Los Angeles
Basics
Alongside LaHood in L.A., Boxer Talks Timing for the Next Transport Bill
Friday was billed as a day to discuss the next long-term federal transportation legislation, but the day turned in to a stirring defense of the Obama administration's economic stimulus law and ended with a commitment
from Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to do all she could to help turn Los
Angeles into a transit town within the next 10 years.
February 22, 2010
Boxer, LaHood Coming to L.A. to Discuss Federal Transportation Bill
As transportation reformers continue to wait for the Senate to join the House in offering a new federal
transportation bill, Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood will hold a town-hall meeting at the headquarters of L.A.'s Metro transit authority on Friday, February 19.
February 10, 2010
High-Speed Rail: Still a Good Idea
You may remember, back in August, economist Ed Glaeser's series on high-speed rail at the New York Times' Economix blog. Glaeser put together a back-of-the-envelope cost-benefit analysis of a hypothetical Houston-Dallas line, which purported to show that rail was a poor investment. You may also remember me responding in detail, and generally pointing out how woefully incomplete and misleading his analysis was.
October 22, 2009
Glaeser Takes an Unserious Look at High-Speed Rail
Ed Glaeser is a very good economist, and his papers are indispensable reading for those interested in the workings of urban areas. But he is also a strident conservative, whose popular writings frequently challenge conventional progressive wisdom (and my own views).
August 5, 2009
Report: Nation’s Cities Not Getting Their Share of Stimulus Transpo Money
The nation's largest metropolitan areas -- which account for 63 percent of the U.S. population and 73 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) -- have received less than half of the surface transportation money allocated so far underthe Obama administration's economic stimulus plan, according to a new report compiled for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
June 15, 2009
What a Difference a Bench Makes
Good magazine reports on how, with remarkable simplicity, this menacing, marginal streetscape in downtown LA was turned into a welcoming public space (click here for the after photo):
August 27, 2007
Transit-Oriented America, Part 3: Three More Cities
Part 3 in a series on rail and transit-only travel across the United States focuses on the final three cities of our journey. Part 2 looked at the first three and Part 1 presented an overview of our travel.
August 22, 2007
Transit-Oriented America, Part 1: Eight Thousand Miles
My wife and I were married last month in Brooklyn. For our honeymoon, we wanted to see as many great American cities as we could. In 19 days of travel, we visited Chicago, Seattle, Portland (Ore.), San Francisco, Los Angeles and New Orleans (and also stopped briefly in Cleveland, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Houston, Atlanta, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia).
August 20, 2007
The Price of Parking: Let the Free Market Decide?
The Wall Street Journal ran a piece this weekend by Conor Dougherty on the municipal move toward charging more for parking. It's available online to paid subscribers only, but here's a taste:
February 5, 2007