Well.
I like to lurk around different City Development forums and couldn't help but notice that there seems to be an argument about L.A. going on in this one. phxSUNSfan seems very, very misinformed. Now, as someone who actually lives in Los Angeles, I think that I have a better idea of how it works then he does.
First off, phxSUNSfan seems to really hate decentralized cities. Ummm... why? I rather love them. Tokyo, for example, is extremely decentralized, and still manages to be an urban mecca. Actually, most of the very dense Asian and South American cities are decentralized. L.A. is very Asian and South American in its culture, so it makes sense that the city itself would follow suit. Even New York is decentralized, though to a lesser extent. Midtown and Downtown are two separate CBDs, not to mention all the new CBD popping up over in the Hudson Yards area. Seems pretty decentralized to me.
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Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan
L.A. will never have a real transit system like other cities; it's too far gone for that.
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Well, don't tell that to L.A. L.A. has more subway/light rail construction right now then any other city in the United States does. Two lines are under construction right now, two more will start within the year, and another (the Purple Line extension, a full subway) will start the year after that. In fact, in 40 years, the L.A. Metro should look like this:
Looks like a pretty good metro system to me....
Quote:
Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan
Have you ever been to an east coast city? It doesn't come close to the dead zone of DT L.A.
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This is the most common misconception about L.A. Downtown Los Angeles has 55,000 residents, with a median income of $83,000. There are dozens of high-end botiques, uncountable restaurants, two movie theaters, multiple playhouses, nightclubs, bookstores, barbershops, art stores, galleries, and more. Maybe in the 90s, which to me seems like the last time you visited L.A., Downtown was empty. Now? Well, I only started going to downtown a few years ago, and have never seen it empty. Literally, hipsters everywhere, which is not a bad thing.
[QUOTE=TakeFive;5549072]Whether L.A. Live is downtown is a debate I'll leave to others /QUOTE]
From a technical standpoint, it is. Downtown is defined as the area in the middle of two freeways and the L.A. river. L.A. Live is in that area. However, some might say it is separated from downtown due to the parking lots between South Park and the Financial District. This is true, but there is always new development filling the parking lots in. For example, this March, a 22 story hotel will break ground next to L.A. Live, filling in a parking lot and bringing L.A. Live closer to the rest of downtown from an urban fabric standpoint.
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Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan
It is well documented that L.A. smog is amongst the worst in the world. There isn't a marine layer in much of the L.A. basin; call it haze or argue that it makes for wonderful sunsets, it doesn't negate the fact that it is a serious environmental concern and unsustainable:
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This will never change, yet it has nothing to do with smog or cars. This is because L.A. is a basin, making it hard for smoke to escape. Even hundreds of years ago, the Native American tribes used to call L.A. the 'valley of smoke' because the smoke from all the campfires they had would stay in the valley.
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Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan
L.A. should have about 500,000 (or more) riding the subway alone. In Toronto and Montreal, cities with subway lines just a little over twice the length (40 miles), there are over 1 million subway users. L.A. has 80 miles of light rail, but total ridership is extremely low, pathetically so.
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Should have 500,000 riders? Not really. The subway only goes from Downtown to Hollywood, and the rest of the rail only goes to East L.A. At the moment, the Metro doesn't enter the most densely populated part of L.A., the Westside. With that in mind, the amount of riders we are getting is pretty great. And, as the map has shown above, the fact that the Metro doesn't enter the Westside will be remedied soon.
That's about all I will do to defend L.A. You folks can come to your own conclusions.
Peace.
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All of the cross talk lately is clouding up what *should* be a Phoenix development news forum.
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