Why are LA freeways so ugly? (Los Angeles, Santa Ana: house, oil, rapes)

[angelenogirl]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

*LA freeways have character.

Leave them alone. I'd hate for them to become sterile like everywhere else.

Trash is character!

Only in L.A.

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

*LA freeways have character.

Leave them alone. I'd hate for them to become sterile like everywhere else.

Tep - I get bored driving on I-5 between Tacoma and Seattle, but the drive between Santa Ana and Los Angeles is at least somewhat interesting.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by angelenogirl

Trash is character!

Only in L.A.

Yeah seriously! I don't enjoy paying taxes and high expenses and seeing trash all over.

Do people really feel this way or they just don't want to admit the city is poorly run.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by Eric_J

Yeah, but traffic is hopeless on the lower half of the 163 at many times of the day, because it is ancient and would never be built there today (north is newer). The reason it is "better" is because all of it runs through spectacular scenery, and it is very difficult to access the urban section on foot. It's also quite short down in there and is distinctly suburban north of the 5 (and still defended by steep canyon walls for much of the distance). Imagine if the 5 near Griffith Park ran through a steep canyon and was isolated from houses/walkways/city by at least 4 blocks of rugged, barely-passable terrain (with the exception of a couple spots, the only ways in/out are tight on/off ramps that would be impractical for all but an extremely determined tagger).

The 805 is also pretty nice, particularly north of the 8 and in the canyons, but again, steep canyons and limited pedestrian access are major contributing factors. Los Angeles is a fairly flat valley with city right up to the edge of every freeway and often little more than a chain link fence dividing it from surface streets. SD also has a much lusher environment than LA due to historically-lower population, so I suspect some of the litter ends up hidden in the heavier vegetation (I have noticed similar in other cities with heavier vegetation.). You see the same thing in Los Angeles County vs. Orange County, which is again a legacy of lower population concentrations for most of their history.

Just keep these in mind. The environment where the freeway is built and lower population are strong contributing factors.

All agree - kind of a tradeoff between aesthetics and carrying capacity not to mention topographical limitations.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Yeah seriously! I don't enjoy paying taxes and high expenses and seeing trash all over.

Do people really feel this way or they just don't want to admit the city is poorly run.

Personally I don't think it is the trash that gives it character.

[the Instigator]

Originally Posted by munchitup

Personally I don't think it is the trash that gives it character.

To me it's the graffiti and the old concrete look of our freeways

[slo1318]

I just drove extensively on LA freeways, LAX to Santa Clarita, to San Diego, to Irvine to South Bay/Redondo to Ventura/Santa Barbara. Its really a mixed bag, there is no generalizing. Some of the freeways are extensively landscaped while other stretches are more utilitarian, but in general its still very impressive. Compared to Houston/Dallas and other Texas freeways, they are older and wider and busier.

[Bunjee]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Well, to be fair, it's pretty hard to make a freeway pretty/aesthetically pleasing.

Not so hard, actually, though it comes with investment. The Orange Freeway and I think the 405 have nice sound barrier concrete walls with bas reliefs. They're doing the same with Riverside County freeway reconstructions. They look nice. The OC walls have oranges, the Riverside walls have oranges and the raincross. So they're attractive place identity markers.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by Bunjee

The OC walls have oranges, the Riverside walls have oranges and the raincross. So they're attractive place identity markers.

Monuments to what they ripped out so the freeways and homes could happen. The ones around here have grapes.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by slo1318

I just drove extensively on LA freeways, LAX to Santa Clarita, to San Diego, to Irvine to South Bay/Redondo to Ventura/Santa Barbara. Its really a mixed bag, there is no generalizing. Some of the freeways are extensively landscaped while other stretches are more utilitarian, but in general its still very impressive. Compared to Houston/Dallas and other Texas freeways, they are older and wider and busier.

Surprised to hear they are wider out here. I've only been on the 10 through Houston and that thing seemed huge.

I agree that it really varies, some freeways are much larger and well-maintained than others.