Things to read from the past week:
The Californians Are Coming. So Is Their Housing Crisis.: "...California’s affordable housing problem is, it isn’t really a California problem. It is a national one. From rising homelessness to anti-development sentiment to frustration among middle-class workers who’ve been locked out of the housing market, the same set of housing issues has bubbled up in cities across the country. They’ve already visited Boise, Nashville, Denver and Austin, Texas, and many other high-growth cities. And they will become even more widespread as remote workers move around." (New York Times)
Pedestrian bridge connecting Kenneth Hahn State Park and the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook - a component of the Park to Playa trailUrbanize LA
LA's Park To Playa Trail: After 20 Years You Can Now Hike From Crenshaw To The Beach: "The trail has several sections, each with its own charms and attractions, starting with the urban trail running along the Stocker Corridor, sloping up to the spectacular viewpoints of the Baldwin Hills Overlook, and following the landscaped bike path that runs alongside Ballona Creek to the Pacific." (LAist)
‘Crime-Free’ Housing Ordinances, Explained: "Since the early 1990s, crime-free housing ordinances have spread to thousands of towns and cities across the United States, used by the police—and those who call the police—to target both tenants and landlords alike. Purportedly designed to reduce crime, promote public safety, and preserve police resources, these laws have instead proven a powerful tool to impose racial segregation, threatening the health and safety of disproportionately Black and brown people who are displaced from their homes." (The Appeal)
Use Physics, Not Plastic, for Safety: "Physical laws are everywhere, 24/7. They don’t take breaks. They’re not biased. They don’t malfunction. City streets need retrofitting so it’s physically impossible to go significantly faster than 20 mph." (Streetsblog SF)
Potential alignments for the C Line's Torrance extensionMetro
Metro rail line extension to Torrance tracking closer to possible 2028 opening: "The $1 billion project to extend the C Line, formerly known as the Green Line, would connect the South Bay to Southern California’s transit network." (Daily Breeze)
Interview: California Freeway Expansion Projects Induce Travel, and Underestimate Impacts of Additional Driving: "UC Davis scholars Susan Handy, Jamey Volker, and Amy Lee created a online Induced Travel Calculator tool to project how road expansion projects would increase driving" (Streetsblog LA)
LA's Housing Crisis Likely Made The Pandemic Worse: "Researchers say crushing housing costs have forced L.A. residents to cut back on other necessary expenses. The survey found that close to one-in-three Angelenos postponed medical care because it cost too much, and 11% worried about not having enough resources to get food." LAist)
'Bike lanes to nowhere': for cyclists, Los Angeles is heaven and hell: "At least 36 cyclists were killed in Los Angeles county in 2019, according to statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), accounting for about a third of all cycling deaths in California that year. Just last month Branden Finely, 46, was killed while riding his bike through downtown, struck by the driver of a stolen pick-up truck weaving in and out of traffic." (The Guardian)
Conceptual rendering of a station on the California High Speed Rail systemKilograph
National Bill Would Bring Billions for Bullet Train: "Costa first introduced his HSR funding bill a full year ago. However, given that Republicans still controlled the Senate and Trump was still in the White House, it was really just a trial run. Now, with the legislature in control of the Democrats and 'Amtrak Joe' Biden as president, the bill is likely to succeed along with the larger $1.9 trillion Biden/Harris stimulus plan." (Streetsblog California)
Push and pull over Los Angeles policing hits roadways and transit: "The two discussions reflected the shifting landscape for law enforcement in L.A. at a time of intense violence and changing public safety priorities, when homicides are at a decade high but protesters’ summer calls for defunding police continue to resonate among elected officials and other leaders." (LA Times)
