California, and the killing of its car culture :( (San Francisco, Glendale: fit in, 2015)

[afropack-man]

I don't really care about the car culture. Anything south of like Virginia and Chicago your going to need a car. It would be nice to not have a car all the time, but I think LA is making good strides in that department even though it's not all the way there.

I love the expo line.

[ThaBigHomieGucci]

Originally Posted by 69Charger

It saddens me. Anybody else on here? California is so restrictive on its car culture, it almost seems non-existent. This is the land that famously cruised Sunset, Van Nuys, Crenshaw, Wilshire, etc. This is the land that closed down Hollywood Blvd. for drag racing, in the 60's. This place invented the drive in. This place had Terminal Island raceway, among many others. What happened?

You can't legally cruise. You can barely modify a car (CARB restrictions) and have to pay the smog racketeering mob. If you're caught racing, they crush your car. (That one may be good). Kids don't even want cars at 16 anymore. Wasn't that a right of passage?

I see a lot of companies like Edelbrock are still here, yet most of their sales tend to go to the Midwest or South. But besides the Fast and Furious wannabees, and Elysian park low rider cholos, what's really left out here? Even Nascar and Indy pulled races from the one speedway left out here.

It saddens me. Anybody else on here? The new state of California is so restrictive on its horse and buggy culture, it almost seems non-existent. This is the land that famously cruised The Oregon Trail, El Camino Real, Mojave Dessert, etc. This is the land that closed down the street for buggys and kicked pedestrians to these new "Side Walk"'s, in the gay 90's. This place invented the Wild West. This place had Polo Grounds, among many others. What happened?

You can't legally cruise. You can barely modify a buggy (President Tafts restrictions) and have to pay the Italian mob. If you're horse is caught crapping in the street, they turn him into glue. (That one may be good). Kids don't even want to mount horses at 16 anymore. Wasn't that a right of passage?

I see a lot of companies like Carriage Company are still here, yet most of their sales tend to go to the Midwest or South. But besides the Amish wannabees, and the poor colored folk, what's really left out here? Even Agricultural Park and Legion Ascot pulled Horse races from the one horse track left out here
Sixty-Nine Charger, 1916

[Flovis]

Still lots of car culture out here in Fresno. You see it everywhere.
Lots of room and not too much traffic def helps keep it alive.

[SpaceMonkyPunks]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

By car culture, we're referring to people who enjoy cars as a hobby. Uber, modern rail, etc. are not substitutes for car ownership for somebody who likes modding cars, showing their car at shows, doing autocross events, canyon runs, etc.

And speaking of canyon runs...wow...we have some very nice roads to choose from, as long as NIMBY's or greenists aren't pouring oil on them late at night in order to intentionally cause wrecks.

I get that, but even then, car culture/hobbyism was largely dependent on 20th century gas prices, income vs. car price ratio, and less congested roads/freeways. Also, car ownership was very much a status symbol before - "wow, he has X car" or whatever. It's not really like that now.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by citizensadvocate

We didn't really have much of a choice on the ballot. It had been determined for us just like the presidential race's potential outcome which means either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. We really wish some other less emotional and more mature thinking candidates will win but the odds are against us. It appears voting is a illusion of control that we don't really have as the higher ups have already made the choice for us long ago. We the lowly folks just have no say in a lot of issues facing us everyday.

Back to the topic while I am a fan of smart growth and transit oriented development that reduce car dependency I strongly dislike the way these groups are doing it. These groups are really putting the cart before the horse. For example they stopped or delayed many projects to fix the existing road and freeway infrastructure about 30 years ago leaving gaps and bottlenecks. They also reduced the amount of parking yet we do not have a descent transportation alternative for these areas. Only making the situation worse not better as they did not reduce car dependency at all and folks are still dependent on cars though they just made things more difficult for everyone tying up traffic, causing parking wars, and increasing air pollution as well.

West LA is a perfect example of the negative consequences such policies can cause as residential neighborhoods there are often built dense with very little parking yet there are little if any reliable transit options available so driving is often unavoidable. It's a nightmare for any one living or visiting someone there. As many housing units only have as little as one designed parking per unit if there are any and usually no extra parking at all but most families living there have at least two cars and street parking is severely limited where not restricted.
There had been talks of eliminating minimum parking requirements entirely in LA though the truth is LA city's minimum parking requirements are really minimal compared to other cities. LA city(not county) requires only one parking space for per residential unit up to three bedrooms, however the average number of cars each family owns in this car dependent city is no less than those living in the suburban cities which requires more parking. The idea may fly in downtown where there are so many pay "public" parking facilities that there are probably more parking spaces than there are residents in addition to tons of transit lines and subways but applying to any other part of the city particularly the west side will just cause madness. So I really assert that these policy makers should better look at the big picture to see whether their idea is feasible based on the reality of the situation rather than blindly think they can legislate their way to their fantasy utopia.

I am not a car person, but I mostly agree with what you said about elections.

The urban planning decisions have been disguised as local initiatives, but are actually from the United Nations via the Agenda for the 21st Century, aka "Agenda 21".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipKHqY7uxSg

[Ultrarunner]

I've seen it in my lifetime...

Grew up around cars... my first job was washing cars for a Dealer on Saturdays at age 12... then I went to work for a specialty auto parts house while in High School... lots of cars being restored and learned a lot...

Own 50 vehicles today... oldest is a 1905 Curved Dash Oldsmobile.

It used to be inexpensive to keep cars and at one time I kept 22 licensed and insured... now they are insured and no longer licensed... cheapest tags run about a $100 so I found it easier to trailer to shows when I can make time.

A lot of the restoration supplies are hard to get and expensive... painted many cars with Dupont Acrylic Enamels and Lacquers...

No idea what will happen to my collection down the road... seems like the car people are getting older all the time...

I was the youngest in my local Model A Chapter at age 13 and still one of the youngest today.

California is not car friendly and has not been for a long time... what other State smogs collector vehicles 40 years old and has no provision for multi year tags... I pay about 12 times more to California register a Model A Ford than my friends that now live in Oregon.

Last year I was in Marin California with a friend who was diving the 55 Thunderbird his uncle bought new... very nice original car... we went to get something to eat and there were several gathered around the car lecturing us on how unsafe old cars are and how they really should not be on the road... I asked the lady how she got here and she said with her Honda Fit... and there you have it... total strangers compelled to lecture on a subject they know nothing about.

[boulder2015]

Originally Posted by Flovis

Still lots of car culture out here in Fresno. You see it everywhere.
Lots of room and not too much traffic def helps keep it alive.

Yeah but thats a mexican car culture. The gripers here are old white guys and they want THEIR car culture. Muscle cars, beach boys, in n out burger, kearth 101,etc. They need to adapt to the times and buy a 1995 bmw and move to glendale and cruise for cute armenian girls...

[LamarOdomsDealer]

My dad is into vintage Honda motorcycles and naturally the one he always wanted wouldn't pass a test in CA (forgot which one...smog?) but it's legal in nearly every other state =/ He actually found the exact model in Tijuana lol.

[sdlife619]

The culture and the people in CA have definitely changed their mind when it comes to collecting cars, especially classics.

Young people aren't interested in cars that much anymore, mainly guys under 35 and it's been that way for at least 10-15 years. I usually see a grandpa with their grandkids enjoying the classic cars at car shows, but everytime I do go to car shows, it's all old White guys and their hot rods, or Lowrider car shows that actually have a more mixture of younger to older guys that own cars because Mexicans/Chicanos in general love old Chevys/Lowriders it's part of our DNA Lol.

Even the whole custom import scene has died down a lot from the early 2000's.

What is really going on here is.

1. Younger people simply don't have the funds to buy cool classic cars they want to fix up, be it schooling, cost of owning and maintaining it, not knowing how to work on an older car, including the cost of parts, and what have you, therefore they totally abandon the hobby altogether. As they should, because it can be extremely frustrating and a money pit for sure.

2. They aren't as interested as they once were. Classic American cars are going by the wayside when it comes to young people interests. Imports is what interest them now, but you still find some that do like that cool 69 Camaro. Just not a whole lot of kids today that want to hang out in a parking lot with their rides as much anymore.

3. They are into big lifted trucks now! I see this everywhere where I live. Lot's of 4 wheeler shops stay busy with guys modifying their pick-ups to look like trailer queen monster trucks. This types of dudes tend to be worker class types, Bro's that are considered desert rats and love off roading. This culture is alive and well in CA.

4. Motorcycles are popular as well. I see young people rolling on these super bikes all the time.


The culture is still somewhat there, but the interest in cars and or the kind of vehicles are really spread out now. Classic 50's-70's Domestics have faded among the young, so in the next 20 years, there won't be much of a huge demand for them unfortunately. Just like how most of the 1920-40's cars are currently owned by really old men.

CA in the future will also pass laws that will make it even more difficult than today to own a classic. With all the strict smog laws, and probably an increase in the ethanol content in our gas, we won't be able to drive old cars as much anymore as the gas alone will destroy the engines.

It's sad for sure because I love old cars, and anytime I see one driving down the road it brightens up a bad day.

[Nafster]

The car culture is not dying at all. I don't think it ever will.

Nearly every city and state enjoys profiting off drivers. It's just a fact.

I think there are just more options being put on the table in terms of public transportation. Which is great, as times are changing.