Learn about the transportation advocacy campaign led by the Northwest Center, a 501c3, community based organization (formerly known as the Northwest Side Housing Center) pushing to bring more bike lanes and bikeshare to the Belmont Cragin neighborhood of Chicago. This episode was the first podcast collaboration between Latinos and Planning and the …

In this episode we hear from Ana Cubas, a professional with over 20 years’ experience in government, non-profit, and private sectors. Ana comes from an immigrant background, is the first in her family to graduate from college, and has devoted her life to helping others. Ana's mission is to focus on working with companies that spur job and economic …

This episode was recorded during last November's LUGARES conference -- LAP's annual virtual conference where the theme was Caminando P'alante. As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs, Claudia Monterrosa oversees affordable housing and community development programs, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, the HOME I…

David Salazar speaks with us today on his experience involving youth in urban planning, working with Long Beach City College and Cal Poly Pomona to develop an associates degree in urban planning -- the first one in California, and the importance of increasing representation of Latino/a/e urban planners at the state and national level. David Salazar…

Guest: ANA M. LASSO Director, California Department of General Services Ana M. Lasso was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as the Director of the California Department of General Services on March 19, 2021. Previously, Director Lasso served as the General Manager of Los Angeles’ Exposition Park, a position to which she was appointed by Go…

Todays guest is Margarita Gonzalez Macedonio, a Principal Community Planner with the City of Santa Ana Neighborhood Initiatives and Environmental Services Program. Margarita has been a part of the City of Santa Ana team for over 16 years. As an advocacy planner, Margarita is a solution-oriented leader focused on ensuring an inclusive process for de…

In this episode we learn about the planning journeys of Jaime Espinoza and Anna Vidal. Jaime Espinoza is a City Planner in the Office of Zoning Administration of Los Angeles City Planning. In this capacity, he is responsible for the review and entitlement of commercial and residential development projects citywide, and leading negotiations with pro…

BikeLA shares details on their pilot focused on promoting e-bikes for deliveries among small businesses near the port of Los Angeles. Bike LA, formerly known as Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is a membership-based nonprofit organization that works to make all communities in LA County healthy, safe, and fun places to ride a bike through advoc…

In this episode we learn about an e-bike pilot program at Rancho San Pedro, one of the HACLA communities in Los Angeles. Karla Velasco, Community Relations Specialist, and Ms. Yolanda Rodarte, Community Coach, share how the program got started and how its going so far. ________________________________ Plan Dulce is a space for elevating projects, i…

We recorded this episode with Vero at the 2022 National APA Conference in San Diego the day after she was honored as a Fellow among other Latino/x planners. She shares her journey from a school girl in El Paso to attending college in Cambridge, falling in love with the detailed process of making maps the old fashioned way and the importance of open…

Leonardo Vazquez is a national award-winning planner, creative placemaker, community economic development planner, leadership coach and author who founded The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking and Creative Placemaking Communities. He was born in Argentina and came to the US in 1970 with his family when he was three years old. Leo has bee…

Edna Ledesma Edna Ledesma is an assistant professor in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she directs the Kaufman Lab for the Study and Design of Food Systems and Marketplaces. The corpus of her research, teaching, and mentoring focuses on understanding the development of the smart, g…

Welcome to Plan Dulce! The Latinos and Planning Podcast, a place to chat about our built environment with a Latinx lens, and elevate the issues affecting us and our communities. In this trailer we hear from Leonor Vanik, National Coalition for Latinx with Disabilities, James Castaneda, AICP planner, Grecia White, Northeast region student representa…