No one can deny that our region is gripped by many problematic planning pressures - intense traffic congestion, unaffordable housing, increasing density, and the aesthetic blight of poorly designed buildings. Residents' frustration often boils over at city council and community group meetings.
Are planning "elites" so out of touch with resident concerns that they have ceased to represent their constituents? Or should complex land use regulation and municipal budgets be left to the cool heads of elected officials and their technocratic staffs?
Are citizen initiatives an effective answer to out-of-control power? Or, do such initiatives impose inflexible solutions that are detrimental to the common good?
Are planning initiatives democratic, or just another tool of the powerful -- whether Wal-Mart or NIMBY?
Don't forget to vote on November 4th ... and don't think of missing this vital discussion! Please join the Westside Urban Forum on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 7:00 am to hear a discussion of Santa Monica's RIFT initiative, Beverly Hills' Proposition H and what's next for ballot-box land use planning on the Westside.
Moderator:
Woodie Tescher, Principal and Director of Planning and Urban Design, PBS&J
Panelists:
Darrell Clarke, former Planning Commissioner, City of Santa Monica
Robert Gottlieb, Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, Occidental College, Los Angeles
Terry O'Day, Planning Commissioner, City of Santa Monica
Darrell Clarke, former Planning Commissioner, City of Santa Monica
Robert Gottlieb, Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, Occidental College, Los Angeles
Terry O'Day, Planning Commissioner, City of Santa Monica
