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So we transform the parking lots around work into apartments? So where do we work again? Because nobody will want to live adjacent to a polluting facility like

So we transform the parking lots around work into apartments? So where do we work again? Because nobody will want to live adjacent to a polluting facility like Grumman. And what about those who are further afield from the station? The real problem I see in LA is the last 5 miles problem. When it takes nearly as long to get to the metro station in an Uber, then wait for the train, as it does to drive downtown, and the parking cost is similar to the to/from the metro, I’ll be driving. And don’t even get me started on paying $1.75 for the metro, then $3.50 to ride a metro bike one way. The apartment near the metro line is really a lifestyle choice. It’s not an overall solution for all society in LA or even The Bay Area as we will never match the rail density of a city like New York. Earthquakes limit how high we can build.

sroussey 7y ago
Earthquakes don’t limit anything. Just look to Japan, which has larger and more frequent earthquakes, and people are moved down to subways for their protection.
- CodeWriter23 7y ago
  Building codes and costs to make a building Earthquake-ready do. LA’s newest tallest building set a record for the largest concrete pour ever. That’s because the footings of any building we build here needs to be sufficient mass that the building won’t topple in an Earthquake. Filed under things that don’t scale. Also, taller than any of Japan’s but about 2/3 the height of NYC’s Skyscrapers.
deleted 7y ago
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mtalantikite 7y ago
Is the Northrop Grumman facility a particularly polluting facility? Because yeah, I would think living walking distance from work would be a perk. I think one of the main points of the article is that for public transit to be worthwhile, a city must also work on zoning to increase density. Your point about the last “5 mile” problem is totally accurate for LA though, which as a New Yorker is always kind of funny — if I were to travel 5 miles from my apartment I’d practically be out of the city! I was just in LA earlier this month and every time I go the concept of not being able to walk to go about my daily business is pretty depressing. LA doesn’t need to be as dense as New York or Paris, but if transit is to work, density needs to come with it. Otherwise it’ll always just be a massive suburban sprawl built for cars and not humans.
- clairity 7y ago
  many parts of LA are less multi-modal, often by choice, like much of the westside, beverly hills, etc. but many parts are quite multi-modal, like santa monica, westwood, palms/culver city/mar vista, downtown/arts district, boyle heights/east LA, hollywood, east hollywood, koreatown, westlake, los feliz, university park, chinatown, highland park, pasadena, south park/south central, long beach, studio city, north hollywood, etc. so don't fall for the "suburban sprawl" cliché. frankly, a lot of the less multi-modal areas are uninteresting, so it's a good (if imperfect) barometer of such things.
  - mtalantikite 7y ago
    I was staying in Santa Monica this last time and it always has felt very suburban to me. Same the times I’ve stayed in silverlake, los feliz, or echo park. When I’ve visited friends from Baldwin heights that definitely felt more sprawling than, say, Santa Monica for sure, so I get what you mean. I’ve spent a lot of time in Venice and it’s a bit better, you can kinda exist without a car there. My favorite is downtown, it actually feels like a city in that area. Maybe my frame of reference is more east coast when I say suburban, where there is a downtown area that’s walkable, but you still have to drive most places. I’ve never had a license, so I’m generally happiest in dense cities. I appreciate that many Americans prefer car life for whatever reason and LA is great if that’s your vibe. I just wish there were more cities like NYC in this country.
    - clairity 7y ago
      in NYC terms, LA is maybe 20% manhattan and 200% of the other boroughs, plus a whole lot of long island mixed together. the multi-modal areas are mainly medium density (~3-8 story buildings) so LA walkability is more queens and brooklyn rather than manhattan. the trains connect many of these neighborhoods, but with the great year-round weather, bikes or scooters work well for anything within a few miles. cities like houston, atlanta, and phoenix have overtaken LA as exemplars of suburban sprawl.
- CodeWriter23 7y ago
  Your argument of yeah walking distance to work obviates public transit.

sroussey 7y ago

Earthquakes don’t limit anything. Just look to Japan, which has larger and more frequent earthquakes, and people are moved down to subways for their protection.

CodeWriter23 7y ago
Building codes and costs to make a building Earthquake-ready do. LA’s newest tallest building set a record for the largest concrete pour ever. That’s because the footings of any building we build here needs to be sufficient mass that the building won’t topple in an Earthquake. Filed under things that don’t scale. Also, taller than any of Japan’s but about 2/3 the height of NYC’s Skyscrapers.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

mtalantikite 7y ago

Is the Northrop Grumman facility a particularly polluting facility? Because yeah, I would think living walking distance from work would be a perk. I think one of the main points of the article is that for public transit to be worthwhile, a city must also work on zoning to increase density. Your point about the last “5 mile” problem is totally accurate for LA though, which as a New Yorker is always kind of funny — if I were to travel 5 miles from my apartment I’d practically be out of the city! I was just in LA earlier this month and every time I go the concept of not being able to walk to go about my daily business is pretty depressing. LA doesn’t need to be as dense as New York or Paris, but if transit is to work, density needs to come with it. Otherwise it’ll always just be a massive suburban sprawl built for cars and not humans.

clairity 7y ago
many parts of LA are less multi-modal, often by choice, like much of the westside, beverly hills, etc. but many parts are quite multi-modal, like santa monica, westwood, palms/culver city/mar vista, downtown/arts district, boyle heights/east LA, hollywood, east hollywood, koreatown, westlake, los feliz, university park, chinatown, highland park, pasadena, south park/south central, long beach, studio city, north hollywood, etc. so don't fall for the "suburban sprawl" cliché. frankly, a lot of the less multi-modal areas are uninteresting, so it's a good (if imperfect) barometer of such things.
- mtalantikite 7y ago
  I was staying in Santa Monica this last time and it always has felt very suburban to me. Same the times I’ve stayed in silverlake, los feliz, or echo park. When I’ve visited friends from Baldwin heights that definitely felt more sprawling than, say, Santa Monica for sure, so I get what you mean. I’ve spent a lot of time in Venice and it’s a bit better, you can kinda exist without a car there. My favorite is downtown, it actually feels like a city in that area. Maybe my frame of reference is more east coast when I say suburban, where there is a downtown area that’s walkable, but you still have to drive most places. I’ve never had a license, so I’m generally happiest in dense cities. I appreciate that many Americans prefer car life for whatever reason and LA is great if that’s your vibe. I just wish there were more cities like NYC in this country.
  - clairity 7y ago
    in NYC terms, LA is maybe 20% manhattan and 200% of the other boroughs, plus a whole lot of long island mixed together. the multi-modal areas are mainly medium density (~3-8 story buildings) so LA walkability is more queens and brooklyn rather than manhattan. the trains connect many of these neighborhoods, but with the great year-round weather, bikes or scooters work well for anything within a few miles. cities like houston, atlanta, and phoenix have overtaken LA as exemplars of suburban sprawl.
CodeWriter23 7y ago
Your argument of yeah walking distance to work obviates public transit.