Features by Tony Chavira

2010-02-04 MasterPlanning!: Masterplanning in India! Agra to Jaipur: The Rules of the Road
From Agra to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, you notice something very peculiar about transit that rings true throughout the country: that cars don’t necessarily own the road.
2010-01-28 MasterPlanning!: Masterplanning in India! The Road from Delhi to Agra
When they said personalized, they definitely meant it. A driver picked me up from the airport and another drove me and my own tour guide all around the city of Delhi.
2010-01-21 MasterPlanning!: Masterplanning in India! Land in Mumbai
Arriving on New Year’s Eve, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mumbai, the Indian city formerly known as Bombay. I was told that the traffic would be terrible …
2009-12-24 The Federal Healthcare Bill Could Actually End Homelessness
While Tea Party types rant about the government taking over something-or-other and while millions of people pay their healthcare expenses out of pocket this Christmas …
2009-12-17 Holidays in Cosmopolis: Enjoying Urban Planning
A lot’s happened in a year, and it’s strange for me to think that this is actually the third time I’ve written a “Holidays in Cosmopolis” article.
2009-12-10 Trip the Light Rail: The Gold Line, Remastered
Something about riding the Gold Line through East Los Angeles feels anti-climactic. I’m not sure if it’s because the stops along the line look unsurprisingly the same …
2009-12-03 Trip the Light Rail: The Will to Ride The Pink Line
“What is the Pink Line?” you may wonder, poring over Metro’s Long Range Transportation Plan with desperate fervor. And you’d be right to notice that it doesn’t exist.
2009-11-20 MasterPlanning!: Fight the Power!
America’s not becoming energy independent quickly enough. We all know it, and we all know exactly why.
2009-11-12 MasterPlanning!: The Bay Area Burden
Article after article written about California predicts our doom. Politicians believe it, economists believe it, journalists believe it, and the planning community believes it.
2009-11-06 MasterPlanning!: Land on the Moon
In 1969, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon … remember that? Then, of course, he planted an American flag on it. Does that mean that the moon belongs to America?
2009-10-29 MasterPlanning!: Lease the Land, Own the Road
Governator Schwarznegger might be criticized for keeping (and eventually worsening) the California budget, but that certainly doesn’t mean that he’s a lazy jerk.
2009-10-22 MasterPlanning!: Friendly Alternatives for Friendly Skies
At this very moment it is 9:45 pm on the evening of Sunday, October 19, 2009. For the past three hours I’ve been sitting at a United Airlines terminal …
2009-10-15 MasterPlanning!: Palestinian Refugee Camps: Where the Desperate Get Shit Done
What was once a large community room becomes several smaller rooms for shops, which will eventually become even smaller, more condensed spaces once the need arises.
2009-10-08 MasterPlanning!: Beirut: Where the Rich Get Shit Done
Since over-politicizing government is, very literally, a dangerous idea in Lebanon, Solidere was left to its own devices.
2009-09-24 MasterPlanning!: With Liberty or Justice for All
As men and Christians, ye may always fully and uninterruptedly enjoy every civil and religious right.
2009-09-16 MasterPlanning!: California’s High Speed Railway: The Pros and Cons
From L.A. to Irvine in 30 minutes, or from L.A. to San Diego in an hour. And you won’t have to deal with bottlenecked traffic once you get into city limits.
2009-09-03 MasterPlanning!: A School Fire Sale
A man named George W. Bush became president one day, and decided that an educational program that worked in neither theory nor practice would be implemented nationwide.
2009-08-27 MasterPlanning!: Brazen Promises for a Brazen Future
Everything will and must be made from everything else.
2009-08-20 MasterPlanning!: Taco Trucks and Danger Dogs
A bacon-wrapped hot dog in its greasy bed of sweaty onions and green peppers? How can you resist? For God’s sake, they even warm up the bun in more grease for you!
2009-08-13 MasterPlanning!: The Ugliest Architecture in Southern California - Part 3: South Los Angeles
Should a police station on Main and Spring look any different than a police station in South Central?
2009-07-30 Deliberating on Democracy (2 of 2)
All information is potentially a “form of culture,” an inherent philosophy of principles that individuals in society can use to understand it.
2009-07-23 Deliberating on Democracy (1 of 2)
What exactly can we possibly seek to achieve by essentially throwing stones at the castle walls? How can we even presume to affect the local quality of living?
2009-07-16 MasterPlanning!: Echo Park’s “Don’t Call It Lotus” Festival
Where was the electric sense of do-it-yourself-ness that made the Lotus Festival so enjoyable and something worth anticipating each summer?
2009-07-09 MasterPlanning!: Breaking the Law to Celebrate It
For a moment let’s forget that, to get those pretty bright colors, fireworks are jam-packed with corrosive, environment-damaging heavy metals like copper, strontium and barium.
2009-07-02 MasterPlanning!: Live Safe and Solve a Crime
I can see it in my mind’s eye: police brutally kicking in the doors on a wimpy 13-year-old under the assumption that it’s the hideout for a team of bank robbers.
2009-06-25 MasterPlanning!: Rendered Useless
Why bother living in the present? It’s clearly a depressing time: hell, we’re in a depression! The future (on the other hand) is jam-packed with possibilities, most of which are limitless.
2009-06-11 MasterPlanning!: LEEDing to Efficiency (Featuring Title 24!)
I got an e-mail from a reader with a simple, three-word question: “A bit harsh?”
2009-06-04 MasterPlanning!: LEEDing to Disaster
We’d look like experts in something we’ve already been doing, and maybe charge extra. Glorious!
2009-05-28 MasterPlanning!: Divine Will, Part 2
We have spent the last fifty to seventy years organizing society in an increasingly unsustainab
2009-05-21 MasterPlanning!: Divine Will, Part 1
Let’s presume, for a moment, that God exists….
2009-05-07 MasterPlanning!: A Few Thoughts on Downtown Skyscraper Development
Let’s remember that Mayor Villaraigosa is not the Pope.
2009-04-30 Danger in Mexico, Terraforming Mars, and Doomsday Scenarios
Yeah, it’s about time for a civilization to be wiped out.
2009-04-23 An Inevitable Advance: a short story
By then the salty water was already trickling in to fill up their garden.
2009-04-15 MasterPlanning!: Why Fret? Do It Illegally
If you have the money, you can have your way with the landscape of Los Angeles.
2009-04-08 MasterPlanning!: The Value of Livability
What’s it worth to you to be able to walk from the library to a coffee shop?
2009-04-02 MasterPlanning!: The Trouble With Renting
Head to the HUD website or the California Clearinghouse and start digging.
2009-03-26 MasterPlanning!: What It Will Take, Part 2
This is going to sound exactly as bad as it probably is.
2009-03-19 MasterPlanning!: What It Will Take, Part 1
But that’s the price you pay, and it’s usually for the better anyway. Right?
2009-03-12 MasterPlanning!: Ever Walked South to Leimert Park?
Walk south from the monolithic West Los Angeles Church of God in Christ …
2009-02-26 MasterPlanning!: Can’t Back That Republican Agenda
The last great investment in our infrastructure was made by a Republican president.
2009-02-18 MasterPlanning!: Is Everyone Wrong About Billboards?
The fight for the right to blight.
2009-02-11 The Ugliest Architecture in Southern California - Part 2: The Westside
Don’t you have any self-respect, Los Angeles?
2009-02-04 MasterPlanning!: Grand Avenue—An Old, Old Story
The project “plan” seems to be, “We’ll figure it out when we get there.”
2009-01-27 MasterPlanning!: Why Is It So Hard to Put Together Developments in Los Angeles?
Warning: Only read this article if you are filthy rich.
2009-01-07 MasterPlanning!: Industry and the NFL
Before you fire the gun upward and shout “Go!,” there are two sides to this story.
2008-12-30 Trip the Light Rail: The Expo Line
You can see some of the logic behind the choices that the City of Los Angeles has had to make.
2008-12-22 Holidays in Cosmopolis: Baba Yaga Edition
What’s amazing is that agendas change so quickly.
2008-12-03 The Ugliest Architecture in Southern California - Part 1: Downtown L.A.
Tony couldn’t seem to narrow it down to a list of only ten buildings.
2008-11-17 MasterPlanning!: A Multi-Generational View of Urban Density
The greatest generation, the groovy one, the X-one, and the Millennials.
2008-11-07 Our Little Two-Car Garage Project
Back and forth, back and forth, hither and yon.
2008-10-27 The Perils of Proposition 1A
To be blunt, this bill seems incredibly shortsighted.
2008-10-13 MasterPlanning!: Fairness to Futureshock
As if there weren’t enough disparities between neighborhoods.
2008-09-24 Marketing Buzzwords for 21st Century Design
Urban planners change terminology depending on what the research says.
2008-08-26 MasterPlanning!: Perris When It Sizzles
Don’t you drive a million miles to work every day?
2008-08-19 MasterPlanning!: The View From Villa Park
99% of the land has been developed, and the largest percentage of that is housing.
2008-08-05 MasterPlanning!: Bringing Back Broadway
No more shops where men with waxed mustaches serve you phosphates.
2008-07-22 MasterPlanning!: Do You Believe in Sacrifice?
Dramatically improving all transportation in Los Angeles in 30 years.
2008-07-15 Trip the Light Rail: The Green Line
It doesn’t take a planning genius to see what the Green Line adds to the community.
2008-07-08 MasterPlanning!: Political Development, Apolitical Design: 2
Being creative, original and democratic with every design at any income level.
2008-07-01 MasterPlanning!: Political Development, Apolitical Design: 1
Get a city council member on your side and they’ll see about that research you need.
2008-06-17 What if Global Warming Were a Gigantic Liberal Lie?
Let’s assume that the Earth is not in peril.
2008-06-10 MasterPlanning!: Where Do You Put a Park?
Public restrooms and a water fountain donated by the Lions Club in the 80s.
2008-05-26 Trip the Angels Flight, Funiculì, Funiculà!
The world of trolleys and street-walking has unfortunately departed.
2008-05-19 MasterPlanning!: A Vision for San Pedro
Giving culture to a community while allowing it to develop one organically.
2008-05-12 MasterPlanning!: An Interview With Sevak Petrosian: part 2
It isn’t necessarily the Disney-fication of the space.
2008-05-05 MasterPlanning!: An Interview With Sevak Petrosian: part 1
Like a silo that allows access for people to move upward based on a solid foundation.
2008-04-21 MasterPlanning!: Green As Money Gets
How can architects charge so much for such a potentially affordable product.
2008-04-14 Trip the Light Rail: The Red Line
The Red Line’s a subway, and that comes with a stigma.
2008-04-05 MasterPlanning!: The Long Range Transportation Plan
L.A. Metro is holding sessions to get some feedback from the community.
2008-03-28 The New Los Angeles Style: It Sucks
Tony and David Almada go to lunch all the time and rant.
2008-03-19 MasterPlanning!: L.A.’s Oldest Redevelopment Plan
They brought in cool stuff like the Music Center and MOCA, etc. But the vision thing?
2008-03-12 Trip the Light Rail: The Blue Line
There’s so much wasted potential and so many plans that are moving way too slowly.
2008-03-04 MasterPlanning!: Projecting the Far Future
If I take out the trash now, I won’t have to do it in the rain tomorrow
2008-02-23 Toll for the Road: The Epic Quest for Gluttony
We headed down to Derby to feast plentifully or/and die trying.
2008-02-14 MasterPlanning!: The Eminence of Domain
Then you hear about the whole thing on 60 Minutes.
2008-02-08 Trip the Light Rail: The Gold Line
There’s history and art and all sorts of culture, and TODs and LEEDs and the CRA.
2008-02-01 The Coolest Architecture in Los Angeles
About 5:45 pm, and all the architects and designers were sitting in Tony’s office.
2008-01-25 Saving Developers from Themselves
People willing to put their hard-earned (or ill-gotten) gains toward building a space.
2008-01-17 MasterPlanning!: The Sole Owner of Irvine
Imagine you owned 100,000 acres of land and people wanted to start developing on it.
2008-01-11 What in the World Does the County Board of Supervisors Do?
They allocate money for every city and rule over unincorporated L.A. like fiefdoms.
2008-01-02 MasterPlanning!: The Los Angeles River Revitalization
L.A. councilmembers approved a draft for the Revitalization Master Plan.
2007-12-21 Holidays in Cosmopolis: Licking the Edges of the Melting Pot
Will everyone in L.A. become a non-specific sort of beige color speaking Esperanto?
2007-12-13 Green Hype: When You’re Far Too Lazy to Do Any Research
Everybody but the Mayans was green ages ago.
2007-12-06 I’m Bored. Want to Build a House?
Custom design and all materials for under $70K.
2007-11-28 MasterPlanning!: The Myth of the Far Future
Isn’t there some happy medium between The Jetsons and Blade Runner?
2007-11-16 Who Displaced Roger Rabbit?
Many characters in Roger Rabbit are in the wrong, civically-speaking.
2007-11-09 The Ugliest Excuse for a Building You’ve Ever Seen—Ever
Including a nostalgic visit to several decades of architectural drivel.
2007-11-01 Los Angeles Mayoral Housing Summit: A Bag Full of Tricks
Getting to know TOD.
2007-10-26 Where Do You Belong?
Brown, yellow, no black, no white.
2007-10-19 Money’s Gettin’ Cheaper: When Your Rent Is Out of Control
Unincorporated areas of L.A. County really get the shaft.
2007-09-28 Didn’t You Know? Art Is Only for Rich People
Something amazing, and a need to understand it.
2007-09-14 Manning the Drawbridge: The Way of the NIMBY
Lifeboat ethics for the 21st century.
2007-08-10 MasterPlanning!: Crammed Together in Utopia
From Le Corbusier to Laura Chick in one easy lesson.
2007-08-01 10-Mile Island: Fighting the Freeway in Los Angeles
Lamenting the I-10 corridor.