Welcome back to The Four Degrees to the Streets Podcast! In this episode, our new-good friend, Roderick D. Hall joins the show! Roderick, is an urban planner, Los Angeles-transplant from rural North Carolina via the University of Oregon, housing advocate, former double-major in Political Science and Philosophy, and Marvel fan. Roderick is the Section Director for American Planning Association Los Angeles. APA LA is a professional development and urban planning advocacy non-profit organization, and the local arm of the National American Planning Association which has over 40K members across the U.S.

Roderick joins the show to mark the beginning of their term as the first Black and non-binary Section Director of the APA Los Angeles. We have an amazing conversation about their fun dirt road country upbringing and how that shapes their service to the community, the bundle of problems that contribute to the high cost of housing in Los Angeles, the joys of having family in close proximity, and how they hope to shape the future of the Los Angeles Section of the American Planning Association.

Roderick has over a decade of experience in urban planning. Rod shares insights on how urban planners and urban policy makers can and must use our existing tools to design and plan for equitable neighborhoods.

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Read Rod’s full bio below:

Roderick D. Hall is the Section Director for the Los Angeles Section of the American Planning Association and has been working in the field of urban planning and community development for a decade. Roderick serves as one of three co-chairs for the 2026 APA California state conference which will be held in Downtown Los Angeles October 3rd through 6th. Roderick is also a board member for the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and Innovative Housing Opportunities, organizations that focus on the development of parks and affordable housing, respectively.

In addition to volunteering their time, Roderick is an affordable housing professional and works for the Los Angeles Housing Department where they nerd out affordable housing finance and asset management.

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