mercado La Paloma is located in Los Angeles, at 3655 South Grand Avenue (Grand and 37th Street), right off the 110 Freeway, just blocks from the University of Southern California, and minutes from downtown.

Directions: From the 110 North, take the Exposition Blvd. exit. Turn right on 37th and take the first left onto Grand Avenue. From the 110 South, take the Exposition Blvd. exit. Stay in the left-hand lane and head south on Flower. Take a left on 37th and merge right to go straight past Hope Street. Take the next left onto Grand Avenue.
Public Transportation Accessible from the following: Metro Local 40, 42 or 446, Metro Rapid 740 or 745, Commuter Express 438 and the Metro Silver Line to the USC Station.
Parking: There is a small onsite parking lot and street parking available, please read the posted signs for parking restrictions.

On the off chance that (wise, wonderful, and brilliant, especially at salary determining time) Dean is reading this blog, I wanted to let people know that I am not just sitting around cluttering up the world:

So I’ve got a bunch of public events coming up.

April 14- 16, Loyola Marymount: Symposium on the Sustainable City Coddling Cars and Shortchanging Kids: The Environmental and Social Consequences of Contemporary Tax Aversion.

Thursday, April USC Center for Sustainable Cities Earth Day Event: Today’s Challenges in Environmental Policy and Planning

Monday-Tuesday, May 2 & 3, Center for Sustainable California High Speed Rail and Smart Growth. I will be speaking to the social equity questions.

Around here, we generally just refer to Gen as “She Who Must Be Obeyed.” But out in the wide world, she is a distinguished scholar who deserves every honor heaped upon her head. One such honor is giving the Martin Wachs Distinguished Lecture in Transportation. If you are in Berkeley, check it out.

***Announcing…***

The Fifth Annual Martin Wachs Distinguished Lecture in Transportation

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Reception, 5 p.m to 5:30 p.m.

Lecture, 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

Faculty Club, Heyns Room

University of California, Berkeley

“What’s Wrong with U.S. Public Transit Policy?”

A lecture delivered by:

Genevieve Giuliano

Margaret and John Ferraro Chair in Effective Local Government

Senior Associate Dean of Research and Technology

School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California

Director, METRANS Transportation Center

Now in its fifth year, the annual Wachs Lecture draws innovative thinkers to the University of California to address today’s most pressing issues in transportation. Created by students to honor Professor Martin Wachs upon his retirement from the University, the lecture rotates between Berkeley and UCLA, the campuses at which Marty taught.

Marty’s commitment and integrity as a scholar, professional, and educator have profoundly affected his students, peers, colleagues and friends. We invite you act on that inspiration by contributing generously to the Lectureship. Your tax-deductible gift today will help to endow the Lectureship, securing its future as an annual event.

Please visit this online link to give to the Lecture:

https://givetocal.berkeley.edu/egiving/index.cfm?Fund=FN7518000

This year, we are privileged to have Genevieve Giuliano address “What’s Wrong with U.S. Public Transit Policy?”

Talk abstract: Public transportation is a critical element in US transportation planning. Planners and others advocate for better public transit as a means to achieve a broad array of urban planning objectives: attracting people out of private vehicles; reshaping US metropolitan areas; solving congestion, energy and air pollution problems; revitalizing urban neighborhoods; and supplying basic mobility for those who have no or limited access to private vehicles. Over the past four decades, support for public transit has greatly increased. In 2006 all levels of government spent an estimated $36 billion on transit capital investments and operating expenses. However, public transit continues to serve a small share of the travel market even in the largest metropolitan areas. This talk examines outcomes of four decades of transit policy. Using two examples, mobility for the disadvantaged and transit impacts on land use, I show that little progress is being made in achieving transit’s objectives. Public transit, however, continues to receive strong public support, and subsidies continue to grow. I argue that investment and service decisions that generate public support are major barriers to achieving public transit’s urban planning objectives.

About Genevieve Giuliano: Genevieve Giuliano is Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Research and Technology in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California, and Director of the METRANS joint USC and California State University Long Beach Transportation Center. She was named the Margaret and John Ferraro Chair in Effective Local Government in 2009 for her work in regional transportation policy. She also holds courtesy appointments in Civil Engineering and Geography. Professor Giuliano’s research focus areas include relationships between land use and transportation, transportation policy analysis, and information technology applications in transportation. She has published over 140 papers, and has presented her research at numerous conferences both within the US and abroad. She serves on the Editorial Boards of Urban Studies and Journal of Transport Policy. She is a past member and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board. She was named a National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 2003, received the TRB William Carey Award for Distinguished Service in 2006, and was awarded the Deen Lectureship in 2007. She has participated in several National Academies of Sciences policy studies; most recently for the NAS study, America’s Climate Choices.

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We look forward to seeing you at the Wachs Lecture at the Faculty Club on February 3rd.

The Berlin-LA Temporary Lab: Downtown Art Walk
Thursday, May 13, 2010
6:00pm – 9:00pm
Gallery 727
727 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA

What inspiration does Berlin hold for sustainable urban design & planning in its Sister City LA?

Berlin is a compact, walkable European city with a dense rail network and high bike use. Divided by a concrete wall until 1989, Berlin is also a city where vast stretches of inner-city land are still awaiting redevelopment. One prominent example is Berlin’s grand new Central Station, which currently sits like a glass palace amidst vast greyfields.

In March 2010, graduate students from USC’s School of Policy, Planning & Development joined forces with Urban Design students from the TU Berlin to develop ideas for the future development of these sites. The Berlin-LA Temporary Lab at g727 exhibits results from the students lab work, presented in the form of posters, pictures and videos.

In addition, an interactive model of Berlin created by James Rojas will be on display. THIS IS GREAT EDUCATIONAL FUN FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES.

‘CARS INTO BICYCLES’ ART PERFORMANCE
Results from a public performance by Berlin-based artists Folke Köbberling and Martin Kaltwasser will be on display at g727. They converted an old car into two fully operational bicycles. For more info about that project, go to http://www.koebberlingkaltwasser.de