r/geography • u/villehhulkkonen • 2d ago

La is a wasted opportunity Discussion

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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.

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u/DrNinnuxx 2d ago

But you need to drive to them first.

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u/MochiMochiMochi 2d ago

I lived in LA and it's remarkable how people tend to stick to certain zones and routines that enable them to minimize driving.

I was in the Culver City area and thinking of going to a place like Pasadena (only 18 miles away) felt like planning a major trip. It had to be very much worth the effort.

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u/SoarinWalt 2d ago

I'm sure you know, it can be a shocking amount of time to drive that 18 miles.

I was in LA a few months ago and drove from Anaheim to Universal Studios, the time it took to drive was mind blowing. Its 40 miles, and almost all highway and took 2 hours. I was honestly shocked as shit.

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u/MyBoldestStroke 2d ago

At the risk of being that person… Anaheim is a completely different county tho?

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u/SoarinWalt 2d ago

40 miles is 40 miles, and a lot of the traffic was in LA.

For that matter we were in LA heading to Santa Monica Pier and it took us an hour plus due to traffic. It was my second time in LA, the first being in 2022 and I totally understood all the complaining about LA traffic that you always here.