Op/Ed

Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne has been one of the more critical thinkers at the Los Angeles Times these last several years.  Over the weekend he weighed in on the growing conflict in Los Angeles between those that see a future for the city with subways, light rails, bike lanes and inviting places to walk and those that can't see beyond the dashboard.

Since the Christopher Thompson verdict was announced on Monday, many cyclists have reacted with dismay to the media coverage of the assault, the trial, and the reactions of other Angelenos on message boards and call-in shows.  Cyclists were surprised at the venom shown by callers and mis-information from the host on progressive KPCC's morning show and other radio shows were just as bad.  Surprisingly, some of the best coverage, was from the conservative John and Ken Show, the top rated radio call-in show in Los Angeles.

As Metro's "Express Lanes" project starts to make headlines, you can expect to see more and more of these types of articles; misinformation dressed up as altruistic concern for others, appearing in local papers everywhere.  For those of us who love the idea of congestion pricing on highways we're left with an unsavory choice: defend Metro's week anti-congestion pricing program or let non-believers slam congestion pricing altogether.

The Daily News printed a rare opinion piece yesterday that dared challenge the orthodoxy that adding lane capacity to the 405 is somehow going to improve quality of life for the people living near the widening area in Encino.  The I-405 widening project is one that the city hopes will receive stimulus funds and they have long argued that by encouraging carpooling you can better manage car growth because more people per car will lead to less cars.  Thus far, there has never been a study that has shown this to happen, but there is plenty of evidence that wider highways lead to more cars.

Ben Fried got it exactly right about the errors that riddled Tuesday's David Brooks column. Brooks was so far off the mark, though, that it's worth another look at the ways he misled readers.

Fresh off the news that the Times was bringing back the Bottleneck Blog came the news that my favorite Times blog, the fabulous Emerald City, was closing down effective tomorrow, June 21.  Emerald City managed to transcend being a blog about environmentalism to being a daily guide on how everyone can clean up their lives in ways that were hip and fun.  Along the way, it also became one of the places on the 'Net I visited every day.

Last month, the LA County Board of Supervisors issued an edict that all taco trucks would now have to move every hour taking a firm stand against the free market and for increased vehicle miles traveled.  Hilariously, the first taco truck that was ticketed was actually owned by the same people that owned the adjacent restaurant and used the truck as a takeout window. 

Editor's note: I'll be away from the computer for a couple of days.  LA Streetsblog will still publish, but will be on a sparse schedule until next Thursday.  In the meantime, enjoy the third (and at this point, last) installment of the SOCAL Voices Series I ran last December.  This piece seemed appropriate coming the week after Bike to Work Week.  Pastor Joshua Elliott McGuffie of St. Andrew's West Los Angeles writes about his experiences as a bike commuter.  This essay first appeared on Street Heat on December 26, 2007.