San Diego picking and choosing on Yes

Ten years in the making, the large-scale development proposal for the 2,327 acre property in Escondido's Merriam Mountains was rejected yesterday by San Diego's Board of Supervisors. The pivotal vote by supervisor Ron Roberts did not favor the development mainly because San Diego is still working on updating its general plan, determining how the county will meet recently passed state legislation that limits carbon emissions and because the project did not have enough public transit options.

Unlike the position that The San Diego Union Tribune seems to take in it's headline story that San Diego is anti-development I don't believe that the verdict of yesterday's Board Meeting is necessarily an indication that San Diego is anti-development, but rather that San Diego does not want it's North County to turn into another South Orange County.

Planning Options...for Me

The big decision maker: Eye Contact.

"Planning" my itinerary for my Northeast Grad School Open House Tour (Philly, The City, Ithaca)...plane, train, car, subway and maybe even a cab... & lot's of green tea

The thick line between Developed & Undeveloped countries

Philanthropic Infrastructure...it encourages giving through tax and fiscal benefits and ultimately leads to more continuous giving.

Las Vegas - What is an American City?

In the current book that I am reading, Poker Face, by Katy Lederer I found a very real everyday feeling about American cities, there is something so raw and un-PC about it that I felt compelled to share...

The book was given to me as a Christmas present in 2003 by one of my roommates at the time, and until recently I had been reluctant to read it or give it away... and a month ago while I was packing and getting ready to move out of my place in LA, it was finally time for me to start reading the book. It's a great bildungsroman novel, one of my favorite genre's. It has been a very pleasant surprise with some interesting observations on life and the road to self-discovery.

The commentary that I felt so compelled to share was one on American culture and a take on one of America's most famous cities that many countries try to imitate, ironic considering the roots of Las Vegas. Though Las Vegas is not as "cheap" as it might have been in the 1990s (the time that Katy first encountered Las Vegas), I couldn't help but nod in agreement with the raw truth behind Katy's take on Sin City...."Las Vegas: the most American of American cities - bright and cheap and all dolled up, like a drag queen - a city of hope!"

Community Planning Lit

My friend Armando, a political science guru who loves urban planning on the side recommended this book to me...I am searching the annals of Amazon.com for it...I think it will be a good guide for my current pilgrimage...New York for Sale, Community Planning Confronts Global Real Estate by Tom Angotti - MIT Press