Quote:
Originally Posted by edluva
it's hard to get too excited about the snails pace of change in LA.
LA might offer decent urbanism for someone born today. for anyone old enough to browse these forums, you won't be able to witness a genuinely connected LA in your productive lifetimes.
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Eh...... You cant really make that assumption. Its not like all of LAs new metro lines are subways. The only one being constructed and planned is the purple line. Every other line under construction and currently planned is Light rail. A genuinely connected LA will naturally take a while for 3 big reasons.
1. Constructing these lines cost more now.
2. the city is barely starting to create a solid metro system within a city that is completely build up and full of people (aka nimbys) and obstacles. It doesn't have the luxury like other cities did back in the early 1900s of building in less populated areas and cities having the control to tear down whatever they needed to get what they want done. Building a subway a 100 years ago in a less dense LA would have been far cheaper yes, but would you really feel safe in a subway system being built in a time when earthquakes were still misunderstood.
3. LA grew up in a time when gas was cheap, freeways were the new way of transit and everyone wanted a single family home which meant LA spread out and continued to spread until recently. So connecting the entire metro is going to take a while. I give it 20-30 years before most of LA is connected, granted mostly by light rail.
I think some of you guys need to give LA more credit than you are. Im an east coast transplant and I feel some portions of LA are VERY urban. Makes me wonder if some of you have ever left the city of LA to actually be able to compare it to other cities. To the eyes of this Midwest/east coast transplant, LA is doing just fine.