La is a wasted opportunity

[u/villehhulkkonen]

Imagine if Los Angeles was built like Barcelona. Dense 15 million people metropolis with great public transportation and walkability.

They wasted this perfect climate and perfect place for city by building a endless suburban sprawl.

[u/Actual-Ad-2748]

I love visiting LA. I would however not like to live there.

[u/DBL_NDRSCR → u/Actual-Ad-2748]

it's not hard to live carfree if you pick the right neighborhood, lots of people do

[u/contextual_somebody → u/DBL_NDRSCR]

Greater Los Angeles has the second highest population density of all US metros. This isn’t surprising to people who have actually lived there. It’s walkable. There’s a subway. Etc

[u/poilk91 → u/contextual_somebody]

no its not, its horrible for walking no one who lives in LA would tell you otherwise and the subway coverage is an absolute joke. And I say this as someone who grew up there and made a point to live on the redline after highschool so I wouldn't have to drive as much. As far as density goes its low-medium density really consistently and packed fairly tightly over a huge area that makes the overall area dense, but it has very very little of the urban density you see in east coast cities

[u/AllAboutGameDay → u/poilk91]

I lived in DTLA for years. I walked and biked to work, the grocery store, the movie theater, and to bars, restaurants, distilleries, museums, parks and more. I used the metro to get outside of DTLA often. About the only time I'd need to drive was to get to the mountains to hike.

Same thing when I lived in Ktown. Heck, I was even able to take the Metrolink to work in DTLA when I lived in Fullerton.

[u/poilk91 → u/AllAboutGameDay]

there are some pockets of LA where you can get away with it but its a big sprawling place and the vast majority of its residents aren't in downtown. Fullerton is OC not LA and I really like it, but you would have to be really disingenuous to call it walkable there are a couple blocks near the train you could argue it but again thats a few hundred units an a tiny part of the population/area. In OC the experience of walking to any grocery store at minimum includes hiking across a football field sized parking lot with 0 shade, I mean its physically possible to walk places but thats not really what we mean when discussing walkability

[u/AllAboutGameDay → u/poilk91]

No disrespect, but if you think walking across a parking lot alone makes something not walkable then we are just have very different definitions of the word. I've also lived in Lake Forest and Huntington Beach - in both I was able to walk to a grocery store in under 10 minutes without crossing a major intersection. That is walkable to me. 

[u/poilk91 → u/AllAboutGameDay]

If you dont ignore 90% of what I'm saying I think it will make a lot more sense to you

[u/AllAboutGameDay → u/poilk91]

Or maybe you just consider relatively short distances unwalkable? No, that can't be it - only your perspective has value. 

[u/poilk91 → u/AllAboutGameDay]

Yeah except that was literally the best case scenario which 99% of people don't have but yeah if you only considered able bodied people ages 18-55 it's fine except for summer.

As of this moment I am driving past a highschool with no sidewalks and the only way to the neighborhood across the street has 4 lanes of 50mph traffic and there are overpasses across the highway with barely 2 foot wide side walks with no protection from the 50mph traffic and are currently obstructed by cars park on them. So yeah it's not just that you have to walk short distances actually

[u/AllAboutGameDay → u/poilk91]

In Lake Forest I could walk to multiple Highschools within 20 minutes, plus a grocery store, my doctor, and my dentist. 

Clutch your pearls harder I guess. Have a good one. 

[u/poilk91 → u/AllAboutGameDay]

Okay great no one said there weren't some places you can walk. I'm not clutching pearls this is the basics of urban design walking on the side of the road because there aren't side walks is in no way walkable

[u/contextual_somebody → u/poilk91]

Lived there for years. You need a car to get from Santa Monica to Fairfax, but Santa Monica and Fairfax are both very walkable. Try living in Kansas City, or Jacksonville.

[u/deathbyvote → u/contextual_somebody]

Depends on where on Fairfax but a train can take you to Santa Monica but you might need to transfer via bus

[u/poilk91 → u/contextual_somebody]

I just dont think you know what walkable means. I'm in a relatively quiet part of LA right now visting family. The closest grocery store is 1.5 miles away across 2 6 lane intersections one of which is a feeder into the 91 and I would have to walk all the way around a shopping center or cut across several parking lots to get there. It's not the least walkable place in the country obviously no one is trying to say that but the reason everyone drives is because walking anywhere for your necessities is dangerous unpleasant and unrealistic unlike actually walkable places where you dont have to risk your life multiple times sprinting across a suburban freeway just to get a gallon of milk

[u/contextual_somebody → u/poilk91]

I have lived in LA, NY, and Britain also cities in middle America. When I lived in LA, I lived in the Fairfax District, Hancock Park, and West Hollywood. When I wasn’t working, I seldom drove unless I was visiting someone on the West side or Pasadena. I have lived in cities where you literally couldn’t do anything without driving.

[u/DecisionDelicious170 → u/contextual_somebody]

Nobody is saying it’s as bad as somewhere like OKC.

We’re saying for it’s supposed density and population it’s atrocious compared to European or New England cities.

[u/poilk91 → u/contextual_somebody]

Well good for you theres certainly walkable parts of LA I dont think anyone would argue that, but its just not within reach of most of its residents. Its certainly more walkable than rural Iowa but when looking at other similar sized cities around the world almost all American cities are very very poor in terms of walkability and LA is just bad when compared to other American cities like NY DC Boston Chicago and even other west coast cities like SF Portalnd Seatle etc etc. So I just have no idea what kind of curve we would have to be grading LA on to say its not unwalkable

[u/contextual_somebody → u/poilk91]

Here you go, bub.

[u/poilk91 → u/contextual_somebody]

Here you go honey bun

[u/contextual_somebody → u/poilk91]

LOL. Did you read it? Los Angeles is 12th out of 141 cities. ROFL

[u/poilk91 → u/contextual_somebody]

lol did you? Just behind every single contemporary city in the US and Canda and worse than all its neighbors in southern California. But hey its better than Mobile Alabama so we call it a win?

[u/contextual_somebody → u/poilk91]

I think you missed the part where we were talking about the Los Angeles metro area. Los Angeles engulfs Santa Monica and Long Beach. And I think you forgot Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, etc exist. It’s also far more walkable than the neighboring cities of Riverside or San Bernardino