More urban LA, SF, DC, Philly, and Boston? (places, people, cons)

[BajanYankee]

Yeah...I need some help. I don't see these very walkable mixed-use neighborhoods. I see, at best, a commercial thoroughfare, which still has a fair amount of off-street parking.

Santa Monica and Fairfax.

Google Maps

Half a block on Fairfax.

Google Maps

A few more steps down Fairfax.

Google Maps

A little farther down on Fairfax? Am I missing something here? This is W. Hollywood, right? Let me go deeper into it so I can find some action!

Man, this intersection is big as hell! Let me walk for a couple of blocs to find some cool stuff to get into.

Google Maps

Damn. I should have brought my car. Where is the subway? My feet hurt.

Google Maps

Now we're cooking! But why don't they put the residential on top of the retail so I can just walk downstairs and grab a bagel before jumping on the train. Let's keep going.

Google Maps

Man. That strip ran out kinda quick. By the way, wtf is the train?!?

Google Maps

North Fairfax and Melrose. Why are there so many parking lots? And where is the subway??? Help!!

Google Maps

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Fitzrovian

LOL at the clueless jorge jumping into the discussion midstream, dismissing streetview shots and instead posting aerial photography as proof of LA's dense, walkable urbanity. LOL

Haha. Right. Like you can prove a city is walkable by taking pictures from a half-mile away.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Yeah...I need some help. I don't see these very walkable mixed-use neighborhoods. I see, at best, a commercial thoroughfare, which still has a fair amount of off-street parking.

Santa Monica and Fairfax.

Google Maps

Half a block on Fairfax.

Google Maps

A few more steps down Fairfax.

Google Maps

A little farther down on Fairfax? Am I missing something here? This is W. Hollywood, right? Let me go deeper into it so I can find some action!

Man, this intersection is big as hell! Let me walk for a couple of blocs to find some cool stuff to get into.

Google Maps

Damn. I should have brought my car. Where is the subway? My feet hurt.

Google Maps

Now we're cooking! But why don't they put the residential on top of the retail so I can just walk downstairs and grab a bagel before jumping on the train. Let's keep going.

Google Maps

Man. That strip ran out kinda quick. By the way, wtf is the train?!?

Google Maps

North Fairfax and Melrose. Why are there so many parking lots? And where is the subway??? Help!!

Google Maps

Wonderful rendition of "Idiot Tourist in LA" by BajanYankee and Google Maps.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by munchitup

Wonderful rendition of "Idiot Tourist in LA" by BajanYankee and Google Maps.

Should I post every corner so we can count the number of parking lots? If L.A. wasn't designed around the automobile, then why does it have so many parking lots?

Keep in mind that these are streetviews of the "core." Because you guys told us to go look in the "core!!" Not only that, we were told to go to the most vibrant, walkable part of the "core."

[Fitzrovian]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Yeah...I need some help. I don't see these very walkable mixed-use neighborhoods. I see, at best, a commercial thoroughfare, which still has a fair amount of off-street parking.

Santa Monica and Fairfax.

Google Maps

Half a block on Fairfax.

Google Maps

A few more steps down Fairfax.

Google Maps

A little farther down on Fairfax? Am I missing something here? This is W. Hollywood, right? Let me go deeper into it so I can find some action!

Man, this intersection is big as hell! Let me walk for a couple of blocs to find some cool stuff to get into.

Google Maps

Damn. I should have brought my car. Where is the subway? My feet hurt.

Google Maps

Now we're cooking! But why don't they put the residential on top of the retail so I can just walk downstairs and grab a bagel before jumping on the train. Let's keep going.

Google Maps

Man. That strip ran out kinda quick. By the way, wtf is the train?!?

Google Maps

North Fairfax and Melrose. Why are there so many parking lots? And where is the subway??? Help!!

Google Maps

LOL... But Bajan, you can't do that! You are just "cherrypicking".

In fairness, you do always see people at bus stops though. But they usually look poor. Which goes to show that when people have a choice they *drive*.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Should I post every corner so we can count the number of parking lots? If L.A. wasn't designed around the automobile, then why does it have so many parking lots?

Keep in mind that these are streetviews of the "core." Because you guys told us to go look in the "core!!" Not only that, we were told to go to the most vibrant, walkable part of the "core."

I should send all these posts to City Hall - You've probably cherry picked every "problem area" in the entire city! To bad the Community Redevelopment Agency got shut down, you could be their man on the street(view)!

[nslander]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

*yawn* Anyway...

Does anybody care to address the point made by Donald Shoup, Chair of UCLA's Urban Planning Department, that Los Angeles "will never develop the sort of vital core we associate with older urban centers?"

Or are you guys going to pretend that he never wrote that article?

Thank you for your continued obsession with the City of Angels, as realize your identity is entirely dependent on this single issue. While we appreciate your concern, we do have a planning department dedicated to dealing with issues such as you ones you have raised, concerning parking regulations downtown. Department of City Planning In the interim, you might discover a better use of your time figuring out an alternative to putting your garbage on your sidewalks.

Things change. Downtown Los Angeles in 1976:


And now:

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by nslander

Thank you for your continued obsession with the City of Angels, as realize your identity is entirely dependent on this single issue. While we appreciate your concern, we do have a planning department dedicated to dealing with issues such as you ones you have raised, concerning parking regulations downtown. Department of City Planning In the interim, you might discover a better use of your time figuring out an alternative to putting your garbage on your sidewalks.

Things change. Downtown Los Angeles in 1976:
Attachment 90589

And now:

Attachment 90590

Can we see whether those surface parking lots in North Hollywood have been destroyed in those photos?

Where is the highly walkable urbanity you guys keep talking about? I want to see it! Blocks and blocks of it!!!

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by munchitup

I should send all these posts to City Hall - You've probably cherry picked every "problem area" in the entire city! To bad the Community Redevelopment Agency got shut down, you could be their man on the street(view)!

Please do. Tell them to get rid of those parking lots. It's destroying the urban fabric. Even the Whole Foods has a huge, Walmart style parking lot. Wow!

That's a lot of problem areas in the "core." If North Hollywood is as good as it gets, then what does that say about the rest of the city?

[nslander]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Can we see whether those surface parking lots in North Hollywood have been destroyed in those photos?

Where is the highly walkable urbanity you guys keep talking about? I want to see it! Blocks and blocks of it!!!

No. Because North Hollywood is in the San Fernando Valley. Over those elevated land masses on the immediate horizon.