Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Building height was kept low because of earthquakes. No other reason.
Are you sure about that?
"A strict height limit — 13 stories or 150 feet — was imposed in the early 1900s to give the city "harmonious lines." But critics said it saddled downtown with an uninspired skyline. Only City Hall, at 27 stories, broke through the height limit thanks to an exemption for public buildings."
The reason Los Angeles does not have "street walls" is extremely obvious and dates back to the 1890's. The "skyscrapers" that went up along the financial districts of Spring St., etc. were nothing really but tall for the times I suppose (I think Seattle had one of tallest buildings in the world around this era). People in L.A. got picky about building height from the get go, strictly enforcing a very short height limit. Though the skyscraper boom eventually came to L.A., you can still see the how and why of the early thinking all over town.
Imagine walking down Sunset Blvd. in Silverlake and not being able to see the Hollywood sign on a mountain with a red sun setting around it because of "street walls." That would be lame.
"Street walls" don't have anything to do with height. Plenty of cities incorporate street walls in their more urban environments without having tall skyscrapers. As a matter-of-fact, before the advent of skyscrapers, street walls were extremely prevalent in major cities. I'm not sure why you think this has anything to do with tall buildings.
"Street walls" don't have anything to do with height. Plenty of cities incorporate street walls in their more urban environments without having tall skyscrapers. As a matter-of-fact, before the advent of skyscrapers, street walls were extremely prevalent in major cities. I'm not sure why you think this has anything to do with tall buildings.
If the buildings on Sunset, Santa Monica, Wilshire, were all taller than the street is wide, you would miss a lot of scenery. Its part of the overarching horizontal theme of the whole city.
Also I googled "street walls" and found no such thing, btw.
Building height was kept low because of earthquakes. No other reason.
Said even more directly:
"There is nothing in the records to show that the two public actions establishing the building height limit in the early 1900s were inspired by earthquake dangers, according to Paul Gleye, an authority on the subject. Nor were the city's lawmakers and the voters swayed by earthquake arguments, so far as he could tell, Gleye said."
Like I mentioned in another post-this is the big problem with Los Angeles threads in C/D. Stereotypes and assumptions win out over facts pretty much every time.
If the buildings on Sunset, Santa Monica, Wilshire, were all taller than the street is wide, you would miss a lot of scenery. Its part of the overarching horizontal theme of the whole city.
Also I googled "street walls" and found no such thing, btw.
I didn't come up with the term. Just saw it on here, the same way you did.
All I'm saying is that the buildings don't need to be tall to achieve what other posters brought up. The googlemaps image I pulled up features two-storied buildings for the most part, and that city has some pretty strict height restrictions in most areas due to this mountain and the views it wants to preserve.
"There is nothing in the records to show that the two public actions establishing the building height limit in the early 1900s were inspired by earthquake dangers, according to Paul Gleye, an authority on the subject. Nor were the city's lawmakers and the voters swayed by earthquake arguments, so far as he could tell, Gleye said."
Like I mentioned in another post-this is the big problem with Los Angeles threads in C/D. Stereotypes and assumptions win out over facts pretty much every time.
I'm not speaking out of my ass, unlike what you may think. Initially, buildings could not exceed the height of the fire brigade's ladder and water hose.
Then, the height was increased, but still with restrictions due to fire regulations requiring buildings of a certain height to have a flat top and a helipad for easy landing for fire crew, in the event of a natural disaster -- i.e., earthquake and/or wildfire.
This ban was lifted when city leaders decided that modern engineering was advanced enough to ensure adequate safety.
This information is available in architectural books and city records.
I'm not speaking out of my ass, unlike what you may think. The primary reason for these height restrictions was due to fire regulations requiring buildings of a certain height to have a flat top and a helipad for easy landing for fire crew, in the event of a natural disaster -- i.e., earthquake and/or wildfire.
This ban was lifted when city leaders decided that modern engineering was advanced enough to ensure adequate safety.
You're referring to a restriction that wasn't implemented until 1958.
I am referring to the original height restrictions imposed at the dawn of the city (they were most likely not figuring heiipads into their building height equation in 1905).
Holy cow....if you read further down on the last link I posted they explain verbatim that L.A. didn't want "street walls"
"The main factor was aesthetic. People came to Los Angeles to get away from the 'dark, walled-in streets' of Eastern cities."
"Los Angeles' building height limit, which remained in effect until 1957, had its origins in a City Council ordinance that set the ceiling at 130 feet in 1905. Subsequently, there were so many requests for variances that city voters approved a City Charter amendment, effective in 1911, establishing the familiar 150-foot height limit, which remained for nearly half a century."
Again, basic facts ignored to propagate the stereotype.
You're referring to a restriction that wasn't implemented until 1958.
I am referring to the original height restrictions imposed at the dawn of the city (they were most likely not figuring heiipads into their building height equation in 1905).
Holy cow....if you read further down on the last link I posted they explain verbatim that L.A. didn't want "street walls"
"The main factor was aesthetic. People came to Los Angeles to get away from the 'dark, walled-in streets' of Eastern cities."
"Los Angeles' building height limit, which remained in effect until 1957, had its origins in a City Council ordinance that set the ceiling at 130 feet in 1905. Subsequently, there were so many requests for variances that city voters approved a City Charter amendment, effective in 1911, establishing the familiar 150-foot height limit, which remained for nearly half a century."
Again, basic facts ignored to propagate the stereotype.
No, not ignoring "facts." Your article is missing tons of information.
Do you know WHY the limit was 150 feet?
Also, yes, I know: L.A. had a concern with being overly congested, hence, the lack of "street walls." (That didn't go too well) Again, that and height are two completely different topics.
I'm not an advocate for unnecessary height. I don't care for places like Miami and Toronto.
Last edited by Arcenal813; 03-11-2019 at 09:33 PM..
Are we going to pretend like the Metrolink San Bernardino Line doesn't exist in order to support this narrative? I guess so.
Are we going to pretend like the Metrolink AND Amtrak Riverside lines don't exist? I guess so.
In fact, you might say that there has been rail coverage in both the SGV and Riverside going back to the 1800's.
He wrote light rail which I think assumes more frequent mass transit, otherwise he could have just written rail which would include commuter rail. As you and I both know, neither Metrolink nor Amtrak qualify as light rail nor are they very frequent. The Metrolink part of that can change though.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
