Walking | Streetsblog Los Angeles

Posts from the "Walking" Category

Monday, December 17, 2012 23 Comments

City Officially Unveils “Continental Crosswalk,” Promises 50 More in Next Three Months

Birds eye view of the Continental Crosswalk at 5th and Spring in Downtown Los Angeles

No pedestrian left behind?

At a just concluded press conference at the newly installed continental crosswalk, commonly known as a zebra crosswalk, at 5th and Spring in Downtown Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a new program to replace traditional pedestrian crossings with the more visible crosswalk pictured above.

The world's most famous continental crosswalk.

Continental crosswalks feature two-foot wide yellow or white painted stripes paired with a limit (stop) line setback from the crosswalk to reduce vehicular encroachment into the crosswalk. The crosswalks alert motorists that they are approaching a pedestrian zone and are widely considered more safe than pedestrian crossings marked by two thin lines connecting two corners of an intersection.

“Los Angeles is in the midst of a transportation renaissance,” said Villaraigosa. “We are doubling the size of our rail network, making improvements to traffic flow and adding new bikeways. But we need to ensure that no one gets left behind. This focus on pedestrian safety is part of our efforts to create a 21^st century transportation network that works for everyone.”

The new design is not just for new crosswalks or high-traffic intersections. Villaraigosa wants to see every crosswalk in the city replaced, but for now announced a plan to replace 53 crosswalks by the end of March. The replacement areas were selected based on traffic safety, with the fifty most dangerous intersections getting priority. The other three high-danger crossings are in Council Districts that are fortunate enough to have no crossings on the “top fifty” list.

You can see a list of the crosswalks scheduled for improvement, at this document provided by LADOT.

Villaraigosa to Department Heads: It’s Time to Work Together on T.O.D. Planning

by Damien Newton

Mayor Villaraigosa Executive Order on Transit Oriented Development Cabinet

Too to many people, urban planning in Los Angeles is a joke. Even Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will play up Los Angeles’ uneven history with planning in private interviews or public speeches when he knows he’s addressing an audience that gets it. But the Mayor always claimed that the city was getting better, that he and his department heads “get it” when it comes to the need for urban density, urban design and transit oriented development. And apparently there is no time like the present to get serious.

In early 2012, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tasked city department heads with developing and implementing a strategy for transit oriented development. As the year went on, he half-joked to Streetsblog and at RailVolution that the city was finally starting to plan for development around rail and bus hubs before the they were built instead of afterwards. Even the crown jewel of Metro’s T.O.D. program, the W Hotel and Development in Hollywood appears more Transit Adjacent than Transit Oriented.

But while Villaraigosa laughed, his ad-hoc committee produced a serious report outlining the steps the city needs to take to create a unified T.O.D. Plan and implement it. The plan looked at L.A. as a series of major transit corridors and concluded something obvious: that the city needs to coordinate its department heads and visionaries to create an implement plans for these areas before any true urban planning can happen. Last week, Villaraigosa took the long-awaited first step to make that happen.

In an Executive Directive last week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called on the City’s General Managers to create the Los Angeles Transit Corridors Cabinet (TCC), a central entity to ensure all City departments and agencies coordinate, collaborate, and communicate their efforts to bring about a more transit-oriented Los Angeles.

“By coordinating the City’s efforts through the new Transit Corridors Cabinet, we can better focus our resources toward investments and policies that encourage and support transit use,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “This strategy will provide Angelenos of all income levels access to quality transportation, housing, and job opportunities while encouraging participation in the community development process. Together we can ensure that all stakeholders share in the benefits of growth and revitalization created by transit investment.”

Gloria Ohland, a staff member at Move L.A. and long-time supporter of Transit Oriented Development, explains some of the ways the TOD Corridors Cabinet can make a difference.

“The TOD Corridors Cabinet is a very sophisticated 21st century approach, a new work paradigm that’s all about cooperation and coordination whereas the 20th century was about working in silos, often at cross purposes. For example, LA DOT will widen streets around stations to mitigate projected traffic increases, while Metro spends money trying to make station areas more walkable. Hopefully the Cabinet will help everyone get on the same page about TOD, which offers L.A. County real potential for building affordable, walkable, bikeable, healthy, groovy green neighborhoods.”

Noting that there is a coming boom in transit oriented development as new transit projects come online in the coming years, Move L.A. applauded the Mayor’s statement. ”Thanks to voter approval of Measure R in 2008, Los Angeles, both city and county, are on the verge of a transit transformation,” writes Denny Zane, the Executive Director of Move L.A. Read more…

Thursday, November 15, 2012 50 Comments

De-Uglifying Hollywood: How to Make Our City Pedestrian-Friendly

by Alexander Friedman

As part of a personal re-visioning process, Friedman looked at 15 sections of Hollywood area streets to see what LA. could look like. You can see all the images in a much larger size after the jump.

Tourists arriving in Hollywood from all over the world are fascinated, at first. The Walk of Fame, historic Hollywood and Vine, glamorous Hollywood & Highland shopping center and Grauman’s theater – all of these attractions make an impression…

…Unless you deviate a block or two. Once you accidentally leave the tourist area, real Los Angeles opens-up: utilitarian low-rise buildings & warehouses, auto body shops & pawn shops, tattoo and smoke stores, old box-type apartment structures, blighted development, and an endless parade of empty concrete sidewalks. In addition, there are countless numbers of creepy individuals and drug addicts, smoking pot as though it’s Amsterdam!

“Why are there no public areas or plazas?” “What about parks?” “Where can I safely walk with my family?” “Who created those naked concrete sidewalks?” Those are some of the issues unsuspecting newcomers immediately face.

Welcome to City of Angels! You’re now in a car-centric town where pedestrians are treated like second-class citizens, and where car dominates our life. Except for a handful of small pedestrian spots in parts of Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, the Santa Monica civic center, and artificial outdoor malls the Grove and Americana, the “Nobody Walks in L.A.” notion is still in place. Sidewalks exist in most areas, but their anti-pedestrian design – or rather, lack of any proper urban design – makes walking in L.A. extremely unappealing.

In this case, we’re talking about middle of Hollywood! All of the surrounding streets – Sunset Blvd, La Brea Ave, Highland Avenue, Vine Street (south of Sunset) – offer nothing but primitive utilitarian automobile corridors. Lack of crosswalks and pedestrian-oriented intersections frustrates even further.

Anyone who travels beyond Greater Los Angeles will notice how much more other cities offer: wider, decorative (not concrete) sidewalks, plenty of plantings and trees, large buffer zones, public areas and plazas. Embarrassingly, L.A. does not yet offer its visitors (let alone residents) normal conditions for a family outing, unless long driving and parking hassles are involved.

After being stagnant for decades, Los Angeles is finally starting to improve. Buses and trains are returning. Density is slowly flourishing. Downtown L.A. is transitioning from a high-crime area to a safe family-friendly district. Various regions now offer improved pedestrian conditions, though as a whole L.A. lags behind other world-class cities. Read more…

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 7 Comments

Thinking of Walking CicLAvia? Think of Joining the Figueroa Street Parade

by Damien Newton

While pretty much everyone loves CicLAvia, coming back to Los Angeles’ streets this Sunday, there has been one complaint that keeps popping up. The event is just too popular. There is such a latent demand to safely explore the city on bicycle, that over 100,000 bikes crowd the streets, making other CicLAvia events, such as just taking a walk on the open street, more difficult than they should be.

Worried about taking a walk this Sunday? Don't be. The Los Angeles Walks Figueroa Parade is open to everyone! Photo:LA I'm Yours

This Sunday, Los Angeles Walks is proudly declaring that CicLAvia isn’t just an event for cyclists. While CicLAvia sponsored walking tours of neighborhoods along the route in past years, L.A. Walks is thinking bigger. They’re not just programming walking tours, they’re programming a parade.

Introducing the Figueroa Street Parade.

A parade? In the middle of CicLAvia?

“It’s a brand new – that was a reason to do it,” explains Alexis Lantz, a Los Angeles Walks steering committee member. “What we found in the past, when they add a new route, they tend to be a little less crowded. 7th Street gets so crowded with bikes and pedestrians that it would be difficult to get through. A parade might be a little more head to head with the existing CicLAvia public.”

Los Angeles Walks is “calling all strollers” to join them at 11:30 a.m. at the northwest corner of 8th and Figueroa Streets this Sunday for a three-mile walk down Figueroa Street. While anyone is welcome to join them, the walking team hopes to create a the feel of a traditional parade with musical events, banners and other signage, costumes and decorations. Of course, anyone is welcome to join the walk, but the main purpose is to create a space in CicLAvia where everyone feels safe to take a walk down the center of the street.

If you’re interested in joining the parade, and you plan to bring more than a stroller and the family, contact Jessica Meaney at jessica.meaney(at)gmail(dot)com or RSVP at the event’s Facebook Page. If you have trouble finding the parade start, you can look for a giant puppet. Los Angeles Walks will also have extra signs and materials on hand so anyone can make a statement as a parader.

“The issue of walking and health is so critical for South L.A.,” says Karen Mack, the founder of L.A. Commons. “It’s not easy to bring people together in Los Angeles for anything. This gives a chance to bring different worlds together, and just get people walking in their own neighborhood or somewhere else.”

L.A. Commons is planning a different, art-themed event for CicLAvia that will have synergy with the parade. Streetsblog will have more on that event later this week. Read more…

Friday, September 21, 2012 2 Comments

Developers and Proponents of New Wyvernwood Face Off at Special Forum Held by Council Member Huizar

by Erick Huerta

Yellow in favor of the new development, white opposed. Photo: Erick Huerta

City Council Member Jose Huizar, who represents Boyle Heights, East L.A. and parts of the Downtown, held a community meeting with the current residents of Wyvernwood Apartments to hear their concerns regarding the proposed redevelopment project to replace the current apartment with a higher-cost mixed-use housing development. In 2011, Huizar expressed concern with the project, but last night seemed more neutral while listening to the 200 residents in attendance.

The new Wyvernwood Apartments proposal is a $2 billion dollar project submitted by the real estate company Fifteen Group, to remodel the entire Boyle Heights apartment complex to mixed used housing development. The new plan offers opportunities for businesses to open up on bottom floors, with housing on higher up. The proposal includes plans to widen sidewalks and to make pedestrian access to and around the development easier. A final environmental report on the project is expected next month.

A different angle shows a lot more yellow.

Representatives from City Planning and the Public Housing Department spoke to residents about some of the processes involved with the proposed plan and urged them to continue to stay involved in future meetings to voice their concerns or support. The next community meeting will be held in October after the FEIR is released and city planners present their recommendations.

Passions flared before and during the meeting as each side was given 30 minutes to voice their reasons for supporting or being against the renovation. Supporters included resident Guzman Guerra, who testified that many are tired of living with an infestation of bed bugs, rats and cockroaches in their apartments. Others added that with the changes in the complex, crime, drugs and gang activity would be reduced while living conditions improve. The currently-standing 80-year-old apartment complex suffers from outdated plumbing, electrical wiring and structure damage. Just last month, a sewer pipe broke, leaving a stench throughout the development.

But not everyone supports the project. Maria Hunter challenged supporters, saying that if residents were sanitary and hygienic, they wouldn’t have insect or rodent infestations. If Wyvernwood residents became more active in reporting drug and gang activity, holding the owners responsible for their apartments, renovation wouldn’t be needed. Read more…

Monday, September 17, 2012 3 Comments

Pro Walknomics/Pro Bikenomics

by Gary Kavanagh

Increased business for a cafe on CicLAvia route benefiting from higher foot traffic and bicyclists stopped for a break.

In order for our society to tackle the challenge of creating a more walkable and bikeable North America, with the appropriate devotion of money, resources and public space, we have to build a solid political consensus. Unfortunately, some of the compelling reasons to prioritize active transportation have been unnecessarily politicized into partisan issues. We can approach this dilemma by attempting to trek up the hill of overturning deeply imbedded political opinions, or we can find universal common ground and build up from there.

The fact that issues like deliberate policy measures to cap or tax carbon dioxide emissions as part of climate change mitigation are untouchably controversial in much of the United States doesn’t mean we can’t move forward on an active transportation agenda sold under less controversial banners. This is why I love the growing dialogue around the economic benefits of bicycling and walking.

When it comes to walking, many businesses understand pretty intuitively the value of fostering good foot traffic — the ones that are surviving, anyway. With bicycling, however, a lot of business owners and political decision-makers just don’t get it at all. When Elly Blue wrote “Why an additional road tax for bicyclists would be unfair,” which was later followed by a series of posts on Grist under the banner of bikenomics, I started to view bicycling under a completely different lens. This view and emphasis on economics has influenced my own writing and advocacy ever since.

Elly Blue (left) & April Economides (right) At Pro Walk-Pro Bike

April Economides, principle of Green Octopus Consulting, who headed up the program to create bicycling friendly business districts in Long Beach, is another voice in the bike movement who has been emphasizing economics. She was recently hired by Bike Nation to manage their bike share program proposed in Long Beach. Blue and Economides got together for the first time for a presentation at Pro-Walk/Pro-Bike titled “Bikenomics & the Business Case for Bike-Friendly Business Districts”.

Their presentations complimented each other very well, with Blue setting up some of the conceptual framework for why looking at the economics of bicycling is important, while Economides outlined the nuts and bolts of the outreach and programs done so far in Long Beach. April encouraged people early on in her talk “to engage the business community; we can’t just preach to the choir”. Read more…

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 2 Comments

Long Beach: Finding Ways to Get More People Walk

by Brian Addison

Walk Long Beach inaugurated its walk audit tours this weekend in the Cambodia Town neighborhood huddled north of Anaheim Street between Atlantic and Junipero Avenues.

The audits–a collaboration between YMCA of Greater Long Beach, Building Helathy Communities Long Beach, and the newly minted urban design non-profit City Fabrick–have a simple agenda: to walk around five underserved neighborhoods to assess the safety and walkability of those neighborhoods.

The YMCA’s involvement in the project is paired with its recent grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to further implement its Pioneering Healthy Communities (PHC) project, which aims to improve the health of communities via policy and environmental changes that further safety and walkability.

“Our vision for the walking program is to promote livable neighborhoods for residents and visitors through exploration on foot,” stated Melissa Wheeler, Healthy Communities Director for the YMCA of Greater Long Beach. She emphasized that, beyond direct health and environmental benefits, increasing walkability will also provide gains in relation to economic vitality, climate change, traffic congestion, social cohesion, and community safety.

“These walk audits are a great opportunity to engage local stakeholders,” explains Brian Ulaszewski, executive director and founder of City Fabrick. “[To] show them every cracked sidewalk, darkly lit corner, and missing street sign. They walk, drive, ride, and live on these streets everyday.”

For Ulaszewski, he believes the audits provide direct, quantitative reasons as to why one street may be more appeasable to travel via foot than another. “A nice tree canopy with low or slow traffic is typically nicer than narrow sidewalks and fast moving cars for pedestrians.”

Senator Alan Lowenthal addresses community members on inaugural Walk Long Beach walk audit.

For Universal City, It’s a Bridge Not Far Enough

by Damien Newton

The proposed bridge design serves all three corners of the intersection of Lankershim Boulevard and Campo de Cahuenga. Of course, the intersection has four corners.

As the local media focuses on this morning’s hearing on the NBC Universal Evolution project, there’s another project that impacts the area. The proposed pedestrian bridge crossing Lankershim Boulevard and Campo de Cahuenga as part of an eighteen year old Memorandum of Understanding will cost $19 million, but questions remain on whether the bridge is even a good idea.

Because of the proximity of both a Red Line rail station and a major bus terminal across the street from Universal’s City Walk and Universal Studios, this intersection would be a natural one to create a world-class intersection, with safe crossings and street-level food and retail options. Instead, NBC Universal is forcing Metro to build a costly pedestrian bridge to, in the words of the agency, “prevent pedestrian crossing Lankershim.”

With the spotlight on NBC Universal, advocates are stepping up calls to scrap the pedestrian bridge in favor of something that could reduce congestion and create a better environment for pedestrians.

“With NBC Universal asking Los Angeles city and county elected officials to approve its huge project, our elected officials should require as a condition of approval that NBC Universal drop its demand to force Metro to spend $19 million on a bridge that no one else wants,” said Faramarz Nabavi, a San Fernando Valley pedestrian and transit advocate. Read more…

Friday, June 22, 2012 8 Comments

Signalized Crosswalk Coming for Sunset and Vista

by Damien Newton

Back in March, a video by Adam Choit showed pedestrians struggling to cross Sunset Boulevard at Vista Street went locally viral. Not content for this video to just serve as a rallying call for better streets in a larger sense, Deborah Murphy forwarded the video to executives at LADOT witha request that the intersection be re-examined. Murphy is chair of the city’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee and founder of Los Angeles Walks.

Earlier this week, LADOT announced that they’ve seen the light, or at least the video. The intersection has been added to a list of intersections due to receive crosswalks and should be painted “in the next fiscal year.”

The news that pedestrians will soon be able to safely cross the street was good news for Choit who promises more videos such as the one above.

“This is great news, because a new traffic signal will not only definitely improve overall pedestrian safety in the area, but it will also help local businesses and the economy,” writes Choit. ”In the future, I plan to make more films and videos that have a positive impact on the community and world around me. It’s definitely rewarding to know that hard work and having a vision can pay off, and one person really can make a difference.”

The news also fired up Murphy, who believes that small victories such as this one will be common place as the advocacy network of people concerned with safe streets continues to grow.

“You can make a difference in your neighborhood if you get involved and stay committed like Adam Choit,” explains Murphy. ”I encourage dedicated pedestrian advocates and community leaders to get involved in the city’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee. We need representatives from Council Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 15. contact your council member immediately. You too can make a difference.” Read more…

Monday, May 7, 2012 No Comments

Walking Downtown Los Angeles with L.A. Walks and California’s Top Pedestrian Advocates

by Lindsey Miller

Old toy warehouses. Coca-Cola bottling plants. Bridge-cable manufacturing. A sushi restaurant with cardboard furniture. Angel City Brewing. Buildings covered with colorful graffiti.

Poster from last year's "Art in the Streets" exhibit

This is the old and the new that inhabit an area of Downtown Los Angeles that most people just catch glimpses of from the 101 or the 10 as they drive by. On Thursday, a group of pedestrian advocates visiting L.A. for the 2nd Annual Peds Count! conference did more than just glimpse: they walked.

And while they walked, they not only learned about the history of the Arts District and experienced the feel of the area; walking also hammered home the point that walking in a city known for its car travel is not an alien concept. It’s interesting, and social, and actually quite pleasant.

“I really think that the heart of this movement is about reconnecting us to our streets and our neighborhoods by encouraging people to walk,” said Glendale-based Rye Baerg, a walk participant and regional policy manager for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. “When people walk they have more interactions with their neighbors, see things that would just wiz by in the car, and make themselves healthier all at the same time. What’s not to love?”

Most of the 40 people on the walk hold opinions about walking did not need to be swayed. They were pedestrian advocates, planners, and engineers in town for a pedestrian planning, research, and advocacy conference. During the day, they attended sessions that featured the latest pedestrian research with the aim of promoting pedestrian safety, transit access, healthy environments, and sustainable communities.

Nevertheless, some were surprised. “I never knew any of this was here,” said a San Clemente-based Caltrans pedestrian planner as she studied some of the large murals painted in preparation for a Museum of Contemporary Art “Art in the Streets” exhibit last year. Read more…