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Jack Skelley

Jack Skelley writes about urban design, architecture, and real estate. He is president of JSPR, Public Relations, Writing & Marketing. He serves on the advisory board and management committee of ULI Los Angeles and writes frequently for FORM and Modern Luxury, publications for which he is a contributing writer.

As cities confront the housing crisis, they face intersecting challenges: opposition not only to affordable-housing development but often to any development; spiraling financing and construction costs; outdated zoning that stifles or misplaces growth; egregious bureaucratic barriers; and issues around displacement and historic preservation. But some cities have an asset that can serve as a testing ground for harmonizing urgent priorities: their downtown districts.
A 100-year-old correctional facility in Whittier, California, becomes a new master-planned community.
In the last year, the state’s government has taken robust legislative steps toward stemming the housing crisis.
FutureBuild 2016, hosted in January by ULI Los Angeles in partnership with VerdeXchange, offered a look at urban growth challenges in Los Angeles that are illustrative of issues faced by cities everywhere as they aspire to become more livable, prosperous, and sustainable.
For the most part, transit-oriented developments, or TODs, remain individualized projects, planned in isolation from their surrounding communities.
As cities become denser, the cost of high-density parking begins to pencil out for developers—which is when the development of parking that automatically stores and retrieves cars becomes attractive.
According to Emerging Trends, the real estate report from PWC and ULI presented at a ULI 2011 Fall Meeting press conference in L.A. last week, a handful of urban centers are climbing out of recession and may serve as models for the rest of the country. Washington, D.C., remained the number-one city for the third consecutive year; read more to see how the other cities fared in this year’s survey.
The Avenue, located at one of the most coveted corners in Hollywood’s current renaissance, was developed as a condominium by an affiliate of John Laing Homes, now submerged in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The seven-story condominium development was 70 percent complete when Laing halted construction. Read how the property is being repositioned and what the developer considers a key to its approach.
Seniors’ housing is moving back into the city and near a transit stop to appeal to baby boomers, the first wave of whom have already turned 65. Rather than being a seniors’ enclave, this new style of housing for seniors is intended to be integrated with the community and offer amenities and convenience. Read more to learn how the Long Beach Senior Arts Colony in California intends to do just that.
When it comes to urban infrastructure—from bridges to transportation systems to master plans—architects impart a sense of place and a human scale. But equally important are basic structural capabilities. Read more to learn what ULI leaders and others have to say about the progress being made in reconciling engineering with architectural values—to the benefit of regions, cities, and the individual.
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