PLANNING WATCH / PLAN-IT LOS ANGELES

Corrupted Planning Rules and the Downward Spiral of  Los   Angeles :  A Strategy to Turn L.A. Around Posted on   June 30, 2012   by   Ron http://ronkayela.com/2012/06/corrupted-planning-rules-and-the-downward-spiral-of-los-angeles-a-strategy-to-turn-l-a-around.html EDITOR’S NOTE:  Retired LA City Planner Dick Platkin, now consulting to community groups and teaching about sustainable city planning, wrote a version of this article for the Summer 2012 issue of  Progressive Planning  magazine (  www.plannersnetwork.org  ). The article provides a valuable analysis of what has gone wrong in L.A. and what it takes to fix the city. Platkin can be reached at  rhplatkin@yahoo.com “If you cannot predict, how can you plan?  The answer is clear; you cannot; you proceed blindly.” - - Gabriel  Kolko , “ Why America is Doomed to One Disaster After Another,”  CounterPunch ,  May 14, 2012. How the Planning Process Contributes to LA’s Malaise By Dick Platkin There is a widespread