The Downtown LA Streetcar Should Travel on 9th Street

July 12, 2012 3 Comments

The most effective route for the streetcar would travel east on 9th Street, not 7th.

I’ve written a couple times about the streetcar being planned for Downtown LA. First, examining all of the suggested route options and then praising the selection of the locally-preferred-alternative. As I said in those pieces, I think the LPA that was selected is good, but after looking at it further, it’s certainly not best. Upon more reflection I’ve come to believe that taking the route east on 7th Street instead of 9th Street would be a particularly unfortunate decision for both mobility and development reasons and wanted to explore the options further. (Click here for a pdf of both routes from the city.)

Here’s why:

7th Street Doesn’t Gain You Much

The key reasoning behind taking the streetcar up to 7th Street is access to the 7th Street/Metro Center station. That’s all well and good, but what does this actually get us? We must first remember that this portion of the route will be a one-way loop headed east and then turning north on Hill.

With this in mind, it will certainly be useful for travel from Staples Center/LA LIVE/Convention Center to connect to the Metro Red/Purple lines. However, with a probably similar fare, the more frequent combined northbound service from the Metro Blue/Expo lines at Pico is probably a better bet anyway. It’s a block or two further from LA LIVE, but closer to the Convention Center and Staples south entrances.

What about the other direction, though?

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A Trip Up The Coast: Dodger Stadium Could Learn A Thing or Two

July 10, 2012 Leave a comment

This is the fourth post in a short series based on my recent trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco by train. With an overnight stop in San Luis Obispo and a weekend in San Francisco, there were some great urbanist and transit lessons to be learned.

As a baseball fan, no trip to any city is complete without a visit to the stadium. I’ve been to a game at San Francisco’s AT&T park before, but arrived late from the airport and headed straight inside. This time, I didn’t attend the game, but explored the area all around the stadium as crowds were arriving for the crossbay showdown between the Giants and the Oakland A’s.

AT&T Park in San Francisco is perhaps one of the country’s best urban baseball stadiums.

So far, San Francisco’s AT&T park and San Diego’s Petco Park are two of my favorite urban stadiums. There are many lessons for Dodger stadium to be found in them, though we also have to realize that Dodger stadium is a diametrically different kind of ballpark. It’s location on an isolated hilltop makes it much more of a suburban style stadium (surrounded completely by parking lots) than any of the country’s urban stadiums.

While some have proposed moving Dodger Stadium to a Downtown location, as a longtime baseball fan and purist I am conflicted with the idea. The urbanist in me says YES! while the fan wanting to retain as much of the history of the stadium says NO. For now, I will assume (as is most probable) that the stadium won’t be moving anytime soon. There are still many improvements that can be made in its current location.

So let’s look… What is so great about AT&T Park?

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A Trip Up The Coast: Urban Lessons from Downtown SLO

June 18, 2012 2 Comments

This is the second post in a short series based on my recent trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco by train. With an overnight stop in San Luis Obispo and a weekend in San Francisco, there were some great urbanist and transit lessons to be learned.

Downtown San Luis Obispo is certainly not an urban mecca. The population of the entire city is 45,000, which is just about the same as Downtown LA, but most of that population is outside of SLO’s retail-centric downtown. Regardless, there were some great things in SLO that can and should be taken note of when thinking of Los Angeles.

Retail Development

Similar to State Street in Santa Barbara or Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, Higuera St. in Downtown SLO is a pedestrian heavy, retail and restaurant-centric boulevard full of both locals and tourists. It was a medium-distance walk from the train station through a residential neighborhood. Higuera Street and the surrounding blocks are a great mix of both historic and modern structures with active businesses that create a lively atmosphere. Bars, restaurants, retail, art galleries, and more are all within walking distance.

At one end of the street is a relatively new retail complex that was designed very well to fit in with the historic neighborhood. The Court Street Mall includes interior walkways and exterior facing retail that seamlessly ties into the neighborhood around it.

The Court Street Mall in Downtown SLO fits in nicely with the pedestrian streetscape and historic buildings around it.

Near the center of the retail district, on Higuera is a ROSS Dress For Less. It seems like one of the older stores on the block, and I wonder if the amount of retail and restaurants on this street is a small prophesy of what Broadway in Downtown LA could become, with a ROSS coming in there soon as well.

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Union Station: Improving Pedestrian Connections

April 26, 2012 1 Comment

With teams having showcased their broad-view ideas for the Union Station area yesterday, I thought I would share one small change I think would make a huge difference. While the plans can include hotels, offices, restaurants, and more, all will certainly bring more pedestrian traffic to the station. It will end up being more of a destination point, rather than just a transfer point, as it is for many travelers now. Of course, with the Regional Connector, possibly High Speed Rail, pass through tracks, and other transportation connections, it will continue to be the major transfer hub for Los Angeles, but with Olvera Street and El Pueblo across the street (and remember, this is where a future streetcar connection would actually end), the additions to the Union Station Property, and potentially Park 101, we will see many more pedestrians exiting the station’s front doors.

The current view walking out of Union Station, with the entry plaza directly ahead blocked by chain and stanchions.

Currently, there is a small plaza leading directly up to Union Station’s main entrance, with some memorial plaques and other pedestrian oriented designs. The problem is, the crosswalks crossing Alameda don’t lead to this plaza, they cross parallel on both sides of it due to Los Angeles Street splitting in two around this entryway as is comes into and out of the station. When you exit the front of the station, you’re actually blocked from crossing onto what is supposed to be an entry plaza by a chain and stanchions, forcing you to go around it.

To better serve pedestrians, this small entry plaza should directly connect the front doors of the station with the Plaza at el Pueblo.

The best way to do this is by consolidating Los Angeles St. to the south (where the current vehicle entry is) and moving the vehicle exit to the north side of the timed parking lot, next to Mozaic Apartments. The current vehicle exit from Union Station and the northern side of Los Angeles St. will be transformed into a straight pedestrian entry plaza that extends from Union Station’s doors, across Alameda Street, up to the entrance of Olvera Street.

An overview of my proposed changes to the Union Station Entrance. A large pedestrian entry plaza, consolidated Los Angeles St., and new vehicle exit lanes.

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