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This may work in a traditional city like Paris; but selling this vision in L.A. is a tiresome and offensive ruse to line developers’ pockets by deleting parking

This may work in a traditional city like Paris; but selling this vision in L.A. is a tiresome and offensive ruse to line developers’ pockets by deleting parking requirements from building projects, and other handouts that reduce the quality of life for existing residents by shifting burdens onto them without commensurate rewards.

contingencies 3y ago
I lived in LA for a year around 2010. I don't drive. LA has some amazing qualities for cycling: (1) Really damn wide streets. (2) Excellent weather. (3) Buses that let you throw your bike on a flip-down rack at the front. (4) Awesome nearby scenery and great views. My understanding is, since living there, LA has embraced cycling. Good on you LA! In life, there are two kinds of people: some people drive, and others are driven. - Non-driving successful executive and friend of the CEO of the first and only public company I worked for.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  That on its own is not informative. WHERE in L.A.? Buses are subject to traffic like everything else, and they don't go everywhere at all hours. Blanket statements like yours are not applicable to L.A., just as the aforementioned fantasy-based excuses for eliminating automotive infrastructure are not. Of course, that doesn't stop the shamming and scamming. Here's another developer handout: Developers are now allowed to demolish a single house and replace it with 10 units of housing, no permits or review required (or possible). That means more trees cut down, more ground paved over and not retaining water, more blight. Meanwhile, massive Macy's and Fry's stores sit boarded up in dying malls in the center of vast parking lots that are growing weeds. And developers get even more handouts under this legislation (SB9/10) if the neighborhood they're wrecking is near a "mass-transit corridor." You know what counts as "mass transit" under this fraud? ONE ZIPCAR in a four-block quadrant. One. No word on what happens if that car gets wrecked, stolen, or otherwise removed. Do they tear the giant monoliths down? I am up for bikes as legitimate transit, make no mistake. But that's another fun thing about L.A.: They put in poorly-executed bike lanes (and I do support and use bike lanes) but the lanes go for a few blocks and then just... disappear. You're riding along and then POOF. No more bike lane. Years later, nothing has changed in those spots. That's even more offensive: local politicians pander to NIMBYs with initiatives like "Vision Zero," then half-ass it and publicly congratulate themselves. Actually, that's too much credit; they quarter-ass it at best. Oh, and the result of "Vision Zero?" INCREASED pedestrian fatalities: https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/pedestrian-deaths-rams/vision-zero https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/pedestrian-deaths... That's because nobody has the balls to ruthlessly combat the real threat to cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers: TEXTING while driving. It should be a DUI-level offense with the same penalties.
- jay3ss 3y ago
  I've lived there for most of my life and was riding my bike at around the same time and my experience was very different. Every day I'd have people purposefully try to run me off the road while I was biking and some cities in LA don't allow you to ride a bike on the sidewalk. Your experience definitely depends on which part(s) of LA you're in
- throwaway22032 3y ago
  You lived in LA, you don't drive, and you think that cycling works? Cycling worked in LA to get places? Really? This is clearly a troll. You either spent all of your time in a tiny radius or you're just making it up completely. Things are 20-50 miles apart in LA unless you spend all of your time in one little neighbourhood. I mean, it's nice on the beach.
mchusma 3y ago
I do think removing parking restrictions is hugely beneficial for communities (allowing developers to add more or less as they see appropriate for their situation). I'd recommend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Cost_of_Free_Parking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Cost_of_Free_Parking for some more background here. Congestion pricing is another thing that really does overall improve the quality of life. The problem with offering free public parking or trying to force developers to make free parking is that it is not free for the community at large. My own parents (who I love) live by the beach in LA, and they have 3 cars for 2 people. The only reason they do this is because parking on the street is free. Parking is crowded, and 1-2 cars can't park at the beach because my parents are taking 1-2 slots they could have. And this is multiplied across the whole community. I also am against parking maximums, which are starting to pop up. People should be able to decide what is the right amount of parking for their home or business.
ignormies 3y ago
In the 1920s, LA had the most extensive streetcar network in the entire world [1]. Now it's ruled by cars. Being a "traditional city" is not what makes or breaks designing a city around private automobiles -- it's entirely political. LA can change back, just as Paris is doing. [1] https://www.thereallosangelestours.com/what-happened-to-los-angeles-streetcars/ https://www.thereallosangelestours.com/what-happened-to-los-...
- ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  A streetcar network is not the same thing as walking and biking everywhere. Nobody said public transportation (in the form of trains) can't work in L.A. It just doesn't meaningfully exist.

contingencies 3y ago

I lived in LA for a year around 2010. I don't drive. LA has some amazing qualities for cycling: (1) Really damn wide streets. (2) Excellent weather. (3) Buses that let you throw your bike on a flip-down rack at the front. (4) Awesome nearby scenery and great views. My understanding is, since living there, LA has embraced cycling. Good on you LA! In life, there are two kinds of people: some people drive, and others are driven. - Non-driving successful executive and friend of the CEO of the first and only public company I worked for.

ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
That on its own is not informative. WHERE in L.A.? Buses are subject to traffic like everything else, and they don't go everywhere at all hours. Blanket statements like yours are not applicable to L.A., just as the aforementioned fantasy-based excuses for eliminating automotive infrastructure are not. Of course, that doesn't stop the shamming and scamming. Here's another developer handout: Developers are now allowed to demolish a single house and replace it with 10 units of housing, no permits or review required (or possible). That means more trees cut down, more ground paved over and not retaining water, more blight. Meanwhile, massive Macy's and Fry's stores sit boarded up in dying malls in the center of vast parking lots that are growing weeds. And developers get even more handouts under this legislation (SB9/10) if the neighborhood they're wrecking is near a "mass-transit corridor." You know what counts as "mass transit" under this fraud? ONE ZIPCAR in a four-block quadrant. One. No word on what happens if that car gets wrecked, stolen, or otherwise removed. Do they tear the giant monoliths down? I am up for bikes as legitimate transit, make no mistake. But that's another fun thing about L.A.: They put in poorly-executed bike lanes (and I do support and use bike lanes) but the lanes go for a few blocks and then just... disappear. You're riding along and then POOF. No more bike lane. Years later, nothing has changed in those spots. That's even more offensive: local politicians pander to NIMBYs with initiatives like "Vision Zero," then half-ass it and publicly congratulate themselves. Actually, that's too much credit; they quarter-ass it at best. Oh, and the result of "Vision Zero?" INCREASED pedestrian fatalities: https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/pedestrian-deaths-rams/vision-zero https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/pedestrian-deaths... That's because nobody has the balls to ruthlessly combat the real threat to cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers: TEXTING while driving. It should be a DUI-level offense with the same penalties.
jay3ss 3y ago
I've lived there for most of my life and was riding my bike at around the same time and my experience was very different. Every day I'd have people purposefully try to run me off the road while I was biking and some cities in LA don't allow you to ride a bike on the sidewalk. Your experience definitely depends on which part(s) of LA you're in
throwaway22032 3y ago
You lived in LA, you don't drive, and you think that cycling works? Cycling worked in LA to get places? Really? This is clearly a troll. You either spent all of your time in a tiny radius or you're just making it up completely. Things are 20-50 miles apart in LA unless you spend all of your time in one little neighbourhood. I mean, it's nice on the beach.

mchusma 3y ago

I do think removing parking restrictions is hugely beneficial for communities (allowing developers to add more or less as they see appropriate for their situation). I'd recommend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Cost_of_Free_Parking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Cost_of_Free_Parking for some more background here. Congestion pricing is another thing that really does overall improve the quality of life. The problem with offering free public parking or trying to force developers to make free parking is that it is not free for the community at large. My own parents (who I love) live by the beach in LA, and they have 3 cars for 2 people. The only reason they do this is because parking on the street is free. Parking is crowded, and 1-2 cars can't park at the beach because my parents are taking 1-2 slots they could have. And this is multiplied across the whole community. I also am against parking maximums, which are starting to pop up. People should be able to decide what is the right amount of parking for their home or business.

ignormies 3y ago

In the 1920s, LA had the most extensive streetcar network in the entire world [1]. Now it's ruled by cars. Being a "traditional city" is not what makes or breaks designing a city around private automobiles -- it's entirely political. LA can change back, just as Paris is doing. [1] https://www.thereallosangelestours.com/what-happened-to-los-angeles-streetcars/ https://www.thereallosangelestours.com/what-happened-to-los-...

ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
A streetcar network is not the same thing as walking and biking everywhere. Nobody said public transportation (in the form of trains) can't work in L.A. It just doesn't meaningfully exist.