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by tastythrowaway2 3348 days ago
My guess is it has something to do with [1]. I remember growing up hearing that LA was planned by a large automotive manufacturer, hence it requires copious amounts of driving to fully experience the city. I couldn't find a reliable source with any cursory searching. Still, the linked article mentions LA specifically in one of the captions, so maybe there's a grain of truth to that.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_city
1 comments
tomjakubowski 3348 days ago
LA emphatically was not planned, especially not by an automotive manufacturer. The automotive industry simply colluded to destroy the metropolitis's mass transit system, to be replaced by automobile freeways. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_con...

Despite this, and contrary to the stereotypes, the LA Metro is actually dead last in the US in freeway lane miles per resident. See http://freakonomics.com/2009/02/24/los-angeles-transportatio...

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CalRobert 3348 days ago
Much of modern LA was inadvertently planned to be auto-dependent through parking minimums, single-use zoning, and before that, redlining. All of those shape neighborhoods and structures. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/housing-discrimin...

[edit: redlining didn't necessarily cause auto-dependence but it is an example of planning]

After all, if every structure has to have 2 parking spots per apartment, you'll get far, far fewer apartments in the same space, forcing things to sprawl.

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/420062

I think they might finally be learning though. The Expo line goes to the beach now. And they spent $1 billion+ to widen Sepulveda pass and now it's slower than it was before. Perhaps next time they'll put rail in instead.

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