Downtown LA

Ok everyone, maybe we need to talk about the purpose of a calendar section. This is the second day in a row that I've been tipped off to an outstanding event less than twenty four hours before it occurs. The purpose is to send me awesome and educational events much earlier so I can get them on my calendar and attend instead of just writing a preview before hand.

In 2006, the City of Los Angeles opened the Urban Design Studio in the Planning Department to create what the LA Downtown News referred to as "Special Places" but what Streetsbloggers would call Livable Streets.  Basically the studio, which currently consists of two full-time staff members and many volunteer interns, was responsible for turning Los Angeles into a beautiful city.

(Longtime readers will remember that Streetsblog has covered many of James Rojas' efforts to explain planning and get people to use their imagination when thinking about the future of transportation.  In the past, we've covered a fraction of Rojas' interactive planning  workshops "Pushing Planning Boundaries in Santa Monica," "A Future without Cars,"and "the Interactive Downtown Workshop."  Below is Rojas' coverage of the opening of the Re-Imagining Chinatown Exhibit opening from this last weekend and above is a video made of the opening.  The entire exhibit will be on display until September 5 at the Fifth Floor Gallery.)

Public Safety officials continually lecture cyclists about the need to follow not just the letter of the law, but also to follow proven safety tips to stay safe during their rides.  However, during a recent trip through the Downtown and in my own neighborhood, I've begun to notice anecdotal evidence that those charged with protecting us on the street don't know what those rules are.

For a decade Los Angeles has tried to build-up it's urban core in an effort to densify and change the character of the city from its sprawling reputation to a more traditionally urban one.  However, instead of modeling its growth after that of New York, a pattern formerly referred to as the "Manhattanization of Downtown" by Mayor Villaraigosa, perhaps Los Angeles should be following the example set by Paris instead of our older brother on the east coast. 

Activist and blogger Eric Richardson, and indeed the whole Blogdowntown team so some extent, have been heavily involved in advocating for bringing streetcars back to Los Angeles on Broadway and beyond.  Thus, it's little surprise that Richardson has the scoop on L.A. Streetcar Inc.'s new website designed to solicit feedback on potential routes for Los Angeles' streetcars of the 21st Century:

It may not have drawn the crowds that were expected, but for the second time in three weeks the City of Los Angeles shut down part of its Downtown street grid for an outdoor party and the world didn't end.  If the city is willing to spend $4 million for police presence and to shut down streets for a rock star's memorial; imagine what they should be willing to spend on a weekend car-free party for everyone in the city, not just those people who happen to like Michael Jackson or the Los Angeles Lakers, similar to those we see in San Francisco, New York or, of course, Columbia.

On April 24, a gentleman and his family were driving around Downtown Los Angeles in a hummer when a crazed cyclist rammed the back of the vehicle.  Confused and angry, the downed cyclists' friends surrounded the hummer and threatened the driver.  With only a hummer to protect him and the people he cared for, the driver continued forward, inadvertently striking some of the bikes.  One of the rabid cyclists threw their bike at the vehicle, damaging the mirror.  After he was safely away from the cyclists, the driver pulled over and waited for the police to arrive.

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.