Without Cars in Greater Los Angeles
Antioch University Los Angeles hosts free public workshop exploring issues of sustainability and people-powered transportation

CULVER CITY, CA – October 29, 2008 – The Urban Community and Environment concentration within the B.A. program at Antioch University Los Angeles, along with the Student Action Network will host a free, daylong workshop for the public on people-powered transportation on Friday, November 7th.  A Future Without Cars? People, Bikes and Community in 21st Century Los Angeles will be held at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Culver City from 9:30am to approximately 5:00pm and is open to anyone interested in conversations surrounding the development of new transportation norms in the greater Los Angeles area.

“Having grown up in Los Angeles, it is hard to imagine a city where cars do not dominate our urban landscape,” said Jim Gatewood, Ph.D., director of AULA’s Urban Community and Environment concentration within the B.A. program. “By mid-century, Southern California’s population is expected to grow by nearly sixty percent. We have to think of viable solutions to our transportation problems and create an infrastructure that supports those who opt out of automobiles.”

The event brings together some of the city’s most talented thinkers on the subject of alternative modes of transportation, including Robert Gottlieb, Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban Environmental Studies and Director of the Urban Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College and author of Reinventing Los Angeles who will deliver a lecture that explores the history and future prospects of people-powered transportation in Los Angeles. Additionally, James Rojas, a graduate of MIT’s Architecture Studies program, planning advocate and director of the Latino Urban Forum will lead workshop participants on an audit walk of the neighborhood surrounding Veteran’s Memorial Hall in Culver City and offer some thoughts on design choices that both encourage and hinder pedestrian traffic in the area. He will then facilitate a design workshop using items found in the built environment. 

The second half of the afternoon will focus on Los Angeles’s thriving bike culture, drawing upon the strengths of activists and biking advocates. Joe Linton, co-founder of the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition and author of Down by the Los Angeles River will lead a series of mini-workshops that touch upon such important themes as bike safety, the bicyclist’s bill of rights, and bicycle co-ops led by activists Alex Thompson, David Pulsipher, and Steven Box. Charles D. Herbertson, city engineer for Culver City will offer some remarks on the three-year master plan for pedestrian and bike transportation currently underway in Culver City. The day’s events will conclude with a community bike ride led by bike activist and League of American Bicyclists Instructor Ron Durgin. 

”This workshop is an important step forward to imagining a different kind of Los Angeles,” added Dr. Gatewood.  “AULA is proud to sponsor events that bring some of our city’s best minds together.” 

The event will be held on Friday, November 7th at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium located at 4117 Overland Avenue in Culver City. 

Admission is free and open to the general public, and free parking is available adjacent to the auditorium.  Lunch vouchers for Green Truck will be available for purchase for only $10 at registration. Those planning to participate in the bicycle ride should bring a helmet,
lights for their bike, and a water bottle.

This event is sponsored by the Urban Community and Environment concentration within the B.A. program, as well as the Student Action
Network.

For more information on this event, please contact Dr. Jim Gatewood at Jim_Gatewood@antiochla.edu or at (310) 578-1080 x229.  

For more information on Antioch University Los Angeles, please contact Joanna Gerber, Director of Public Relations at
Joanna_Gerber@antiochla.edu or at (310) 578-1080 x119.  

Additional information on Antioch University Los Angeles can be found online at www.AntiochLA.edu.