The way we were.
Forgotten public space, NYC 1920, photo credit VOX
There was a time in American history when neighborhood streets were
shared public space and automobiles were new-fangled annoyances. Then a
new automobile lobby rallied automobile manufactures to fight back
eventually dominating public streets as exclusively for cars. The new
normal was called progress. ( The forgotten history of how automakers invented the crime of "jaywalking", Joseph Stromberg, November 4 2015, VOX)
Lozenges (Los Angeles) like most US cities suffers from a
car-centric mobility system that frequently becomes saturated, traffic
congestion is the result. To their credit Angelinos are moving away from
their car-centric plan by developing other modes of transportation.(
Getting Cars out of the Way, LA Times, Rachel Uranga).
Lozenges adopted city policy documents and plans to do this. A change
from car-centric to mixed-mode transportation like
walking/biking/transit. The portion devoted to each is called
mode-share, the changes brought to the streets are called complete street interventions. Building new mode-share means qualifying, designing, funding, and building the remaining mode-share infrastructure.
This week an initiative to build these mode-shares is before the LA City Clerk and LA Council. Local Angelinos drafted the initiative to place before voters. In the past special interests have stalled these initiatives in city
red-tape among city departments, lawsuits, and lack of political will
when facing irate motorists.
Mike Schneider is an LA
software entrepreneur and Angelino mobility advocate and founder of
Healthy Streets LA - a political action committee with financial backing
from wealthy donors. To avoid administrative delay, the
Healthy Streets LA PAC is fast-tracking the mode-share initiative in a
ballot measure before LA voters in November.
Laguna Beach is preparing to place a Ballot
Initiative before the voters in November too. Laguna Beach could
follow the LA example. Laguna has all the same elements for supporting new mode-share initiative in the existing city Capital & Improvement (C&I) plan, so
every time our neighborhood streets are repaved and striped, the
mode-share interventions are included. This builds mode-share infrastructure in increments already committed in C&I.
Would
Laguna Residents First consider adopting a mode-share initiative
PART-B for Laguna Beach,
including it in the LRF Ballot Measure? Package a Laguna mode-share amendment in the November Ballot Initiative for Laguna Beach. Stay tuned.
NYC by 1925
