Are Los Angelenos willing to give up their cars? (Los Angeles: attorney, buying)

[munchitup]

Thanks Joel Kotkin. What a bunch of irrelevant BS that conveniently ignores statistical trends in this city.

LA has the density to support transit.... If Greater DC does, than Southern California certainly does. LA is every bit as dense as Boston, SF, Philly - all considered great transit cities. The issue was that before LA just didn't have a rapid transit system, and that is changing quickly.

Will all Angelenos give up their cars? No. Will most? Probably not. But the amount that do is increasing every year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The key is to turn 2 car homes into 1 car homes, 3 car homes into 2 car homes, and get a smaller number (25% was a good estimate) to go car free, mostly in places like DTLA, Pasadena, Ktown, Hollywood, Santa Monica, etc.

[munchitup]

Also I fail to see how the Paseo is doing poorly due to lack of parking... There is AMPLE parking across the street in a multi level garage and a multilevel underground garage. I mean, have you been to the Paseo? There is a ton of parking. Unless you have a link, I'll take your Paseo story as weak anecdotal 'evidence'.

If anything, those businesses left because their rent was over inflated to make up for the added construction costs of all that parking. Macy's already has a flagship location on Lake, and there are plans to build a hotel on the Macy's Paseo site. I think those are three far more relevant and likely causes for its exit then some vague "parking issue" you speak of.

[jm1982]

That Paseo area is nice, I've taken the Goldline there ..originating from the NoHo Station.

The Luggage Room: HOME Is pretty tasty,and they have endless Sangria on saturdays

I always seem to get cut off earlier than i'd like at those endless things though . Bottomless Mimosas ,etc

In the same area Congregation Ale House - Pasadena - Pasadena, CA | Yelp is good too, nice craft beers and the prices on food seemed reasonable.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Marv101

Watkins goes on to report that the last time California's birth rate (births per thousand population) had fallen to its present level, FDR was in the White House; that declining birth rate reflects an aging population as young families continue to leave the state for thriving cities nationwide.

Why was the birthrate in California low when FDR was president? California gained population during the Depression and WW2 years even if the US as a whole didn't.

[True Freedom]

Originally Posted by munchitup

Also I fail to see how the Paseo is doing poorly due to lack of parking... There is AMPLE parking across the street in a multi level garage and a multilevel underground garage. I mean, have you been to the Paseo? There is a ton of parking. Unless you have a link, I'll take your Paseo story as weak anecdotal 'evidence'.

If anything, those businesses left because their rent was over inflated to make up for the added construction costs of all that parking. Macy's already has a flagship location on Lake, and there are plans to build a hotel on the Macy's Paseo site. I think those are three far more relevant and likely causes for its exit then some vague "parking issue" you speak of.

Gelson's cited parking issues as the main reason for low traffic. Gelson's Market to close at Paseo Colorado

My mother lives at the Paseo, shopped regularly at Gelson's, and knows the housing mgmt quite well. It is the opinion of many that parking is a huge issue negatively affecting the Paseo.

Anecdotally, I avoid the Paseo because it is so expensive to park there. Yes, you get some validation with purchase (and longer validation for movies), but if you run over.. it'll cost you an arm and a leg. Only when my mom is out of town and we can borrow her parking pass do we visit the Paseo.

[Marv101]

^^^The Gelson's in Century City is 10 minutes from home, and the one on Van Nuys Blvd. in Sherman Oaks that used to be a Hughes Market (remember them?) back in the 80s IIRC are both always packed whenever I stop by, although parking at that Sherman Oaks got a lot worse when a Best Buy was opened on the southwest corner of that shopping center's parking lot.

Putting a proposed 'boutique' hotel in that Macy's space could certainly best a boon for the Convention Center, if that turns out to be the case.

[True Freedom]

A post from a while back about LA's car-less movement:
//www.city-data.com/forum/20815824-post23.html

[JimWilliams]

I won't give up my car because you need a car here like you need a liver. A car is survival here almost. But I would like to rely less on it. The transit system needs to be built out and we need better rail service too. It would be nice to hop on a train and go to Vegas for a weekend without 10 friggin hours of traffic coming back.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by True Freedom

A post from a while back about LA's car-less movement:
//www.city-data.com/forum/20815824-post23.html

Good post ^^^

[jackson_coupage]

Being someone who walks a great deal in L.A., easily 70% pedestrian, 20-30% driver and somewhat of a cyclist, I can't help but point out that while it's possible to walk in L.A., the driving culture here has little respect for pedestrians. If not outright anger towards them.

L.A. drivers are not only (typically, not all...) aggressive and often reckless (texting, eating, speeding 400 ft to red lights) but they seem to enjoy "trying" to hit pedestrians. At least twice a week, while crossing a street legally, someone will accelerate and race up to get as close to hitting me without actually doing so, almost like some bizarre game. And from a number of others I've discussed this with, I'm not alone in experiencing this.

Then there is the epidemic among L.A. drivers who refuse to or have never learned how to look to their right before making a right turn. Only left for oncoming traffic and when they hit you or startle themselves when they have to hit the brakes to narrowly avoid hitting you, they scream and freak out at the pedestrian! Nowhere else in the world have I ever experienced this. It's generally a roll of the dice every time you cross a street here. And this is not limited to the city, cars pull all this aggro, dangerous **** in residential areas just the same.

It's too bad, really. You get a much better sense of the city and you discover some much more when walking than you do from a car but I would strongly recommend against it or only doing so in areas you know well and never while distracted in any way. Oh and don't dare ride a bicycle, the confusion it instigates in drivers here causes full blown rage, it seems.