Month: February 2010
Streetsblog LA
Exploring the Enacted Environment of East L.A.
Latino
communities have shaped Los Angeles's public life and landscapes in
distinct ways. . Activities such as street vending, the ubiquitous
display of hand-painted commercial signage and murals, frontyard nichos, and
the way in which people gather and interact on the street, in
driveways, and across the fences between their homes transform a static
landscape into one that is vivid, dynamic and "enacted." This tour will
explore formal and informal landscape interventions, and it will be led
by James Rojas, who is nationally recognized for his work on U.S.
Latino cultural influences on urban planning. Rojas holds
a Master's degree in City Planning from MIT. The free tour will wind
its way through East Los Angeles via the Gold Line Rail line on Sunday,
February 21, 2010 starting at 1:00 p.m. and ending a 4:00 p.m. For more information email jamesrojas@alum.mit.edu or call 626 437-4446
February 7, 2010
Re-Envisioning Urban Transportation & Building A Mass Movement for Civil Rights & Environmental Justice
RE-ENVISIONING URBAN TRANSPORTATION & BUILDING A MASS MOVEMENT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: AN INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION & WORKSHOP
February 7, 2010
Metro Bicycle Roundtable
Metro is convening a series of Bicycle Roundtable meetings in
2010, and we welcome your participation! Doug Failing, Metro’s Executive
Director of Highway Programs and Interim Chief Planning Officer, was active in
the Caltrans Bicycle Advisory Committee. He will kick-off the first Metro
Bicycle Roundtable meeting.
February 7, 2010
C.I.C.L.E.’s Urban Expedition: Creek Freak Ride
On Saturday February 20th CICLE hosts our regular monthly urban
expedition ride: this time it’s the L.A. Creek Freak River Bike Tour.
Urban Expeditons are family-friendly, beginner-friendly bike rides!
Bring friends, kids, dress up, celebrate!
February 7, 2010
Cyclists Needed for Music Performance: Eine Brise
Eine
Brise ('A Breeze') is an avant-garde musical performance piece for 111
bicyclists that was written by Mauricio Kagel in 1996. Monday Evening
Concerts is presenting the Los Angeles premiere of the work, and we
need more bikers to make it happen.
February 7, 2010
LAPD: Nearly a Quarter of All Bike Crashes Are Hit and Runs. Help Us Cut Down on Crashes
A new presentation on the causes and severity of bicycle crashes, available here after being hand-scanned by Enci Box, has been made available and analyzed at Westside Bikeside by Dr Alex Thompson. Amongst the results is the above chart showing that nearly one quarter of the reported bicycle crashes in the City of Los Angeles in 2008 were also "hit and runs." While this number is high, the news gets worse; these are just the ones that are reported and recorded. We've already seen that sometimes hit and run crashes involving cyclists aren't taken seriously, and other times the police report is just poorly done. However, as Thomspon notes, just getting our hands on these statistics is a step forward in the relationship between cyclists and the LAPD.
February 5, 2010
Expo Board Approves FEIR for Phase II. Off to Construction or Off to Court?
After years of debates, threats of lawsuits, contentious community meetings and even heated discussion on Streetsblog message boards; there was a feeling that yesterday's meeting of the Expo Board to debate the certification of the environmental documents for Phase II would be a momentous meeting. Predictions of a 4-3 vote either for or against certification seemed a safe bet; with the exception of the Transit Coalition's Bart Reed who predicted a "blowout," everyone I talked to thought it would be close.
February 5, 2010
Bike Boulevards: The SLO Solution
(editor's note: Welcome our newest guest blogger, live from Long Beach, Drew Reed. Reed is a writer, film editor, and cycling activist
based in Long Beach. He blogs about cycling issues in Long Beach and
the greater LA area at LA Loyalist. We first met Drew when we interviewed him about his experience traveling the country to go to the inauguration of Barack Obama. - DN)
February 5, 2010
Two Troubling Transportation Numbers for the Obama Administration
Yesterday brought news of two grim transportation numbers from the Obama administration: 2 and $53 million.
February 5, 2010
How Urban Areas Get Stiffed on Transportation Spending
Today on the Streetsblog Network, a post from Aaron Renn on New Geography
about the anti-urban bias in transportation spending. Renn points out
that when it comes to the amount of taxes they contribute and the
amount of funds they get back from the government, the nation's cities
all too often get the short end of the stick -- to the ultimate
detriment of regional economies.
February 5, 2010