Cities Within A City

Cities Within A City

URBAN SPRAWL - for too long this is how urban planners and experts have referred to Los Angeles. Our city has been viewed as a vast wasteland in search of an identity. Recently, however, Los Angeles is on the cusp of reinventing itself. Areas that have been crime-ridden or deteriorating are coming back, not as carbon copy images of one another, but as individual and unique centers. It is critical that Los Angeles continues to invest in and support these varied communities, rather than attempt to replicate other cities by creating a single urban center.

What's true is that Los Angeles is remarkably unique-in culture, diversity and innovation. Its geographic expansiveness is what makes it special and sets it apart from other cities. Local residents have an opportunity to visit several urban centers, not just one and experience the richness and history that each area offers. Los Angeles needs to accept who and what it is and exploit it for what it's worth.

The key to Los Angeles realizing its potential is investing in a "new urban strategy for the 21st century." Revitalization of individual communities is critical, but it can't be random. It is essential that each program be linked with an overarching planning strategy that brings together the city's diverse communities. It won't detract from the cultural and historical identities of each area, but rather enhances them as residents from across the city have access to what these communities offer.

Central to this strategy is a strong transportation plan. For too long Los Angeles residents have been trapped in their cars, rarely venturing out of their individual living quadrants. Increasingly oppressive traffic congestion has contributed to this phenomenon with driven singularly focused on just getting home as quickly as possible and "beating the traffic." This situation has done little to encourage people to "sample" what other areas have to offer.

It's time, however, for Los Angeles to face reality and accept the fact that its rate of growth simply cannot be supported by current transportation systems. We must find ways to get people out of their cars and into public transportation systems. No, it hasn't worked yet--but that doesn't mean it can't. The key is to integrate all planning so that it makes sense for everyday people to change the way they have lived their lives.

The city now has a unique opportunity to link two vital communities via an innovative and appealing transportation system. Wilshire Boulevard has been referred to as the linear downtown and the stretch between Wilshire Center and Miracle Mile is an ideal corridor for a transportation system of the 21st century.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is currently exploring Westside transportation corridors, including Wilshire and Exposition Boulevards. This should be a true study, where communities are allowed to provide meaningful input and provide a voice for what would best serve local needs. In addition to determining which route would make most sense, the MTA is also looking at various means of transportation. Currently, many legislators seem enamored with a designated busway, designed after the system in Curitiba, Brazil. It should be noted that the city's land use plan was centered on the busways. This isn't necessarily a system that will work anywhere, particularly along already overly congested streets. Another mode of transportation being discussed is the monorail.

The monorail presents a potential mass transit alternative that is cost-effective, quite, convenient and "sexy." It runs on simple, inexpensive elevated tracks that can be constructed, installed and operated without major impact on existing neighborhoods, medians, streets, buses or traffic patterns. The monorail concept is to work in conjunction with a Wilshire bus system and a local shuttle system.

Lets work for combination buses and Monorail system for Wilshire Blvd. The monorail can start at the Wilshire/Western MTA station and go west along Wilshire. A dedicated lane for very large buses would destroy our existing landscape medians or remove street parking. Lets free the streets for good quality buses, cars and possibly a bike lane and add a monorail system that is environmental friendly. There is $200 million available from the Federal Government to build a fixed guide way along Wilshire to the L.A. County Museums. We need to act soon or lose this money.

As Al Martinez, L.A. Times columnist said; "It's difficult to imagine that this world city, this giant of on the rim of the Pacific, this metropolis of tomorrow, is still thinking in terms of yesterday". 11/13/99.