| LA's Slow Ride to Car-Free Freedom |
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| Written by Kate Trainor | |||||||
| Sunday, 01 June 2008 | |||||||
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My complaints about Los Angeles are cumulative. I appreciate L.A. as a city and love to visit, but know I’d never hack it as a resident (nor, for that matter, would I want to). I’m put off by the culture of collagen, the glitz and the greed, and the simple fact that Angelenos have little choice but to drive everywhere to navigate the sprawl. Worse, most California highways are as clogged as Harvey Weinstein’s arteries. L.A. city councilwoman Wendy Greuel, a long-time crusader for car-free transit, told StreetFilms, “Traffic has become the number one issue in the city of Los Angeles…and we want to change that…we want to say people have options…They don’t need to be able to get in their car to get to their ultimate destination.” Greuel is reasonable in her expectations of how Angelenos might utilize public transit. Taking public transit instead of driving even once a week would make a difference, she said. She also emphasizes the importance of creating a mixed-use, walkable city that combines residential space with nearby nightlife, amenities (i.e. groceries), and business. Ideally, said Greuel, people would have the option of walking to work. Greuel and her supporters are striving to find ways to transform car-reliant L.A. into a city that supports public transit; a city that walks, bikes, and rides the bus. Check out the StreetFilms clip for more on L.A.’s hopes for ped-friendly progress. Source: StreetFilms Comments (3)
Damien
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First, thanks for the plug. Second, there is a car free culture here in LA, but you have to know where to look for it. There are literally tens of thousands of cyclists on the road everyday and Metro (LACMTA) is experiencing record ridership. We got a ways to go to be where we should be, but it's not as bleak as you might think from just visiting. So next time you're coming out here, drop me a line and we'll find do a ride together and I can show you what I'm talking about. |
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In fact, metroriderla.org is a great website/blog for people who want to live or are already living a transit oriented lifestyle in Los Angeles. |
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LA has the second highest transit ridership in the country.....LA is in fact a transit town by ridership standards and that should be the #1 criteria. But how do you see that when looking at a bus or train brimming with a bunch of black and brown people you can't come to the realization that these people are actually......well, "people". Please check stats at the APTA to see for yourself and you will see that % wise LA falls in the middle bracket of transit ridership in the US. The 50% of NYC is unmatched by anyone in the US until you hit SF at 29%, Chicago, Philly, Boston all around 20 % and then LA's quickly growing transit at 16%. Cities like Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta all rank below or very well below 10%. These figures are based on the metro areas MSA stats. You should research before you speak. LA's supposedly lack of transit ridership is steeped in racist and classist thought. |
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