In the last decade millions of dollars have been spent on restoring and revitalizing the Los Angeles River and its surroundings. Dozens of parks, miles of bike trails, public art installations and hundreds of trees and plants follow the river as it winds 51 miles through more than 100 communities. Down by the Los Angeles River is the first on-the-ground guide to checking out sites new and old, and getting to know the historic river that runs through greater L.A. The book includes striking original illustrations as well as maps. Twenty-seven walks and twelve bike rides along the Los Angeles and its tributaries, each with directions to the starting point and descriptions of natural, historic, and artistic features along the way. The river paths are already popular for walkers and joggers, bicyclists, dog-walkers, historians and bird-watchers—a readymade audience for this one-of-a-kind book.

America is in the midst of a rental housing affordability crisis. More than a quarter of those that rent their homes spend more than half of their income for housing, even as city leaders across the United States have been busily dismantling the nation's urban public housing projects. In After the Projects, Lawrence Vale investigates the deeply-rooted spatial politics of public housing development and redevelopment at a time when lower-income Americans face a desperate struggle to find affordable rental housing in many cities. Drawing on more than 200 interviews with public housing residents, real estate developers, and community leaders, Vale analyzes the different ways in which four major American cities implemented the federal government's HOPE VI program for public housing transformation, while also providing a national picture of this program. Some cities attempted to minimize the presence of the poorest residents in their new mixed-income communities, but other cities tried to serve as many low-income households as possible. Through examining the social, political, and economic forces that underlie housing displacement, Vale develops the novel concept of governance constellations. He shows how the stars align differently in each city, depending on community pressures that have evolved in response to each city's past struggles with urban renewal. This allows disparate key players to gain prominence when implementing HOPE VI redevelopment. A much-needed comparative approach to the existing research on public housing, After the Projects shines a light on the broad variety of attitudes towards public housing redevelopment in American cities and identifies ways to achieve more equitable processes and outcomes for low-income Americans.

Natural Genius: The Gifts of Asperger's Syndrome is Susan Rubinyi's story of raising her son Ben who has Asperger's Syndrome (AS), and how she has come to view his condition as a blessing. While acknowledging the challenges posed by AS, she emphasizes the extraordinary positives of her son's life and his particular gifts - his photographic memory, perfect pitch and French-English bilingual abilities. Susan Rubinyi advocates a strength-based approach and explains how her personal experiences - living abroad, foreign languages, science fiction and music, as well as her own feelings of alienation - have helped her understand alternative and cross-cultural perspectives in life. This book should be read by anyone concerned with bringing up a child with Asperger's Syndrome.

Los Angeles magazine is a regional magazine of national stature. Our combination of award-winning feature writing, investigative reporting, service journalism, and design covers the people, lifestyle, culture, entertainment, fashion, art and architecture, and news that define Southern California. Started in the spring of 1961, Los Angeles magazine has been addressing the needs and interests of our region for 48 years. The magazine continues to be the definitive resource for an affluent population that is intensely interested in a lifestyle that is uniquely Southern Californian.