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February 17, 2016 APA Los Angeles APALosAngeles.org
Take Our Survey And Win Conference Entry!

We are seeking input from members and others who participate in APA Los Angeles to tailor our future programming and better meet your needs! Take our survey and win one full entry to the  2016 APA California Conference in Pasadena, or two complimentary tickets to the APA Los Angeles Awards Gala in June! Do it today!
 
2016 APA Awards Nominations Now Open
APA Los Angeles is excited to announce that the Call for Nominations for the 2016 APA Los Angeles Awards is now open through March 16.

The local level of the awards program, run by the Los Angeles Section of the American Planning Association (APA Los Angeles), will accept nominations until Wednesday, March 16 in 24 categories including awards for planners, elected officials, planning schools, and journalists working within Los Angeles County. APA Los Angeles winners will be invited to proceed to the statewide competition, and California Chapter winners will compete for National Awards.

We need your help in identifying and nominating outstanding planning projects, activities, and individuals in the Los Angeles region. This is your opportunity to gain recognition for the efforts of your department, firm, or city in contributing to the field of planning. Download the 2016 Nomination Form here.

If you have any questions, please contact Awards Co-Directors Robyn Eason or Geoffrey Danker at [email protected].

Upcoming Events
APA Los Angeles Presents:
Transportation in the Next American City with Strong Towns Founder Charles Marohn
Wednesday, February 17
7-8:30 PM
SoCal Gas Tower, Room 02B
555 W. 5th St., 90013
FREE for APA & Strong Towns Members and Students / $10 for Non-Members
Register (closes at 2 PM today)

For more than six decades, local governments have been accustomed to building new transportation infrastructure, expanding existing systems in addition to constructing completely new facilities. While liabilities have grown, transportation funding has not kept up. Now there is a desperate need for local governments to shift from building to maintaining, from an approach that emphasizes expansion to one where we mature our use of existing investments. In difficult economic times, this is a scary, but necessary, realignment.

Join Strong Towns founder Charles "Chuck" Marohn, PE, AICP, and explore the relationship between a city or region's long-range fiscal health and its transportation investment strategy.  Specifically, Chuck will make a budgetary case for prioritizing investments such as walkable streets in the central cores. He'll address how these investments can protect local budgets, control the rise of property taxes, protect long-term affordability, and provide for enduring prosperity.

The mission of Strong Towns is to support a model of development that allows America's cities, towns and neighborhoods to become financially strong and resilient.

SoCalGas Tower is located one block from the Pershing Square Metro stop. Parking is available at the SoCalGas Tower. More affordable parking is also available at the World Trade Center located at 3rd/Flower.
APA Los Angeles Presents: Planners' Book Club
Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles with Author David Ulin
Thursday, February 25
6:30-8 PM
This event is at capacity 
 
Our discussion of "Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles" with the author, local resident and LA Times Book Critic David L. Ulin is now at capacity. 

To inquire about a wait list for additional openings, contact Steve Gerhardt, [email protected].
Thursday, February 25 & Friday, February 26
Los Angeles, Riverside, Ventura and Irvine
$200-$300 / $25-40 students
6.5 hours CM credit available

The Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) invites you to attend the 2016 Advanced CEQA Workshops to be held across the State in late February and early March. This annual workshop is designed to help consultants, regulators, applicants, and industry professionals stay current on legal trend, and "hot topics" affecting the application of the Law and Guidelines. The agenda includes:
  • Case Law - Important CEQA legal decisions from 2015 will be discussed
  • New Era in Transportation and CEQA (including new proposed CEQA Guidelines)
  • Cultural Resources Assessments, including AB 52 Guidelines
  • Cumulative Impact Analysis: Best Practices
  • Greenhouse Gas and Energy Analysis after Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Newhall Land and Farming
APA Los Angeles Presents:
Young Planners' Happy Hour
Thursday, March 3
6:30-9 PM
XLanes
333 S. Alameda St. 90013
FREE (no-host)
RSVP not required

Calling all young planners - join the Young Planner Committee at XLanes for an evening of strikes, gutterballs, and pints! With all-day happy hour, you can get to know other young and emerging professionals over brioche sliders and southwest eggrolls, while enjoying a large on-tap list and full bar. Feel free to bring along your classmates or co-workers who may not be APA members to this no-cover get-together. Everyone is welcome - the more the merrier!

So come join your colleagues to socialize starting at 6:30 pm at XLanes, in the Little Tokyo Marketplace. We suggest carpooling, or even better, using active modes and/or public transit (it's easily accessible from the Gold Line Little Tokyo stop or Union Station).
APA Los Angeles Presents:
Transportation Futures Panel
Monday, March 7
6-8 PM
Ronald F. Deaton Civic Auditorium
100 W. 1st St. 90012
FREE for members and students / $10 non-members

New forms of transportation technology are changing the outlook for the future of transportation in cities, especially car-centric Los Angeles, creating uncertainty for land use and transportation planners as they make decisions for the future.
 
Autonomous vehicles may make it easier to get around and less important to own a car, but conversely may encourage car ownership and sprawl. Transportation Network Companies and transit innovations like the Hyperloop are also changing the way we move. Planners will be crucial in guiding these scenarios and advocating for good patterns of infrastructure investment and development.
 
LA is one of the few cities thinking proactively about the impact of driverless vehicles and other innovations on urban development. LADOT, Metro, and Mayor Eric Garcetti have all created positions to help guide the City to a better transportation future. Join APA Los Angeles and our panelists to hear how autonomous vehicles, TNCs and transit will impact land use and transportation planning in Los Angeles in the not-too-distant future.

Presenters:
  • Ashley Hand, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Transportation Technology Strategist Fellow, LADOT
  • Jeremy Klopp, AICP, Principal, Fehr & Peers

  • Peter Marx, Chief Technology Officer, Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti
  • Dr. Joshua L. Schank, Chief Innovation Officer, Metro
After the event, continue the discussion over drinks at a nearby location.

Deaton Auditorium is accessible via the Red Line Civic Center Station, Gold Line Little Tokyo Station and Metro buses. Inexpensive parking is available in the City garage at 101 Judge John Aiso Street.
Announcements
New On-Demand Videos from APA California
 
APA California is offering free previews of its entire on-demand video catalogue -- including six new titles from the 2015 Oakland Conference. Convenient, informative, inexpensive and timely, these videos are the next best thing to attending a live conference session. Let's take care of those CM credit deficits!
 
Click here to view video previews! You will need to log in using your APA member number.
Transportation Planning Class from UC Berkeley

Transportation Planning Fundamentals for California Streets
March 8-10 in Los Angeles

In today's environment, local streets and roads need to serve many different users. This course covers the planning, policy environment, and conceptual design of sustainable, multimodal, local streets and roads; how to integrate multimodal transportation into the local urban planning process; and how to design local streets, intersections, crossings, and interchanges consistent with the sustainable, multimodal approach. Course content spans the full range of key areas from characteristics of the local roadway system, analysis of flow and capacity, traffic/transportation operations, traffic control devices, pedestrian/bicycle facilities, and surface transit operations to traffic safety and advanced analytical methods.

This course is perfect for urban planners, transportation planners, and planning technicians in cities and counties, as well as transportation and land use consultants. Both new and experienced planners will benefit from this course. The course is primarily appropriate for urban and suburban perspectives, but may be relevant to rural areas that are subject to urban growth challenges.

This course grants 2.4 CEUs and 24.0 AICP CMs. 
More information and registration here.
Nominations Now Open for SCAG's 2016 Sustainability Awards - Due March 1

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is committed to highlighting excellent and planning efforts from local agencies in sustainability. These projects are the integral to carrying out the goals and policies of the 2012-2035 RTP/SCS, and promote a cleaner, healthier, and happier Southern California. Each year, SCAG honors projects that best exemplify the core principles of sustainability with awards at the Annual Regional Conference & General Assembly.

SCAG is now accepting nominations for projects that coordinate land use and transportation actions to improve the mobility, livability, prosperity, and sustainability of our region. The SCAG Sustainability Awards Program is open to all parties, including local governments, non-profits, developers, and partnerships are welcome. Along with the awards ceremony, videos of winning projects will be presented at the 2016 Regional Conference and General Assembly at the La Quinta Resort and Club in La Quinta on May 5-6.

LA County Green Leadership Awards Now Open

The LA County Board of Supervisors created the Green Leadership Awards Program as a partnership with local residents, community groups, businesses and non-profit agencies to protect the environment and the County's natural resources. Awards are presented in five categories at the weekly meeting of the Board during Earth Week, which begins April 21. 

The deadline for applications is Friday, February 19. For more information, visit LA County's Green Leadership Award web site.
UC Berkeley Tech Transfer Winter Courses

UC Berkeley Tech Transfer would like to share with APA members their latest training courses offered online and across the state, which now include multimodal transportation and best practices in California. Visit UC Berkeley Tech Transfer for more information!

NEW! Multimodal Transportation Planning and Engineering 
March 8-10, 2016 - Los Angeles

Improving Safety at Intersections
Thursdays, March 10-24, 2016 - Online

Pedestrian Facility Design 
April 12-14, 2016 - Online
Housing for Adults with Autism Design Contest

Autism Speaks is offering $150,000 in prizes for belief-busting breakthroughs in housing and residential supports for adults with autism.

Currently, more than 3 million individuals in the US are living with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and around 500,000 of these individuals will be entering adulthood over the next ten years.
 
Autism Speaks innovative, breakthrough ideas in the following three home and residential support solutions:
  • For individuals who require 24/7 support
  • For individuals who require daily support
  • For individuals who require weekly support
The best solution in each of these categories will receive a $50,000 USD prize. Last date for submission is March 1, 2016. No entry fee is required. Visit the  Autism Speaks House to Home Prize challenge page to find out more and to register as an innovator. 
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