Category Archives: bicycle oriented

Ideas for Downtown LA: Implement Road Diets on Our Ultra Wide Streets to Encourage Pedestrian Activity

Posted on April 18, 2013 by | 27 Comments
This snapshot I took in New York is the single most powerful visually compelling reason why a city should be more about pedestrians and less about cars

This snapshot I took in Chelsea of a typical scene in New York shows how wonderful a city can be when it is pedestrian oriented

Every time I visit New York, I’m like a kid in a candy store. Why? I’m an urbanist at heart and New York is brimming with urbanism. No, it’s exploding with urbanism! I love walking and being a pedestrian free to roam the city, and whenever I’m here in New York (usually for a week at a time), I feel liberated and empowered as I dart through the energetic streets, slide my MetroCard on my way down into the ubiquitous subway stations, and jaywalk whenever and wherever I please. The way New York and other East Coast cities are built, compact and mixed-use, encourage a thriving pedestrian culture. What are some key ideas that we can bring back from a city like New York that can continue to help Los Angeles (and specifically Downtown LA) develop that wonderful pedestrian urban lifestyle and lessen our dependence (read: handicap) on automobiles?

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Posted in bicycle oriented, community involvement, downtown los angeles, education, environmentally green, Ideas for Downtown LA, parks, pedestrian oriented, public spaces, smart growth

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Ideas for Downtown LA: Minor Tweaks to 110 Overpasses Will Encourage Pedestrian Activity

Posted on April 9, 2013 by | 63 Comments
Some ideas on how to bolster pedestrian connections -- between City West and the rest of Downtown LA -- includes making the 110 overpasses safer and more attractive (mainly Wilshire Blvd and 7th Street)

Some ideas on how to bolster pedestrian connections — between City West and the rest of Downtown LA — include making the 110 overpasses safer and more attractive for pedestrians (mainly Wilshire Blvd and 7th Street)

As Downtown LA continues to evolve and mature into a multi-faceted urban center that’s not only a commercial hub but a bona fide residential community, it becomes even more important that we focus on creating an environment that is pedestrian friendly making it enjoyable and convenient for residents to live, work, and play in. That enhancement to the pedestrian realm — wider sidewalks, narrower streets, more bike lanes, etc. — in Downtown LA is needed to create the strong walkable connections that eventually spawns a walking culture.

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Posted in architecture, art and culture, bicycle oriented, city west, community involvement, downtown los angeles, economic development, environmentally green, financial district, Ideas for Downtown LA, pedestrian oriented, public spaces, smart growth

Ideas for Downtown LA: Using Grand Central Terminal NYC as a Model for LA Union Station

Posted on January 14, 2013 by | 48 Comments
Post WWII, Grand Central Terminal faded away from the hearts and minds of New Yorkers and was almost demolished in the 60s, but today, the station is now relevant as one of New York's top destinations

Post WWII, Grand Central Terminal faded away from the hearts and minds of New Yorkers and was almost demolished in the 60s, but today, the station is now more relevant than ever as one of New York’s top destinations — a path LA Union Station will hopefully follow

I just got back to LA after spending a week in New York. Every time I visit America’s largest urban center, I am inspired by the incredible urbanism that defines the city. The infrastructure and built environment, mix of architecture, diversity of businesses, and strong pedestrian culture never ceases to amaze me. For us in LA, as we continue to press for change — improving our own urbanism in a city still dominated by a suburban, car-oriented mentality — it would behoove us to look at successful models and examples from other cities that could be applied to Downtown LA. One of those prime examples is Grand Central Terminal in Midtown at 42nd Street, which has experienced an amazing turnaround from irrelevancy and near demolition in the 1960s to one of the greatest rail stations in the world today.

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Posted in architecture, bicycle oriented, community involvement, downtown los angeles, economic development, environmentally green, Ideas for Downtown LA, mass transportation, mixed-use development, pedestrian oriented, retail, smart growth, union station

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Peddler’s Creamery Coming Soon to Historic Core in Downtown LA

Posted on September 14, 2012 by | 6 Comments

Coming soon: Peddler’s Creamery uses “man-powered” bicycle-churning to create their ice cream

After all the recent “liquor license” controversy surrounding the New Genesis Apartments and Great Balls on Tires (which I hope eventually gets approved), I am glad some good news comes today from LAist regarding the same building (a tip sent in by DTLA resident Torr Leonard). A new and novel kind of ice cream shop called Peddler’s Creamery is coming to the New Genesis Apartments at 458 S Main St.

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Posted in bicycle oriented, downtown los angeles, environmentally green, food, historic core, restaurants

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LA Law Library in Downtown LA, Largest Outside D.C., Receives Major Facelift

Posted on August 6, 2012 by | 6 Comments

The new facade and exterior improvements to the LA Law Library have dramatically improved the pedestrian realm on this section of 1st Street in Downtown LA

Did you know that the second largest public law library outside of Washington, D.C. (second only to the Library of Congress) is right here in Downtown LA? Yes, the Los Angeles Law Library, located at 1st and Broadway in the Civic Center, has an impressive collection of nearly 1 million books and documents pertaining to everything you could possibly want to know about the legal universe (yes, there are even volumes on “United States Space Law”). Although the library may still only be relevant to a certain niche (i.e., government officials, those studying law or preparing for a trial case for instance), I find it wonderful that this tremendous resource is here in Downtown LA, contributing to the prestige and significance of our urban center.

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Posted in architecture, bicycle oriented, civic center, downtown los angeles, education, pedestrian oriented, public spaces

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This Week at ULI’s 3rd Annual TOD Summit: LA’s Future May Include More TODs Less SFRs

Posted on June 5, 2012 by | 5 Comments

A long awaited TOD called Blossom Plaza is slated for future development next to the Chinatown Gold Line station

As Los Angeles continues to expand its rail network, such as the recent opening of the long awaited Expo Line, we must look at the future of transit oriented developments (TOD) and how they will interact with our present and future rail stations. This Thursday, June 7, 2012 is the perfect opportunity to learn more about TODs in Los Angeles as Urban Land Institute’s 3rd Annual TOD Summit happens at USC.

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Posted in bicycle oriented, community involvement, economic development, education, environmentally green, events, mass transportation, mixed-use development, pedestrian oriented, politics, smart growth

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Repainting Downtown LA’s Spring Street Bike Lane Again: Third Time’s a Charm, Hopefully

Posted on February 7, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Spring Street bike lane will be tested with 6 new types of paints this weekend to see which ones "stick the best" after two failed prior attempts

According to DLANC, on the morning of Feb 12, the LADOT will be out yet again to repaint portions of the Spring Street bike lane that were washed away almost immediately after they were painted the second time. This time, they plan to test out 6 different types of paint to see which one(s) stick the best. A follow-up analysis will take place afterward, choosing the best and most cost effective paint to go with. Weather.com predicts Feb 12 will be warm and sunny.

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Posted in bicycle oriented, downtown los angeles, events, public spaces, smart growth

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Update: Spring Street Green Bike Lane Repainted Successfully in Downtown LA

Posted on December 5, 2011 by | 2 Comments

The Spring Street green bike lane was repainted successfully this past Sunday and is now consistently green throughout

I took this picture today of the newly repainted bike lane on Spring Street (just repainted yesterday on Sunday) to show what the majority of the new green bike lane looks like now: nice and consistently green throughout the entirety. There are a few small patches here and there where the green paint either came off or was not painted thoroughly, but very minor in my opinion. Overall, the bike lane now looks great and I saw many cyclists using it, which is just wonderful to see, especially here in Downtown LA. I would love to see a lot more of these throughout LA in the future.

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Posted in bicycle oriented, downtown los angeles, environmentally green, public spaces, smart growth

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LA Streetsblog 2011 Award: Blogger of the Year

Posted on December 5, 2011 by | 9 Comments

LA Streetsblog is one of the foremost intellectual online daily news sources pertaining to urbanism and the promotion of livable communities by elevating the rights and status of pedestrians and cyclists in a car-dominated society, especially here in Los Angeles. A philosophy gaining widespread acceptance in our generation today and something I firmly believe in and support as well.

And that is why I am so honored and proud to be the LA Streetsblog 2011 Winner: Blogger of the Year! Thank you so much to the Board who recognized my work to bring more awareness to all those dreamers (like myself) who believe we can make a positive change here, albeit baby steps, in our car-crazy Los Angeles toward a more walkable, transit-oriented, and livable city not dominated by cars, but by people.

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Posted in bicycle oriented, community involvement, pedestrian oriented, politics, smart growth

Spring Street Green Bike Lane Will Get Re-Painted this Sunday in Downtown LA

Posted on November 29, 2011 by | 7 Comments

Due to smudging of the green paint on the bike lane down Spring Street, the lane will be repainted green this Sunday

It’s hard to believe but the image you see above (with the smudged and missing green paint) is a completely brand new bike lane on Spring Street that is a little more than a week old. The bike lane, which stretches from Cesar Chavez to the north to 9th Street to the south, was painted green over the weekend before Thanksgiving, but because of two reasons (explained below), the bike lane ended up a tattered version from something we all envisioned with much higher expectations. It really just broke my heart when I saw how destroyed the bike lane looked only after one day.

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Posted in bicycle oriented, downtown los angeles, environmentally green

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