Car Culture

While the choked parking lots at many suburban high schools might mislead you, young people today are less interested in driving and owning cars than their counterparts in previous generations. This is happy news for environmentalists and complete streets advocates, who see fewer vehicles on the road as key to a healthier, wealthier society. For the global auto industry, though, it is an existential threat not to be ignored.

(This is part two of our series on reader’s response to last week’s series on Buy Here Pay Here used car dealerships.  Earlier, Streetsblog published the comments  of Joe Linton, Roadblick, Adrian Martinez, Damien Goodmon and Allison Mannos.  Yesterday, Streetsblog published a more detailed response from Occidental College Professor Mark Vallianatos.  Today, we feature a piece by Community Voice Newspaper Editor and Eastside Bike Club President Carlos Morales.  Stick with this story until the end, it's worth it. – DN)

I just received an update from the Mayor's Office on the proposal to eliminate business taxes for car dealerships.

(This is part two of our series on reader's response to last week's series on Buy Here Pay Here used car dealerships.  Yesterday we summarized the statements of Joe Linton, Roadblick, Adrian Martinez, Damien Goodmon and Allison Mannos.  Today we bring a more detailed response from Occidental College Professor Mark Vallianatos.  Tomorrow, we'll have a response from Voice Newspaper Editor Carlos Morales. - DN)

I'll admit it: I love the Chrysler ad campaign "Imported from Detroit," which debuted in February's Super Bowl spot starring Eminem.

Picture this.  One day one of the most important political figures in the city stands in front of a major Downtown attraction and announces that train service to this attraction will be increased dramatically in the coming weeks.  The next day, a major political figure, flanked by an up-and-coming political star and the City Council President, stands with the head of the local automotive dealer lobbying group and announces a political proposal to end business taxes for car dealerships.

First, let's state for the record that Ken Bensinger and the Los Angeles Times did a public service by shining a harsh light on the largely unregulated "Buy Here Pay Here" used car dealership industry.  Too many dealers in this industry and preying on poor people desperate for a car by intentionally driving up their debt so that in the end the "dealership" ends up with the shoppers money and gets a chance to sell the car all over again.

The Los Angeles Times wraps its three part series on the "Buy Here Pay Here" used car dealers -- those that often times con low income people into high interest loans for low quality cars -- with a plea for policy to make cars cheaper.

Even as Los Angeles embraces an expanded transit and bicycle program, the rest of Southern California is still pictured as a sprawling wasteland of highways and subdivisions.  However, that's not what the people that live in the Southland want according to a new survey released by Move L.A., the American Lung Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council.  Instead, Southlanders want the kind of dense mixed use development and short commutes over McMansions and sprawlways.