Newsroom
Q&A with L.A.’s New Planning Director on December 1
Los Angeles Planning Director Michael LoGrande and Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne will discuss how to make Los Angeles a more livable city in a free public dialogue and Q&A on Wednesday, December 1 at 7 p.m. in Occidental College's Johnson Hall, Room 200.
The City Council confirmed LoGrande as Los Angeles' top planning official August 4 following the July 16 resignation of his predecessor, S. Gail Goldberg. LoGrande, 39, has spent 13 years with the city's planning department, most recently as chief zoning administrator.
Preceding the talk, former Los Angeles transportation planner James Rojas will host a 5:30 p.m. interactive workshop on creating your own version of a livable Los Angeles via 3-D modeling. The workshop is free and will be held in the College's Morrison Lounge. Rojas has designed sustainable transportation systems in Eastern Europe, and has taught urban planning workshops throughout Southern California as well as at the United Nation's World Urban Forum in Brazil.
The public is welcome to submit planning ideas for discussion prior to the event. Please email gpasciuto@oxy.edu with ideas and suggestions. Earlier this year, Occidental's Urban & Environmental Policy Institute collaborated with planners, community activists, and others on a letter to LoGrande urging more far-sighted urban planning. This letter, which is open to signatures by the public, can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/2fgygkd.
The events are co-sponsored by Occidental's Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, the office of the president, the art history and visual arts department, and the Los Angeles Times. Members of the public can RSVP for the events by emailing uepi@oxy.edu, or by going to UEPI's Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/uepiatoxy, and clicking on "events."
Occidental College is located at 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles 90041. Maps and directions to the College can be found at: http://www.oxy.edu/x119.xml.