Every year, surveys and lists are published that purport to know the “best places to live in America,” but AARP’s new livability index is based on exhaustive research and data, providing scores for all of the 200,000-plus Census block groups in the country. Each neighborhood has scores that take into account seven categories: transportation, environment, health, civic and social engagement, and educational and employment opportunities. — nextcity.org

Boris Johnson’s term as London mayor has produced a surprising mix of spectacular and workaday projects – along with some famous follies. But will he leave the city looking better than it did seven years ago? — theguardian.com

A rise from the ashes had always been in [developer Geoff] Palmer's mind for this charred housing project; he'd said in a statement back in December that the devastation at the building on the south side of Temple Street was just a 'temporary loss.' Now that all the wreckage from the fire has been cleared off the site, construction can begin. — la.curbed.com

Sadik-Khan shared with the Seattle audience what she and NYC DOT accomplished from 2007 to 2013, how they overcame the stasis of nearly a century of car-centric planning, and how other cities could follow in New York’s footsteps. [...]

her insights into New York’s process for implementing change — namely designing bold projects and getting them installed fast — are valuable for other city DOTs hoping to mimic her success. [...]

“The new blueprint is … not anti-car. It’s pro choice.” — nextcity.org

Michael Bates grew up seven nautical miles off the coast of England, on a platform made of concrete and metal. Michael, the son of Roy Bates, is the Prince of the Principality of Sealand, a contested micronation [...].

Today, as futurists, tech billionaires and libertarians start looking to the sea for the next stage of cities and governance, Sealand serves as a tiny example [...]. What can the experiences of the Bates family tell those who dream about ocean living? — bbc.com

When George Lucas tried to expand his production company studios in California’s wealthy Marin County, the community pushed back. Then the “Star Wars” creator wanted to sell the land to a developer who would build affordable housing.

“It’s inciting class warfare,” Carolyn Lenert, then head of the North San Rafael Coalition of Residents, told The New York Times at the time.

Now, two years after that project stalled, Lucas has decided to build the affordable housing and pay for it all himself. — washingtonpost.com

A group of venture capitalists, architects, engineers, and marketing gurus, under the name Los Angeles World's Fair (LAWF), are brewing plans for a two-year fair showing off the technology and culture of the future—including a Hyperloop, “3D-printed gourmet delicacies,” and self-driving cars. Theme: "The Connected City." Right now, they're trying to pull together $100,000 on Indiegogo to support economic and architectural feasibility studies for their plans [...]. — citylab.com

South of San Francisco, a whole town is being deformed by plate tectonics. [...]

This is Hollister, California, a town being broken in two slowly, relentlessly, and in real time by an effect known as “fault creep.” A surreal tide of deformation has appeared throughout the city.

As if its grid of streets and single-family homes was actually built on an ice floe, the entire west half of Hollister is moving north along the Calaveras Fault, leaving its eastern streets behind. — bldgblog.blogspot.com

As the museum turns 50 this year and debate continues about LACMA Director Michael Govan's plan to replace the Pereira buildings (and a later addition by Hugh Hardy) with a giant new wing by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, it's worth remembering how the original LACMA campus was greeted — as well as a few things about the Los Angeles into which it was born. — latimes.com

We are told that the “architecture of tomorrow” needs to be networked, collaborative and inclusive, drawing its inspiration from crowdsourcing, open access and mass customisation. But to do this “architecture must be put into the hands of people themselves” and the architect possibly “guillotined”. [...]

This is inflammatory stuff [...]. — bdonline.co.uk

“The School of Architecture has a long history of helping to reshape and revitalize the South Florida community,” said Rodolphe el-Khoury, dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture. “We are pleased that Knight Foundation has chosen to support this unique project that will have a lasting impact on communities in need of assistance.” — University of Miami School of Architecture

The strategy, she said, is “minimum intervention.” The point is to preserve the objects and buildings, not beautify them. Every year, as more survivors die, the work becomes more important. “Within 20 years, there will be only these objects speaking for this place,” she said. — New York Times

The Four Level, or Stack as it’s sometimes known, was the first interchange of its kind when it fully opened in 1953. [...]

It may seem a cliche to simply associate LA with its freeways, but the connection between the infrastructure and the city’s image is strong. It’s not just about driving, it’s about a new form of urban living in the postwar era [...]

“LA kind of emerged at the forefront of that development and it became recognised as a freeway metropolis” — theguardian.com

This is a tale of two new West Loop high-rises and what they say about Chicago's apartment building boom, which has restored construction cranes to the skyline but has yet to give us architecture with a capital "A."

The buildings — the underwhelming Arkadia Tower in Greektown and the better-than-average JeffJack Apartments west of Union Station — are the latest products of the construction surge [...]. — chicagotribune.com