Philip Rojc
planetizen
Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Past articles by Philip:
Report: Low Housing Production Stymies Entry-Level Buyers
According to this report, the trends point to a "less diverse, older, higher-income" crop of homebuyers as low production locks out the young and many people of color. → Read More
How Housing Fared in 2019
Next City's Jared Brey reviews a year of developments in housing politics and policy, teasing out several big trends. → Read More
Mapping Housing Discrimination in Charlottesville
Like many American cities, the site of white supremacist unrest in 2017 has a long history of residential discrimination by race. This mapping project seeks to uncover the roots of today's disparities. → Read More
Op-Ed: Seattle Resilience Roadmap Feels 'Retrospective'
Natalie Bicknell notes several deficiencies in the roadmap that resulted from Seattle's participation in the Rockefeller Foundation's now-defunct 100 Resilient Cities program. → Read More
Op-Ed: Feds 'Obsessed' with Undermining National Monument
Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is under severe assault from the Trump administration, Stephen Trimble writes. Long the focus of preservation efforts, the protected land is being opened up for extractive uses. → Read More
Not Enough Housing, Or Too Much of the Wrong Kind
Permits for new housing continue to lag despite a long economic boom. For coastal metros, it's a familiar story of job growth outpacing new construction. In some Sun Belt cities, sprawl is the bigger concern. → Read More
Report: Dangers of Pedestrian Texting Overblown
Distracted walking is never a great idea. But in New York City at least, texting while walking only led to 2 out of 534 pedestrian deaths from 2014 through 2017. → Read More
Behind America's Fixation on Big Houses
McMansion or not, the American home is a good 600 to 800 square feet larger than the average in most other countries. Possible reasons run the gamut from policy to culture to personal economics. → Read More
What Walk Buttons Do (and Don't Do)
Are pedestrian walk buttons effective, or do they only give us the illusion of control? It can vary. → Read More
New York City's First Outlet Mall Still a 'Ghost Town'
Perched on the northeastern tip of Staten Island next to the ferry terminal, Empire Outlets has only filled 26 of its 75 storefronts since a grand opening in May. → Read More
Union Opposition Puts Brakes on 'Record-Cheap' Solar Installation
Under a proposed 25-year solar contact, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power would pay record-cheap prices for 400 megawatts of power. But the utility declined to approve the deal after a utility workers' union raised concerns. → Read More
Op-Ed: Street Safety Is a Matter of Race
What do traffic safety and gun violence have in common? A lot, as it turns out. In both cases, hard-hit neighborhoods tend to have suffered from historical disinvestment along racial lines. → Read More
Appetite for ADUs Rises in San Jose
San Jose has issued a steadily-rising number of ADU permits in recent years. Now, Mayor Sam Liccardo has implemented measures to ease the process for homeowners who want to build granny flats. → Read More
Governor Calls for 1.3 Million New Homes in Southern California
Local governments in Southern California have chafed at a call from Governor Gavin Newsom for 1.3 million new homes over the next decade. The Southern California Association of Governments has proposed only 430,000. → Read More
What Are America's Fastest-Growing Cities?
Views about urban growth and decline often rely on statistics for metropolitan regions rather than cities proper. Here, Richard Florida looks at the fastest- and slowest-growing cities in America, separate from their metro areas. → Read More
Digging Into the Data on Detroit's 'Recovery'
In key areas like jobs and housing, the numbers show a definite Motor City rebound since the recession. But a closer look reveals uneven gains and weakness next to state averages. → Read More
Virginia Intercity Buses Exceed Ridership Estimates By 200 Percent
The Virginia Breeze intercity bus service has vastly exceeded original ridership estimates since its launch in late 2017. Two more lines are slated to launch in the spring or summer of next year. → Read More
Three Ways Cities Can Combat Extreme Heat
As temperatures rise, there are some relatively simple changes cities can implement to cut cooling costs and deal with spells of extreme heat. → Read More
Demystifying Mass Timber
Quayside, Sidewalk Labs' smart city in Toronto, calls for ten tall buildings made entirely of wood. Here's why proponents think mass timber is a good idea, and what obstacles stand in its way. → Read More
Southern California's Metrolink Defies Declining Ridership Trends
Primarily serving commuters in the Greater Los Angeles metro area, Metrolink just attained the highest annual ridership in its 27-year existence. Officials chalk up the increase to a significant investment in marketing. → Read More