Los Angeles

Attention, Norm Entrepreneurs! Time to Get on the Bus

I’ve been pushing this for nearly a decade now, and now it looks like it’s finally happening (no thanks to me): If Dora Chavez knew exactly when her bus would arrive she could hustle to make it on time, stroll easily to the stop, or call work to say she would be late. With a new …

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Clean Ports Program Moves Ahead — A Little

A few days ago, District Judge Christina Snyder issued her 57-page ruling in American Trucking Ass’n v. City of Los Angeles, the trade association’s challenge to the city’s clean ports program.  The ruling gave the city a crucial victory, and it has more than local significance: if its reasoning is accepted, it could lead to …

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Credit Where It’s Due: Villaraigosa’s 30/10 Plan

I’ve been somewhat critical of LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s environmental policies, which tend to have more style than substance.  But I have overlooked his 30/10 plan, which (as the New York Times reported the other day) might revolutionize the way sustainable infrastructure is built in American cities.  That’s unfair, because the Mayor has really done …

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A “thank you” to legislators who exempted the proposed L.A. football stadium from California’s environmental review law?

Last fall, I wrote about the California Legislature’s effort to exempt the proposed football stadium in the City of Industry from further environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  I didn’t follow up on that post, but the Legislature ultimately approved the exemption in a special session in the fall.  Now, Los Angeles Times …

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Mayor Villaraigosa Betrays Environmentalism AGAIN

A few days ago, I noted that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa likes to talk a good game when it comes to Greening the city, but conveniently abandons plans when they become politically difficult or require anything like a normal attention span. I was more right than I thought.  I mentioned that the Mayor had …

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Why the San Fernando Valley Ruined Everything

Jonathan is right that the San Fernando Valley is trying its best to maximize the land use around its two subway stations, considering the slow pace of legalizing these developments.  But part of my problem with the extension of the subway to the San Fernando Valley is not just the land use around the two …

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Financing Lower Fares for Low-Income Bus Riders

Ethan, it’s obvious where the money is: just repeal the cut in the Vehicle License Fee. No, I’m not running for anything.  And that’s a very good thing…

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Get On The Bus — Even in Los Angeles

A few days ago, Ann cited the newspaper story highlighting the supposed “miracle” of a 26-year-old white woman taking the bus in Los Angeles.   But the funny thing is that it would be actually pretty easy to increase bus ridership in LA if the MTA was just a little smart about it. I start from …

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The trouble with Chinatown

Ann proposes Chinatown as the greatest environmental movie of all time.  Now, Chinatown is my favorite movie: the poster above is currently hanging on my office wall.  it is a great movie.  But Chinatown can’t be a great environmental movie for one simple reason: It gets the environment wrong. The conceit of Chinatown is that a diabolical …

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California Legislature may decide L.A. football stadium can go forward, despite allegations of inadequate environmental review

Great minds may disagree about whether a new professional football stadium (or team, for that matter) would be good for Los Angeles.  But a new last-minute bill that the California State Senate is considering today, which would eliminate further environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act for a newly-approved stadium complex in the City …

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