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Most of my friends in LA dislike driving. I try to carpool, take mass transit, bike or walk as much as possible. I drive less than 5,000 miles a year. However, I live in the "center of the city" which is roughly a corridor defined from Santa Monica to downtown LA, so I have access to great food, beaches, open space and stuff to do around here without much driving. My kids go to neighborhood schools, so most of their friends and activities are nearby. I do have some friends that send their kids to private schools that are 20+ miles away and they seem to be in their cars a lot. I don't think I could stand.
I have participated in the CiclaVia events and they are a lot of fun. However, the worst traffic I ever experienced was when thousands of bikes tried to squeeze through a 10-wide section of street. That was awful.
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However, the worst traffic I ever experienced was when thousands of bikes tried to squeeze through a 10-wide section of street. That was awful.
That happens on a regular basis with Critical Mass jam-the-streets events. San Francisco is victimized monthly (usually).
You wouldn't want to be there at the end of the month, trying to get home after work.
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cars are popular today because there are enough people who make sufficient money to afford a car and buying a car is more affordabe than it was (relatively speaking) for the first half of the 20th century.
cars are independence, even if you are stuck in traffic in that metal box, alone, on a highway, breathing in fumes. it's *your* metal box.
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Los Angeles had two competing major rail systems (and several more small ones), the Pacific Electric Railway (which was a subway) and the Los Angeles Railway (street cars). The subway ran multiple routes from the ocean to the Redlands, and Balboa north to San Fernando.
Map of all Los Angeles railway systems in 1906
Map of Los Angeles Railway in 1938
map of Pacific Electric Subway
A Photo tour of the old terminal
Pacific Electric Railway History
Los Angeles Railway History
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When I lived in L.A., other than at my Mom's, I always lived in areas that were great for walking, which meant that everything I needed was in walking distance. I mostly lived in the Hollywood and Downtown areas.
I love my hometown, from the top to the bottom. It's a magical place.
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vision63 wrote:
When I lived in L.A., other than at my Mom's, I always lived in areas that were great for walking, which meant that everything I needed was in walking distance. I mostly lived in the Hollywood and Downtown areas.
I love my hometown, from the top to the bottom. It's a magical place.
Gardena, right? First time I ever heard it described as magical. Perhaps back in the day...
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Cool graphic Mike Johnson! I'm most familiar with the an area the size of and actually depicted by SF. I'm marginally familiar with parts of the areas depicted under Cleveland & Pittsburg and parts of Manhattan. But I'm pretty unfamiliar all other areas and I've lived here most of my life. The map mislabels the 110 fwy as the 405 fwy.
Nothing wrong with Gardena. Centrally located. Lots of families that have been there for generations. Great asian food. Some parts may be tough but at least it's not cookie cutter.
