Let the Universal project rise. It's the natural order of things. Congestion is GOOD. It will give the county the rationale to build out of the mess. The key is not following old suburban models with these new projects - and exacerbate the years of bad planning decisions. Reduce the parking to usable square foot ratio in all new projects. Don't tolerate more space for the automobile. Start to make it difficult to drive. Car owners do NOT have a God given right to unlimited use of public resources just for their registration fee and gasoline tax. (I like to say here in NYC we pay $1,000 per square foot for a condo; why should a vehicle owner get 275 sq. ft. to park his car for free or a pittance?)

Look at history. New York's subway system was overwhelmed the day it opened in 1909. The demand was there. So desperate were they that they used shovels and human hands to build it. There were traffic jams on the streets all ready - horses and carriages. People needed a fast way to move up Lexington Ave.

Fortunately, the builders had the foresight. Planning and constructing deliberately. They a. grade separated, b. developed both local and express trains, c. built platforms long enough to sustain foreseen growth in demand for 100 years (8-12 car trains). Today's NYC Subway is nearing absolute capacity - 100 years to the day after entering service. We're talking about removing the seats from trains for more standees! And once again despite lots of stop gap measures, its inevitable, we're going to fall behind the system's ability to deliver.

Sometime 50 years from now we'll be building our way out of a gargantuan mess.

That's what you have in LA. But not quite bad enough. It needs to be an overwhelming unbearable mess. So I say. BUILD. BUILD. BUILD. Then people will clamor for it. Damien you keep your activist hat on and keep supporting rail. I'd say your subway is the right project to support.

Build the pedestrian and bikeway infrastructure and the rapid transit system first (and to be "rapid" you have to be going fast), while identifying where we want to increase density and HOW we are going to increase density, then begin the discussion of approving such projects.

But that's not what's happening now.

Additionally, traffic congestion does have an economic costs.

Why should Los Angeles stop it's densification just because stubborn Suburbanites won't take Public Transportation; it doesn't make absolutely any sense, regardless of how much traffic it may bring.

So what if traffic increases? SUCK IT UP AND TAKE THE GOD DAMN BUS OR TRAIN ALREADY!!! GOOD GRIEF!!

Not sure if your comment was aimed at me, but I don't work for NBC/Universal. I just want Metro to rail/subways/something - badly - and live in the Valley. And if that's what it takes to get more train stations...

LA will always get more jobs, and with it that comes housing (though not nearly fast enough), but they need to stop letting developers construct stuff - like white collar jobs and $500k+ condos - without the mass transit to handle it (ala "smart growth"). Most people who make that kind of money don't take sub-standard transportation. The noise and traffic that we are all ranting about right now - it's CARS, correct? You betcha.

Really, who cares if a private property holder makes money off of the property the own - so long as our City, quality of life, and our environment are maintained or improved?

The "logjam" you speak of is due to an excessive amount of automobile-only planning in the region. A project like this, adjacent a heavy commuter rail line, needs to have the area around the train station heavily oriented away from private automobiles. If the workers and residents at this new complex are offered more transportation options (at the expense of private car use) - then you will see a marked improvement in the quality of life, environment, and the maintenance of our City.

The insanity of L.A. politics forces LaBonge to fight for more amenities for more cars to make everything more of a logjam.

When will a little bit of good social science percolate up to the voting public and our representatives? I'm not holding my breath for an answer- I'd have passed out and died years ago.

Economic development means traffic and density, but it also means strengthening LA's economy. If you're opposed to economic activity, you're living in the wrong city. Look at Phoenix as a place where a pure circular service economy means sharp, dangerous downturns that degrades the quality of living and makes it difficult to maintain a prosperous urban core. I don't want to emulate Phoenix. Sometimes big corporations are evil (P&G in Cincinnati comes to mind) but in this case NBC may be the stopped clock that's right twice a day.

God forbid that car traffic wasn't "mitigated" with road widenings and excessive parking facilities. Everyone knows that to mitigate automobile congestion you have to provide more places to use and drive you car for "free".

Everything about his policy seems backwards. I would insist on UNDER parking of this project, and high fees on automobile use to pay for pedestrian, and other local area, improvements. That would "mitigate" car traffic. Come on LaBonge! You've got everything turned upside down to satisfy the "This is Mayberry" homeowners in your district - but please think of the people who actually produce something for your area other than phone calls to complain about poor people cluttering the entrance to Trader Joes.

I wonder - Universal City isn't in the City of Los Angeles, it's unincorporated county. Is Metro Universal part of the incorporated area, or is Tom LaBonge a windbag? (granted, those two things aren't mutually exclusive.) I guess the structure and location of the EIR implies that LA is involved in some form or fashion.

There's a simple way to make sure that the park-and-ride parking isn't used by tenants of the complex - check exiting vehicles for a valid Metro pass or ticket. It's not 100%, and somebody may eventually figure out that a Metro pass is a cheap parking pass, but really.

At least he pointed me towards the EIR so that I can submit my support to the City.