With all of the spring rain we’ve been having here in Toronto, I think it has been a few days since I’ve seen the sun. But Places Journal’s recent long-form essay about the inequality of shade in Los Angeles is a reminder that the sun… Read More
All posts tagged “california”
Electric scooter startup Lime raises $310 million series D round
Earlier this month it was announced that the on-demand electric scooter and bike startup, Lime, had closed a $310 million series D round. This values the 18-month old company at around $2.4 billion and brings its total raise to $867.1 million. For comparison, Bird —… Read More
Boring Company ran a Tesla through its test tunnel
This week Elon Musk’s Boring Company ran a Tesla through its 1.14 mile-long test tunnel in Hawthorne, California. This was accomplished by using a set of tracking wheels that Elon said, “turns a car into a rail-guided train & back again.” Apparently it is safe up… Read More
Thoughts on California’s wildfires
What is happening in California right now is both sad and scary. I woke up to these photos in the New York Times. So I spent the morning reading up on wildfires and what causes them. I am sure many of you are thinking: Is climate… Read More
Public access at Martin’s Beach
I just learned about the ongoing legal dispute on Martin’s Beach (south of San Francisco) through this New York Times article. To briefly sum it up, tech billionaire Vinod Khosla bought a 53-acre beachside village known as Martin’s Beach in 2008. On the land is about… Read More
Twin Palms turns 60
2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the Twin Palms neighborhood in Palm Springs, California, and Houzz has just published an excellent story describing the subdivision’s history and its importance for mid-century modern architecture. Designed by architect William Krisel and developed by Alexander Construction, the community was… Read More
SoCal Googie
I must have been sick for this lesson in architecture school, because I just discovered, through Curbed, that there is a subset of mid-century modern architecture known as Googie. It originated in Southern California in the 1940s and was all about the future, car culture,… Read More
Less, rather than more, housing
Earlier this year I wrote about the California housing bill (827) intended to dramatically increase housing supply around transit stations all across the state. Well that bill was rejected last month and the Los Angeles Times wrote this post post-mortem explaining why and how it… Read More
Studio Gang’s first project in Los Angeles
This past week Studio Gang unveiled its first project in Los Angeles, a curvaceous apartment (300 rental units) and hotel (149 rooms) tower in Chinatown. The developer is Paris-based Compagnie de Phalsbourg and the hotel component is expected to be operated by the European brand,… Read More
New, mini, electric skateboard
Boosted — which is a California-based company that makes electric skateboards — has just released a new smaller and more affordable version called the Mini S. Casey Neistat — who helped popularize the original models through his wildly successful YouTube channel — recently vlogged about… Read More