TLDR: interesting with a lot of background on urban issues and history of cities. Not an easy A, but it is possible if you engage all quarter.

I loved this course! I took it as a theory requirement for the Public Affairs Major. The assignment breakdown is as follows:

1. Weekly quizzes (10%)
The weekly quizzes were due Monday at 10 am and graded for participation. They ask a few questions about course materal from that week and give students a chance to ask the professor questions about the week's material as well. There were one for each week roughly.

2. Two “Seeing the City” assignments (30%) - Due: October 29 and November 21
These assignments were graded on a "check plus, check, or no credit" basis. You basically had to apply class concepts from the week to a specific location of your choosing in a written response around 800~ words. These were graded by TAs, and late work was generally accepted with a deduction.

3. Midterm exam 25% 24-hour take-home)

The midterm was divided into two sections, short essays and mutiple choice. There were 3 essay prompts and you have 24 hours to complete each response in 1-1.5 pages single spaced. The prompts require you to reference specific readings from class. The teaching staff was particular about answering all elements of the prompt, having traditional essay elements (intro, conclusion), providing counteragruments, so some students lost points from not having all elements. Overall, if you are familiar with the readings, you will probably do well. I did about 50% of each week's readings, which was about 80-100 pages a week in total, and did well.

The mutiple choice is timed at 30 minutes for about 20 questions and can be taken anywhere in the 24 hour window. The questions are based similarly from the weekly quizzes, graphs/information on the slides, and reading main ideas. Review sessions were offered from teaching team.

4. Final exam 35% (24-hour take-home)
Pretty much the same as the midterm. The mutiple choice was longer and we had more time to finish it, about 45 minutes and 30 questions, roughly. There were two essay questions instead of three, and they were weighted more each to account for the one less prompt. Took place during finals week and the teaching team offered several review sessions.

CONS:
- Readings: there were anywhere from 80-100 pages of reading each week. At times, the material was dense but it was generally easy to get through, just time consuming. I did about 50% of each week's readings and still understood the material. You do not have to do all the readings, but must be familiar with major concepts and author's names to suceed
- Some students considered the teaching team to be nitpicky and unclear about midterm grading.
- Professor Lens has a lot of information on slides that is on the midterm and final but often goes through them quickly.

PROS:
- Professor Lens is very funny and understanding! he makes the course material engaging and connects it to several locations that are relatable to students.
- Class is Bruincast
- The class and my section did not require attendence

As an engineer taking this for a tech breadth, I thought it would be an easy A--but it wasn't the case. The course load is pretty light (2 essay assignments, midterm + final have both multiple essays and MCQ) but the grading was rather harsh, depending on the TA (they were often very picky on citing sources). I found the content to be somewhat boring as well. I was a bit annoyed when my TA modified instructions for an assignment via a canvas announcement and not the actual assignment description itself, thereby marking down my score despite me having followed the assignment instructions correctly.
tldr: not the best experience, but it's an okay class I guess.

As an engineer taking this for a tech breadth, I thought it would be an easy A--but it wasn't the case. The course load is pretty light (2 essay assignments, midterm + final have both multiple essays and MCQ) but the grading was rather harsh, depending on the TA (they were often very picky on citing sources). I found the content to be somewhat boring as well. I was a bit annoyed when my TA modified instructions for an assignment via a canvas announcement and not the actual assignment description itself, thereby marking down my score despite me having followed the assignment instructions correctly.

tldr: not the best experience, but it's an okay class I guess.

Great class! Professor Lens is very entertaining, making sometimes repetitive content interesting. He is fair with exams and grading. Midterm and Final are take home with essay and multiple choice sections. Readings are long but as you long you understand broad concepts before the exams, you will be fine. Highly recommend the class.

After reading the reviews, I was really excited for this class. Yes, it is an easy A, but the lectures are so dry and boring to follow. I feel like all the professor did was read off the slides, which isn't a really engaging style. If you're looking where a class that's low maintenance, however, then take this class. If you want to take a really interesting class, look elsewhere.

professor lens isn’t a very charismatic individual and blandly reads off of slides. he uses music in the beginnings of the classes for some intrigue, but that quickly tapers off. if you watch a video by strongtowns, citynerd, or not just bikes on youtube & have a lick of history revolving around the 1900s, you’d be more than prepared for this class. bored, even. in terms of grading, sections, and communication, the ta’s are a godsend. very helpful, understanding, and fair. although i may not contest my grades, lens grades very harshly and doesn’t mince words. blithe comments and condescension mark his grading.
tl;dr, extremely intro level class, boring at many parts. ta’s are great, lens, not so much. wouldn’t recommend unless it’s required.

I've never written a Bruinwalk review before but just wanted to come on here to say that Professor Lens was my favorite professor I've had at UCLA by far. He's so engaging and passionate and just a really reasonable, likable, approachable guy. This was the first lecture I've had where I just genuinely loved coming in in the mornings and listening to him discuss these topics. Definitely made me realize I care about city planning and development and housing disparity, etc.

I wish I liked this class more. Something about it was off though and I just could not pay attention at all. Maybe it was all the text on the slides, maybe it was too early in the morning, maybe I was confused by the material a bit? but I didn't get as much out of this class as I had hoped. Prof Lens is super fun though and I would definitely recommend giving this class a try because he's definitely one of the better lecturers in public affairs. The workload was fine; my TA Lindsey was super helpful too.

This was my favorite class at UCLA of all time -- I would take it 10 times if I could. Professor Lens and his TAs were absolute gems and knew so much about the subject. Lectures were engaging, tests and homework were relatively easy and graded very generously. On another note: This class made me completely reconsider my academic and professional pursuits. I found it so interesting, I definitely want to take more classes in this area. I can not say enough good things. PLEASE take this class, especially with Prof. Lens!!

Professor Lens is one of the best professors at UCLA that I have taken so far. He is funny and approachable, making this class very fun to attend. His lecture was engaging, as he discussed many interesting topics fundamental to other urban planning disciplines. Even though there was confusion about final testing, as we were during the TA strike, he was open to students' comments and adjusted his plan to be more accommodating. The grading scheme was very generous if you completed all the weekly quizzes and assignments. Overall, this is a great class, and I would recommend taking this with Prof. Lens!