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Alan Loomis

Alan Loomis

Los Angeles, CA, US

 

About 

Alan Loomis, AICP is an urban designer, planner and educator practicing in the Los Angeles area.

Presently, Alan is a Principal of Urban Design with the planning firm PlaceWorks, based in the company's Downtown LA office.

From 2017 to 2020 Alan was the City Urban Designer for Santa Monica, California, where he worked with City divisions and departments, outside agencies, the general public, and local interest and community groups to provide a cohesive and comprehensive approach to urban design. In this role, he was the City’s lead for Promenade 3.0, a comprehensive redesign of the iconic Third Street Promenade developed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios and Gehl Studio.

Before Santa Monica, Alan led the urban design program for the City of Glendale, for twelve years, starting in 2005 as the City’s first on-staff urban designer. Holding the title Principal Urban Designer, Alan was responsible for bringing the Downtown Specific Plan (DSP) and Mobility Study to adoption, and personally managing the design review for over 20 new downtown projects, representing over 3000 new residences, as well as additional projects at the Disney/Dreamworks creative campus and in the Tropico District surrounding Glendale’s Metrolink/Amtrak station, working with some of the most prolific and prominent architects and developers in the region during regular, often weekly, design sessions. Following the DSP, Alan directed a wide range of urban design based policy projects, such as the Maryland Off Broadway Art & Entertainment District, the Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance, the Community Plan program and the Space 134 Freeway Cap Park, leading multi-disciplinary teams through an equally wide range of public outreach programs.

In 2015, Alan was promoted to Deputy Director of the Glendale Community Development Department  to lead the newly formed Urban Design & Mobility Division. The Division brought transportation planning and operations under the umbrella of urban design to pursue complete streets policies through integrated land use and transit planning, pedestrian plans and related education initiatives, setting the stage for Glendale’s approach towards Measure M projects.

Prior his tenure in the public sector, Alan was an urban designer for the Pasadena firm Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists, where he directed planning projects for Pomona College, the University of California Santa BarbaraCity of MontclairCity of Azusa, and various other locations in California, New Mexico and New Jersey.

He teaches urban design at Woodbury University in Burbank; co-edited the book “Los Angeles: Building the Polycentric Region” a survey of regional smart growth architecture and urbanism published for CNU13; and created the DeliriousLA listing of Los Angeles area architecture and urban design events, now hosted and curated by the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design.

Alan is a frequent speaker and tour guide on urbanism and Los Angeles, and has served on interview panels to select new planners, urban designers and architects for the Cities of Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Santa Ana, among others. He has sat on juries for APA Awards and the City of Los Angeles “LA Lights the Way” street light design competition.

Since Fall 2014, he also serves as one of the Mayor's appointees on the City of Pasadena Design Commission.

Elsewhere:

Employment 

PlaceWorks, Los Angeles, CA, Principal, Urban Design

Jun 2020 - current
 

City of Santa Monica, Santa Monica, CA, City Urban Designer

Apr 2017 - May 2020
 

Woodbury University, Burbank, CA, Participating Adjunct Faculty

Instructor for "AR334 Urban Design Theory", "4B Urban Design Studio" and "AR366 Contemporary Issues"

Jan 2007 - Dec 2018
 

Glendale Urban Design Studio, Glendale, CA, Deputy Director of Urban Design & Mobility

Feb 2015 - Mar 2017
 

Glendale Urban Design Studio, Glendale, CA, Principal Urban Designer

Nov 2005 - Feb 2015
 

Moule & Polyzoides | Architects and Urbanists, Pasadena, CA, Senior Urban Designer

Jun 1998 - Oct 2005
 

Eckert Wordell LLC, Kalamazoo, MI, Architectural Designer

May 1994 - Aug 1996
 

Education 

Aug 1996 - Jan 2000
 

Awards 

Implementation Award, Large Jurisdiction, 1st Place

for Glendale Downtown Specific Plan and Mobility Study

2015
 

2013 Westside Prize, Honorable Mention

for Space 134 (with Melendrez)

2013
 

Neighborhood Planning Award, Honorable Mention

for "Maryland Off Broadway" Downtown Art & Entertainment District

2012
 

Comprehensive Planning Award, Large Jurisdiction, Honorable Mention

for North Glendale Community Plan

2012
 

Comprehensive Planning Award, Large Jurisdiction, 1st Place

for Glendale Downtown Specific Plan and Mobility Study
(with Zimmer Gunsal Frasca and Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates)

2007
 

Presidents Award for Excellence; SCAG Compass Blueprint Awards, 1st Place

for Glendale Downtown Specific Plan and Mobility Study
(with Zimmer Gunsal Frasca and Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates)

2007
 

Areas of Specialization 

Skills