Access to healthy food is just one reason to build walkable places with a mix of uses and diverse transportation options. The places on this map are where people have been stranded — how walkable can your neighborhood be if you can’t walk to buy fresh produce? Many of the people identified here are poor and can’t afford cars. Some are elderly or disabled and can’t drive.

The most vulnerable members of our communities are the ones most hurt by transportation policies that keep a singular focus on automobile transportation and ignore those who need other ways to get around. What Slate is calling a food desert, you could also call an unlivable neighborhood, where even residents’ most basic needs — like access to healthy food — are denied.

The number of cars per person in Greater Los Angeles. For a full copy of the map, here.

Density. Vehicle Ownership. The number of cars packed into a small area.

These are concepts that we discuss often on Streetsblog. Thanks to a UCLA research project undertaken by Professors Mike Manville and Donald Shoup, we can get an idea of some of the challenges Los Angeles’ planners face in trying to ween our city off the automobile.

This article will look at the population density, car ownership per person, and car ownership per mile maps and charts.  At the top of each article will be a “Streetsblog sized” map for Los Angeles with links to maps for San Franscisco and New York for comparison purposes.  All maps are based on information from the 2000 Census.

A huge hat tip to Katie Matchett, without whom this article wouldn’t have been possible.

Population Density:

Click for population density maps of Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

Our first set of maps show the population density for the region. The greater Los Angeles region is often portrayed as a giant suburb.  When you look at the raw number for Los Angeles, as compared to New York and San Francisco, this characterization seems suspect.  After all, Los Angeles exceeds New York when it comes to person per square mile.

This table shows the total population, size of the urbanized area, and population density for each region. Note that while San Francisco has the highest population density, Los Angeles is more dense than New York.  However, when you look at the maps you’ll see that the population is spread relatively evenly throughout Los Angeles, while the other regions have dense centers with more sprawling suburbs.

In other words, when it comes to New York, our suburbs are denser than their suburbs; even though they have a much denser urban core.

It will be interesting to see in the 2010 census how much of a dense urban core has developed over the last ten years.  I suspect those dark green areas will continue to grow, but that nobody is going to start mistaking the Downtown with those of San Francisco or New York.

Vehicles Per Person

Click for the vehicles per person maps for Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco

It’s no surprise that New York had the lowest rate of car ownership per person, but I think that many people will be surprised to see that Los Angeles actually has a lower rate of car ownership than San Francisco. As with population density, vehicle density is more evenly distributed in LA than in the other two regions.

Matchett provides a couple of other facts about Greater Los Angeles, which further illustrates what does and doesn’t determine car ownership

The three tracts with the lowest vehicles per square mile and per person are located in Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles, and San Fernando. A closer examination of the demographics of each of these tracts reveals that while each has a fairly large population (between 300 and 1,000 residents), the tracts have hardly any workers or housing units. This suggests that they may contain institutional uses such as jails, where vehicle ownership rates would be very low. The downtown tract might also include homeless residents without vehicles.

The three census tracts with the highest number of vehicles per person are located in the cities of Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, and Norwalk. The Norwalk tract also includes primarily commercial uses and has only nine residents, so the high vehicle ownership rate is likely due to the tract’s low population. The two other census tracts with a high number of vehicles per person are located in some of the wealthiest communities in the Los Angeles region. Given the strong correlation between income and vehicle ownership, this should come as no surprise.

In other words, Los Angeles’ surprising low rate of car ownership seems to have more to do with income than progressive transportation ideals.

Vehicles Per Square Mile:

Click for vehicle per square mile maps for Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco

From a planning standpoint, this set of maps and statistics, combined with the first set of maps and statistics tells the most important story.  What is the impact of population density on car ownership?  As we try to provide alternatives to the automobile, it stands to logic that dense development is part of the key.

Oh, well this is embarrassing.  Matchett explains.

The pattern of vehicles per square mile in each region basically mirrors the population density: tracts with high population density also have a lot of vehicles. This is true even in New York, with its lower vehicle ownership rates.

Honestly, I was surprised by this result.  I wasn’t exactly stunned that this was true for Los Angeles, because our transit system still needs some development, but that car ownership in New York and San Francisco was still high in their dense, transit rich areas?  I didn’t have a great explanation for this, but fortunately Matchett supplied an explanation from Professor Manville.

From a policy standpoint, this suggests that simply increasing density is likely to exacerbate rather than mitigate congestion–something we see borne out by most congestion data. (Increasing density and congestion can sometimes allow people to make more trips while avoiding congestion, but the congestion itself is still bad). So the trick for transportation and land use policy is to find ways to pull apart density and vehicle use. That’s what pricing does, and that’s what minimum parking requirements do the opposite of. Parking requirements make it very easy for increases in density to move in lockstep with increases in vehicles, because new dwelling units automatically include housing for cars.

So there’s the challenge for our local planners and transportation engineers.  As Los Angeles grows and becomes more transit diverse in the coming years, the city, county and Metro needs to get rid of parking minimums in dense, transit-rich areas and find other ways to encourage people to not feel the need to own cars.  It sounds as though Metro ought to be urging cities to relax their parking requirements in the areas around their new rail lines or, at a minimum, get them relaxed for the developments on land that the agency owns.

A pair of actor’s from ABC’s crime drama Castle are trying to live a car-free life a couple of days every month and are filming their experiences for a YouTube documentary series.  True, Stana Katic and Seamus Dever aren’t vowing to get rid of their cars completely or anything like that, but the reality is that celebrities have a different microphone than the rest of us.  If nothing else, these slick videos are showing how easy it is to ditch the car and get around Los Angeles.

The first film following our heroes’ commute, follows the pair on their bicycles.  It’s clear that neither is a regular bike commuter (correction: it turns out that Dever is, but he seemed to me to be playing the part of a new rider,) but that’s part of the point.  Katic is wearing a softball helmet.  Later, Dever discusses how riding in bike lanes is preferable because “nobody tries to kill you,”  so I guess somebody hasn’t spent a lot of time riding on Venice.

Yet, the two cruise to their destination with no problem.  They each talk up the benefits of cycling for mind, body, soul and environment.  The message is clear.  If these two can ride to work, anyone can.

The two are equally cheerful about riding public transportation.  Dever, resting on a “Give Me 3″ P.S.A., opines that there’s no reason for transit to have the stigma it does with some parts of the public before hopping on a Metro Local Bus.  Katic seems at home on the Red Line, using some sort of electronic device while hanging on a poll.

To help beef up the videos, Michael Brune of the Sierra Club and USC Professor Jim Haw provide on-camera stats and figures to explain the importance to mind, body and planet of providing and using an array of transportation options.

They’re going to continue updating the series throughout the rest of the week.  You can catch the latest film, here.

Mulligan and LeBouf discussing how cool a Metro Bus/Transformer would be. Photo: INF Daily via Daily Fill

Just in time for the release of Wall Street II: Money Never Sleeps, comes news that formerly car-free movie star Carey Mulligan has been converted to a car driver because of a scene where she’s driving a car and how easy it is to get a license here in Los Angeles.  From Entertainment Weekly (page 125 of the Fall TV issue “Carey Mulligan Learns to Drive”:

“[In London] I took an intensive course – two weeks, five hours a day, in a manual car.  Then I took the test, and within three minutes of leaving the test center, the instructor had to use the emergency brake, which means you’ve failed.  Then we had to do 40 more minutes of driving around, when I knew there was no way I could pass.”

“I still can’t drive in London, but I finally got my license in L.A.  I’ve got an automatic there, and they’re not quite so rigorous in the test.  I’ve got it down in L.A.!”

Back in the days of yore (otherwise known as December, 2009), it was common to see Mulligan and her on-screen and real life boyfriend Shia LeBouf sharing a bus bench or riding the bus here in L.A.  LeBouf’s presence is surprising.  I thought he preferred cars that turned into giant talking robots.

No word on whether she switched to driving because her bus route was cut.

(H/T to Clarence Eckerson)

Panel 1: A cyclist speeds down a four-lane arterial street in West Los Angeles.
Panel 2: He stops, noticing something he's never noticed before
Panel 3: He walks his bike into a small courtyard of a small church
Panel 4: He peeks in the window
Panel 5: A choir is rehearsing
Panel 6: He sits down on a bench and listens

If award winning comic book writer Joshua Dysert were preparing this story for his work, instead of recounting for us an experience that would have been impossible had he been driving as part of the "Experiencing L.A. from the Streets" workshop; that might be what it would look like. As it was, Dysert, Christine Louise Berry, Nigel Raad and Diane Meyer were limited to just verbally recounting their car-free adventures, although Raab and Meyer did "cheat" and use power point.

If Meyer's name seems familiar, you might remember her Without a Car in the World: 100 Car-less Angelinos Tell Stories of Living in Los Angeles, exhibit that made waves last fall. Good news Meyer fans, it seems a book is in the works...

While Meyer moderated the panel, and shared more of the stories she chronicled in her exhibits; it was Dysert, Raab and Berry who did most of the talking in the panel, encouraging more car-free or car-reduced living from their audience.

Raab and his slideshow might have been the show-stealer for this panel. The Assistant Professor of Russian History at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles walked seventy two miles over the course of many days to experience the communities of Los Angeles from the streets. Some of Raab's observations earned laughter from the audience, such as that you only saw white males walking in many places if they were accompanying their canines or that the 405 is a more effective barrier to stop travel than the Berlin Wall was.

Nigel Raab shows us his 72 walking route from the ocean to San Bernadino

But most of Raab's experiences were of a more documentary nature than a biting one. For example, belying the "nobody walks in L.A." perception of the Southland; Raab illustrated beautifully that if you happen to be in South L.A. and it's 7:30 in the morning; you'll see parents chasing their kids down the sidewalks towards school. If you're in East L.A. at lunch time, then you'll see plenty of adults in the public space grabbing lunch.

Raab's take home message was that people, even rabid cyclists, should take some time to walk more. "The sidewalks are lonely. They're begging for company."

While Dysert was the only rabid cyclist of the group, he and Berry both told us stories of L.A. as a transit town. Berry doesn't believe in some of the more drastic advocates that seem to want to force car-free living on people. Instead, she wants people to want to ride transit, or walk because it's a better way of getting around. To do that, her "Smart Gals" theater troop performs in non-traditional venues that encourage transit use. For example, they once performed the "12 Days of Christmas" along the Gold Line. If people really wanted to drive to the performances, they could...but...riding the train was a lot more fun.

Much of her discussion was also about her own experiences. "L.A. becomes small" when you are walking the communities. Basically, if you're exploring a new area and are tethered to where ever you parked your car; then you don't have the freedom you do if you arrive and will leave by transit. Also, in your own community you get to know your neighbors and neighborhood on foot in a way that you can't zooming through it in your thousand pound metal piece of personal property.

While all three presenters made the case for a car-free lifestyle in their own ways, the take-home message may have been best exemplified by this encouragement for more people walking from Raab.  "The sidewalks are begging for company.  They're lonely."  If more people were like the foursome that presented last Saturday, they'd be a lot less so.

Despite being amongst the first to offer a preview of World Without a Car, the amazing car-free photography exhibit by Diane Meyer in Santa Monica, I've somewhat fallen down on the job of promoting the events that go with the exhibition.  Well, I can correct that at least for one day.  Below is an email from Meyer touting tonight's panel discussion:

One of Enci's many Thomas Guide maps, colored in for routes she's taken.

I ride my bike everywhere and I take the Metro rail or bus to auditions, interviews, meetings and jobs. I carry my photo equipment on the back of my bike when I have a photo assignment across town. I ride my bike in dress and heels and made up when I have an audition in the Valley. I carry my wardrobe in my panniers on my bike when I go to my theater rehearsals and performances at night.

I ride and travel the streets of Los Angeles at odd times, day and night and often times at new places I've never been before. Because I'm not locked in the safety of a car, I plan my route ahead of time and I chose carefully where I go, what streets I take and what roads I travel. And my route changes with the time of day.

In the daytime, I like to discover new streets and new neighborhoods. I have an old Thomas Guide that has all the routes marked that I have traveled and I like to take streets that I haven't traveled before. I love discovering the smells and sights and sounds of the neighborhoods that I never traveled when I used to drive. I like to see the neighborhoods where people walk their dogs, where kids rule the streets, where trees arch over each other and let the sun glitter through the leaves. I love to travel through the neighborhoods that have history left from the night before; Fresh graffiti or a new mural, party bottles overfilling trash bins, or soft piano music coming from a couples window.

At night I travel main corridors, big and busy streets. The busy streets are always well lit and they are maintained to the most part. I can see where I'm going, who is ahead of me or behind me and I can be seen if anything happens. I avoid any side street, even if I have to do a detour. They are not well lit, they have potholes, cracks, dark intersections and I'm invisible by anybody who drives by and could be witness if anything happened.

I like to feel safe wherever I travel. I like to feel safe when I'm dressed up, without worrying about harassment. I like to feel safe when I'm carrying my equipment and not worry about being robbed. And it is not unique to me because I'm a woman. Anybody likes these same things, regardless of what mode they travel. But I am the best judge for my own safety and nobody should tell me I shouldn't be out on the street because it's late and dangerous on a bike or on foot. That's like telling me to not dress up or wear a skirt because there are wild men out there and it can be dangerous.

Bike lanes or paths or routes give no consideration to the time of day people travel. At night paths and routes are empty and prone to criminal activity. Paths and routes have been segregated from the busy streets for the benefit of the speed of motor vehicles and to the danger of those who travel alone. Bike lanes are the pedestrian zone for those who come out of the clubs and chat with friends before they get into the car and they are also the jogging area for runners, who feel safer running against traffic in the bike lane than on the dark and broken sidewalk.

In LA we have the freedom to choose what is convenient, what is safe and what makes us comfortable. At least most folks do but when it comes to cyclists or mass transit users, oftentimes the authorities (be it the LAPD, LASD or the Transit Authorities) like to tell us where to go, where to be and how to travel. The bus stops are dirty, stinky and without shade throughout most of the city, the bike lanes/paths/routes are trap zones that cyclists are told are for their benefit. The choices for me when I'm on a bike range from riding in the door zone to riding on an empty street that nobody travels to riding on segregated bike paths that have long stretches with no escape routes and no eyes on it from the community.

My choice: I avoid the door zone and if I travel on a bike lane, I ride on the outside white line away from the cars. A British study recently came out with their report that bike lanes are unsafe for many reasons and one of them is that drivers are not giving enough room to cyclists). I don't travel on any bike paths day or night unless I'm in a group. And I only travel the bike routes if it is already part of my route, I don't detour to it.

The choice for me when I'm walking range from to walking broken sidewalks that are ready to break my heel to waiting at a bus stop that reeks like urine and is sticky from the overfilled trash bins to taking the Metro with the risk of being harassed by the Sheriffs at the NoHo Red Line station.

My choice: Walk less, ride more. Hold my breath at bus stops and distract myself with a good book and not make eye contact with the Sheriffs if I'm dressed up and bury my face into my book, script or cell phone.

I love LA and I am carfree by choice. I rent when I need one and that is not very often. I love every part of my travels, be it good or bad. But I know lot of people who don't walk or ride because it is not as easy and as comfortable as driving a car. If LA's Transit Authorities and the Department of Transportation would look at our streets and redesign them and plan them through the comfort level of a woman, our streets would be safer, cleaner and more enjoyable to all instead of the traffic sewers that we have now.

Think about our streets as if you were a lady, it'll be good for everybody!

Last Wednesday we premiered At What Price, a short film that I wrote and directed and that was shot 100% sustainably in East Hollywood.

Sustainability typically is limited to "no plastic" and "no styrofoam" but we explored sustainability further. Much further.

We wanted to involve the community and make the neighborhood be part of our sustainability commitment. Oftentimes, film productions come into town, tow cars, disrupt peoples lives, trash the streets and then leave town. We wanted to be different. We asked the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council to help us and to endorse our sustainable production. They did. We asked a local arborist Cassandra Pruett and LA's Park Czar Alfredo Hernandez, to help us with tree planting after our shoot is over. After all, we wanted to leave the community better then we found it.

The food for cast & crew was brought fresh from local farmers markets, the food was mostly Mediterranean or raw to avoid cooking and the catering area had a team of compost experts from CaterGreen namely Allan & Herminia. We had a footprintologist on set to keep us honest and the shooting location as well as the casting and production meetings were near Transit Corridors.  Everybody used stainless steel water containers and the utensils and dishes were washed and sanitized. Half the cast came to set via Metro and the others walked or rode bikes.

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome was transportation and that was when the Greensters came in. Led by Transpo Captain Ron 'the Sherpa" Durgin, the Greensters are a completely pedal powered transpo team that hauled all grip and electic equipment, all camera and audio and also did the shopping at local farmers markets for the caterer and handled all prduction needs during the shoot.

Lots of thought was put into making our film sustainable, including sourcing solar powered Libery Paks for lighting and for camera, as well as "green" lighting, water usage and sanitation, film vs. cards, etc. And once the film was finished, we continued to be sustainable.

The film was dropped off for submission to Sundance and Slamdance via bike (both offices are in LA) and the Cannes submission was mailed in reused envelope and the CD was put in a paper envelope and all materials were printed on 100% recycled paper.

All transactions after the film wrapped were done on-line or in person and delivered on bikes. The editor even had a bike rack in front of his business. That was very cool and very convenient!

Nine weeks have passed since the shoot and we held our first screening at the beautiful Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood. East Hollywood has three Red Line Stations so it is very conveniently located to make sustainable choices. We promised indoor bike parking at Barnsdall and we also encouraged travel via public transportation. Refreshments to the after party were also brought in via bikes.

Bringing film production into town can add to street live and to the health of the community if planned right. Buying and renting local, biking and walking the streets, seeking Neighborhood Council endorsement and leaving the community better then before would not only bring money back to the community but also bring money into the pockets of the producers because locals would help promote the film. If more productions would embrace the local approach our film industry would be much healthier not only to our communities but also to our soul.

If you would like to find out about festival screenings of the sustainably shot film At What Price, follow us on facebook or on twitter.

If you are interested about seeing the documentary about our 100% sustainable film shoot, send us an email to rebelwithoutacarproductions@gmail.com and we'll put you on our mailing list.  You will definitely see it on my set because I wouldn't travel any other way.

Last weekend the Eco-Village sponsored a weekend of events designed to empower the residents within and surrounding the Eco-Village and reclaim their streets.  On Friday night, they hosted Portland architect and activist Mark Lakeman, founder of the City Repair movement, who encouraged those listening to think of themselves as villagers empowered to take control of their streets instead of vassals to the bureaucracy known as local government and DOT’s.  On Saturday, they took his words to heart and went to work on their own street at Bimini Place.

Local activist and author Eric Knutzen gives a good description of the talk at the Homegrown Evolution blog:

Lakeman believes in actions that correct what he believes is our
disassociation from nature and our alienation from each other. He’s a
passionate opponent of the grid, the imposition of street networks and
regimented thinking that he traces back to Roman imperialism. He’s
probably most famous for inspiring groups of like-minded neighbors in
Portland to adorn their streets with furniture and elaborate murals,
usually done without asking for permission (see examples on an interactive map).
He wants to empower us all as "villagers", in charge of our own
collective fate, rather than as serfs subservient to distant
bureaucrats and moneyed interests….

….we’ve got to look to nature and at each other to devise the form of our
cities. The form these villager led interventions take in Los Angeles,
Austin, Iowa City and Brooklyn are going to be different. What all our
cities share in common is the need to get started immediately to undo a
century’s worth of bad planning and disempowerment.

What better way to follow-up that sort of inspiration than with a street party designed to re-claim a street and provide the local children a safe place to interact with their community and have fun.  A number of Eco-Villagers have written about what happened on Saturday and there’s a lot of pictures of the event.  Briefly, the villagers barricaded the streets, brought out the street paint and got to work.  In addition to decoration, they also installed crosswalks at the intersections in front of the Eco-Village.  Naturally, they did this without the sanctions over our bureaucratic overlords Downtown.

For more coverage of the event, and a host of photos click over to these stories at the Eco-Village Blog, Handmade Ransom Notes and Urban Adonia.

This week’s newest offering from Streetfilms highlights the fantastic tradition of "Sunday Streets" in San Francisco.  As Ben Fried notes in the New York write-up of the film, in both cities last year’s ground-breaking idea is this year’s "traditional event."

Film maker John Hamilton explains how some mediocre weather didn’t stop the event from being a gigantic success, again.

Despite a blanket of fog, the last San Francisco Sunday Streets of 2009
was, from all accounts, a smashing success, one of the most popular so
far, with thousands of people enjoying four activity-filled hours of
pristine car-free space through Golden Gate Park and the Great Highway.
Kids, families, bicyclists, skaters, dancers, and even the MTA Chief
Nat Ford came out to enjoy the carfree zone.

Note to L.A. City Hall, these events are catching on around the country and have universally been hailed as great successes.  As an added bonus to trying it here, we don’t have to worry about a "blanket of fog" on a Sunday in the Summer.

Today’s Los Angeles Times published a mostly glowing review of the crown jewel of New York’s recent efforts to make the Big Apple a more-friendly city to cyclists and pedestrians by Tina Susman.  While the story isn’t a new one for regular readers of all the Streetsblogs, and perhaps an uninteresting one for those who’s advocacy efforts don’t extend outside of Los Angeles; there’s a lot that can be learned from the piece.

First, Susman does give space to the minority of New Yorkers who don’t support closing Times Square to vehicular traffic.  After the NYCDOT announced their plans to close the square, the Car Culture warriors coined the term "Carmagedddon" to describe what would happen to New York’s streets when a sliver of it was given over to people instead of cars.  Today, all they can offer was that the car-free Times Square hasn’t made traffic any better…as though that’s the only reason to make changes in the transportation system.  The only people that say car traffic is worse are cabbies who have to driver longer routes.

Speaking forcefully against the plan is a political rival of Mayor Bloomberg’s who complains that it is " it was unfair to punish drivers" by taking away "their" road space.  It’s a shame that the councilman can’t see of the car-free Times Square for what it is, the opening of public space to everyone to use; including the minority of New Yorkers that own private automobiles.  That explains why New Yorkers overwhelmingly approve of a car-free Times Square.

The other complaint is that taking cars off the road and increasing pedestrian traffic is bad for business.  Foot traffic is up over 50% on both weekends and weekdays in Times Square, and the business-friendly Times Square Alliance forcefully backs the plan.

The question that isn’t addressed is that if car-free Times Square is such a hit in New York, why isn’t a plan like this even on the radar for our Downtown?  The closest the Times comes to an explanation is this:

There are about 6,375 miles of paved streets, including the sidewalks,
in New York City, whose population is 8.9 million, according to the
transportation department. Los Angeles, with a population of 3.8
million and far fewer walkers, has 10,000 miles.

Based on these figures there is somewhere over 8.8 million walkers in New York as opposed to nearly 3.8 million walkers in Los Angeles.  With over 50% more streets serving less than half as many people; it shouldn’t be such a challenge to turn over some of that car-only real estate for everyone to use.

(editor’s note: The idea of opening streets to bicyclists and pedestrians by closing them to vehicular traffic for temporary car-free parties has become such a mainstream idea in places such as New York and San Francisco that even Fox News is joining in on the fun.  Head’s up Mayor Villaraigosa!  Below is NYC Streetsblog’s Brad Aaron’s coverage of the coverage is below.)

How much of a non-event was this year’s Summer Streets in terms of media critique? In this Fox News piece, via Crooks and Liars,
the story isn’t traffic tie-ups or wacky spandex-clad elitists or
howling business owners, but the fact that more everyday New Yorkers
are taking to the streets on two wheels. Summer Streets, it seems, has
become a mainstream event in just its second year. Reported the Downtown Express at the beginning of August:

"I
thought last year it was going to cause havoc in the community," said
John Fratta, chairperson of Community Board 1′s Seaport/Civic Center
Committee. "For the most part I was pretty pleased. It was a nice
event." He said he supports the event this year.

The Fox segment does refer to the questionable Hunter College study on unsafe cyclist behavior (without acknowledging more revealing data on the causes of bike-car collisions),
and there’s a completely unsupported ticker squib that attributes
complaints over spending on bike infrastructure to unnamed "critics."
But these feel like token attempts to "balance" an otherwise positive
story.

Who knows, maybe in a year or two even Steve Cuozzo will have to re-read his old columns to remember what he hated so much about car-free Times Square.

Three weeks ago I asked the world for help in fulfilling Rebel Without A Car Production's commitment to producing a film sustainably. Our goal was to shoot locally and in partnership with the community.

It all seemed so doable when we were brainstorming and imagining a world of "Big Stories told with Little Footprints!" but when the production got going and I realized that all the grip & electric, all the camera and audio, all the food and all of the production supplies would need to be transported on bikes, I began to sweat.

There was a brief moment when I imagined myself riding solo through the streets of Hollywood in the middle of the night, laboring to keep the production moving, all the while cursing Enci's commitment to shooting "At What Price" sustainably.

That's how I found myself posting a video, calling for help, hoping that someone, somewhere would come and join me. In a moment of optimism, we named our substitute Teamsters "The Greensters" and the journey began.

Time was running out and I received a couple of emails, a couple of calls and a few nods and expressions of interest. I was happy for any interest, I was hopeful for help, and I was under pressure!

The day of reckoning came and history was made in East Hollywood!

Greensters showed up from all over, Beverly Hills, Orange County, Highland Park, Silver Lake, K-Town, Pasadena, Hermosa Beach, Marina Del Rey. They arrived on Xtracycles, they pulled wagons and trailers, they came on bikes of all shapes and sizes. DJ Chickenleather, who usually gets up at the crack of noon, even on his day off, arrived with a homemade bamboo trailer that looked suspiciously like a re-purposed Pier One patio display. It was all good!

We were a team. A team of Greensters and we had some history to make. Oh yeah, and a film.

The Greensters proceeded to pickup the rentals for the film shoot, getting in line with the Teamsters and their Studio trucks.  The Greensters moved a lot more quickly and a lot more efficiently. They put the Teamsters to shame. (One guy with a big truck is no match for a swarm of Greensters who divvy up the load and "Ride Loaded!")

Ron "the Sherpa" Durgin served as Transpo Captain and planned the routes, organized the Greensters and led the convoy down Santa Monica Boulevard and to the location in East Hollywood, riding an Xtracycle loaded with gear and a the filmmaker who documented the journey!

Jeremy Grant also rode an Xtracycle as did Erik Knutzen and by the end of the production, they had quite a few converts. I had anticipated more cyclists with trailers and wagons but the Xtracycles proved to be the transpo solution of the future. No matter how we started off, within moments the Xtracycles were at the front of the pack while DJ and I rode caboose, debated philosophy and interviewed each other.

Josef Bray-Ali of Flying Pigeon LA graciously donated the use of a Bakfiet and an Xtracycle and Beth and Tracey put them to good work. Monster Kat of Handmade Store on a Bike loved what we were doing and set us up with two of the trailers she uses for her pedal-powered store.

The Greensters came from all walks and with different perspectives and that added another layer of sustainability to the endeavor. Laura is a Film Producer, Dale is a Transportation Engineer, Wai is a Marine Biologist, Shant is a LEED Contractor, Feather is a Chef, and Allan & Herminia are ZeroWaste Consultants. Through it all, the Greensters shared a passion for creating community and challenging the status quo.

During the shoot, the Greensters shopped local Farmers markets and the crew was nourished with fresh food, prepared at Camp Rebel, all with a zero waste commitment. Production was supported at all times with cyclists such as Ricardo who were quicker to get around the neighborhood on bikes than if they had been using cars.

Kimby Caplan in Bakfiet while the Greensters are lending a hand. Photo by Brian Smith.

Riding around Hollywood was loads of fun but the true test came when late at night it was time for a company move. The Camera Crew were a little under-impressed as they watched us roll out, ready to move all the equipment to an exterior location a couple of blocks away. "Time is money! It's getting late! What about power?"

In less time that it takes to pry a Teamster out of a Motorhome, we had moved everything including the solar-powered LibertyPak generators and the Nila lights and we were ready to shoot. Josef's Bakfiet served as camera-bike and the DP sat in the bucket with her camera and a contented look on her face as Flying Pigeon LA put another dolly grip out of work, replaced by a Greenster!

We had a great time, we challenged the transpo paradigm of "the Industry" and Hollywood didn't fall of its axis.

At the end of the shoot, Enci had her film. That, in and of itself, is an accomplishment. But we went one better. We did it sustainably, with a zero waste commitment and by overcoming the two biggest obstacles that prevent Hollywood from doing the right thing; Transportation and Energy.

As for the Greensters, the next objective is to lay down the "Sustainability Manifesto for the Industry."

The challenge is on!

A couple of years ago, the City of Pasadena considered banning bicycles from what they're now calling the "Rose Bowl Recreation Loop" because of the conflict being created between cyclists and car drivers.  At the time the city sided with the drivers citing their "commutes" as more important than the cyclists and pedestrians using the loop as a public space.  Pasadena's plan was hotly debated, but eventually shelved.

What a difference two years make.  After last year's hugely popular "Car Free Rose Bowl" event, attended by just about every planner and member of the Pasadena DOT on payroll, the city decided to take a second look at their plan and the change could barely be more drastic.  Pasadena is now proposing two plans that would increase access for cyclists and pedestrians in two different plans that will be presented at a community meeting tomorrow between 5 and 7:30 p.m. at the Brookside Golf Club and Lot K.  For more information please call 626-744-4610.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Rose Bowl Circle, it's a three-mile loop around the stadium that provides access to the parking lots and a handful of local roads.  The loop is popular with recreational and racing cyclists from around the region and beyond because of the well-maintained roads, flat area and scenic and easy-to-access location.  In addition, the area is also popular with residents who use the walkway for exercise or just to spend some time outside.

Let's take a look at the three options outlined for Pasadena by their consultants at Crain & Associates.

The first option is to leave things as they are.  Pasadena is well aware that there are serious problems with the current plan, and lists them in the report available on the project website.

• Pavement markings and signs specify one-way pedestrian flow, but are disregarded by many.
• Four-foot striped buffer is intended to separate pedestrians from bicyclists. However, pedestrians use the buffer as additional walkway, and often encroach into the bicycle and vehicle lane.

Enhanced Two-Way Walkway Proposal

• Walkway is widened to 13 feet, allowing 2-way travel “Wrong Way” signs will be removed.
• Walkway is on colored asphalt rather than a separate sidewalk, to allow motorist use during special events.
• Flexible delineator posts separate pedestrians from bicyclists and vehicular traffic.
• Some parking restrictions may apply.
  

While the "Enhanced Two-Way Walkway" proposal is a modest improvement, by far the most progressive proposal is the "Enhanced Walkway, with Bike Lane
and One-Way Vehicle Travel" pictured above.  This time the plan actually removes a car-travel lane for the benefit of all other road users. 

This car-free outreach is part of what KPCC is calling the Insight Network, where the newsroom looks to the public to inform its coverage of issues. If you want to take a second to fill out their form to tell them why you choose to ride instead of driver, you can fill out their survey here. All information is for their private use unless you state otherwise. To read the announcement of this new initiative by Sharon McNary in the KPCC newsroom, read on after the jump.

Hello from Sharon McNary in the KPCC newsroom.

With gas prices going up again, I’m looking for personal stories about people who are car-less or who are using their cars a lot less. If you’d like to share your insights on how your bicycle is changing your financial life, click this link: www.tinyurl.com/SCPR-Bike

People who respond to the bicycle questions become part of a group of public radio news sources called the Insight Network. Sources get about one e-mail a month asking about their experiences on other issues in the news. It’s a direct line into our newsroom and a good way to help shape the news you hear on Southern California Public Radio.

It’s confidential – responses are used only for journalistic purposes – and nothing you share will be aired or published without your permission.

Thanks very much for your help,

Sharon McNary

Public Insight Journalism at KPCC
89.3 KPCC-FM, 89.1 KUOR-FM, and 90.3 KPCV

Southern California Public Radio
smcnary@scpr.org | www.scpr.org

Follow me on Twitter: KPCC_Sharon

For anyone that’s so interested in the Livable Streets Movement that they missed the results of the NBA Finals, the Lakers beat the Magic on Sunday and yesterday the city celebrated with a mostly privately funded victory parade and rally.  The Times estimated that a quarter of a million people attended the party, but what was far more exciting to me was the precedent such parades have for the city.  You see, yesterday proved that you can open streets to people by shutting them down to cars and the world doesn’t end.

In other parts of the country, it doesn’t take a victory parade for governments to open streets to people.  After Bogota showed the world how it’s done with their weekly Ciclovia’s, city’s such as New York and San Francisco put their best feet forward with car-free parties on Sundays.  Caltrans officials still gripe about car traffic "problems" created by Arroyofest six years ago, when parts of the I-10 were opened to pedestrians and cyclists, but yesterday Figueroa street and the feeder streets feeding into it was shut down for two miles in the middle of the work day and there were no reports of road rage, no reports of violence.  Heck, shutting down streets to car traffic was more orderly and safe than trying to leave a Dodgers game any day of the week.

So here you go, L.A.  We proved we can "survive" some temporary car-free corridors and even have a pretty good time while doing it.  Given that other cities hold their car-free parties on Sundays, our CicLAvia would be even more painless than yesterday.

Anyone that’s read the Streetsblog comments section is familar with Ubrayj02 or Umberto Brayj.  Not everyone has made the connection that Ubrayj is Josef Bray-Ali in real life, and he has an impressive track record of advocacy in his own right including founding the Bike Oven and the Flying Pigeon Bike Shop.

At his own blog, Brayj Against the Machine, Bray-Ali has written a couple of posts about people that drive to Lincoln Park, the largest tract of open space in his community, and park their cars on the grass and in pedestrian trails.  Even worse, entitled drivers plow up and down the bike and pedestrian paths as though they owne them, even though they’re banned.

But, since Bray-Ali is more about solutions than problems, he’s come up with a solution that would allow people to drive to the park and protect the rest of the park goers from entitled, dangerous driving.  To see his solution, head on over to his personal blog, Brayj Against the Machine.

Poster by Joe Linton

"City of Lights" is one of the largest efforts by the Bike Coalition to reach out to the Latino community in Los Angeles.  Basically, the bike coalition will hand out lights and safety tips at the Carecen Day Laborer Center near MacArthur Park where bike lights, minor bike repair, and safety info is regularly offered by LACBC volunteers.

"City of Lights" is a logical follow-up to "Car-Free Fridays."  First, you show people that it's easy to bike to work.  Second, you give them the means and information to bike safely.

Via press release, Reyes explains the value of the City of Lights:

"Latino bicyclists have been at the forefront of environmentalism long before the green movement became fashionable," said Councilmember Ed P. Reyes, whose district includes MacArthur Park. “Programs such as LACBC’s City of Lights is very important  because it targets Los Angeles' vibrant Latino bicycle community, by encouraging bike safety, as well as promoting the environmental, health and recreational benefits of riding bicycles"

If you want to get involved with this program, and have some free time tomorrow, check out the announcement for their kickoff party tomorrow night at the Eco-Village.

The LACBC City of Lights campaign was designed in October 2008 to address the fact that many Latino immigrant cyclists ride without lights and are unaware of traffic laws. We are having a volunteer party this Saturday (sorry for the short notice!) and would love for you and your bilingual, Spanish-speaking friends to come by!

Come mosey on over April 25th at 8pm to the Ecovillage (117 Bimini Pl. near 1st St.)! Come to learn and get more involved in cultivating bike advocates within the Latino biker community. We will discuss our immigrant bike light distribution program and its long term goals of community empowerment. Mingle, mingle mingle! Free drinks and food provided. For more info, check the LACBC's website: http://www.la-bike.org/ Please forward to any Latino/Spanish speaking organizations or individuals you think might be interested! Thanks and hope to see you there!

Today, the New York City Department of Transportation shows us what change looks like with its new vision for a car-free Broadway.  For details, read Aaron Naperstek’s post at NYC Streetsblog.  But since a picture is worth a thousand words, you can see what change looks like in a couple of pictures below.

Before and After: A rendering of a car-free Broadway at 6th Ave., Herald Square, looking south. Download a larger image.