Originally Posted by Bikemike
Culver is becoming the most architecturally cosmopolitan LA-area nexus in this boom. As a SM homeowner, I view CC as my neighborhood and support what's happening there. Aside from supporting the same backwards parking ratios which afflicts our entire metro area, the architectural boom surrounding CC station is consistently more sophisticated than DTLA's and SMs - very European. A truly modern transit village with a lot of potential to spur growth organically eastwards down an already walkable and underutilized Washington Blvd. DTLA is a mixed bag so far; akin to downtown Miami, with too many oppressive, car-oriented islands, and tons of stupid looking design. Heavy douche factor involved there.
Santa Monica (especially the NIMBYs who killed Bergamot) are going to view the CC station with both envy and regret in the coming years, thanks to their lack of vision. On top of that, SM has a tendency of getting either one of the same two developers for every single project (NMS, or some other clunky over-designed shitbox by Gwynne Pugh), making for a sterile local vernacular. Luckily, however, SM's architectural mediocrity is made up for by its unbeatable walkability (for LA standards), superior fine-grainedness (for LA standards), safety, and cleanliness, the combination of which is exceedingly rare in our metro area.
Speaking of "grainedness", I hate NIMBYs, but one thing is true. LA's developments tend toward brutal in scale, and is "coarse-grained" as it gets. The great thing about SM and CC is they're in good transit proximity to each other (urban synergy) and their focus on smaller-scale density is superior to the unfortunate crap in that lies between these two cities (i.e. WLA, Palms). Credit where it's due: NIMBYs helped SM and CC avoid the ugly scale of density that afflicts much the rest of LA. The thing NIMBYs don't get is, brutally scaled urban design is the direct result of auto-oriented zoning rather than density in and of itself. I share their fear. But NIMBYs need to change their approach. Moratoriums don't address the problem.
Sucks, right? LA seems cursed by two equally unpalatable choices when it concerns growth: no growth (NIMBYism) or the inhumane, coarse-grained, nature of auto-orientation. Luckily for SM, CC, and to some extent, West Hollywood, they are not part of LA and can thank their NIMBYs for not selling out (albeit using the wrong reasoning) when this kind of development is in mode in neighboring LA. The challenge for our region is how to rationally bridge the divide and meet in the middle, with the aid of our expanding rail network. Once again, Southern California can thank the smarter half of our state for coming up with a progressive fix (CADOT reform) to save us from ourselves. As always, progress starts up North, and trickles South.
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