•Dept. of Reminder: rail service on the southern section of the Blue Line resumes on Saturday while rail service between 7th/Metro and 103rd St/Watts will be replaced by bus shuttles through September. This is part of the New Blue work to modernize the Blue Line. Please see this post for more info.
•Gotta love this headline: “Want to park in Koreatown? Get ready for ‘a bloodsport‘” in the LAT.
The problem is simple: a lot of old buildings have little or no parking (the buildings pre-date modern zoning rules); a lot more new buildings are being constructed; K-Town is popular, very walkable and very densely populated by local standards, and; parking on residential streets is mostly unregulated and, not surprisingly, oversubscribed. It’s a bit of a tragedy of the commons thing — those with cars contributing to using up a finite resource.
It’s also the kind of problem common to other large cities such as S.F., Chicago and Gotham, to name a few.
As the article notes, one remedy could be to manage the parking on residential streets with some type of paid permit system. One source notes that could pose equity issues for those with lower incomes. True. On the other hand, it’s worth noting that low-income discount programs are always possible (Metro, for example, offers discounts for low-income transit riders and ExpressLanes customers).
Parking regs in K-Town are ultimately a city of L.A. decision. On the upside, the Purple Line Extension that serves K-Town is being expanded nine miles to the west and other transit projects are on the way — and maybe that will help lessen demand in the future. Maybe.
Although even that idea inspired some convo on Twitter…your thoughts? How would you improve parking in K-Town?
Life doesn't have to revolve around parking! There are 3
stops in Koreatown and also consider:
https://t.co/VAGImLi7Pp
— LA Metro (@metrolosangeles) May 28, 2019
stops in Koreatown and also consider:
•Things to listen to whilst transiting — fears that self-driving cars will make parking enforcement impossible. Fun listen via NPR but I think robot cars have bigger obstacles to face than their impact on parking. The big hurdle: safety.
•Nice piece on the Airport Metro Connector — the new rail station to be built next to LAX — and Tim Lindholm, a Metro staffer who helps oversee construction projects on the Persons of Infrastructure blog.
•Not a transpo story per se, but the Washington Post takes a scathing look at San Francisco and the out-of-control — their sources’ words, not mine — capitalism (read: rents) some see as consuming the city.
The article has more than 3,000 comments and many agree with the story’s premise that tech money has ruined the place. Of course, those who have seen the prophecy — by which I mean the most recent “Planet of the Apes” trilogy — know that San Francisco falls first.
Things to read whilst transiting: nice appreciation in the NYT of Bill Buckner, who passed away Monday and was a great player for the Dodgers from 1969 to 1976, including a trip to the World Series in ’74. Excerpt:
In a career that lasted from 1969 through 1990, Buckner compiled 2,715 hits, won a batting title, made an All-Star team and never struck out three times in a game, something 16 major leaguers did on Sunday alone.
With a lot of grace and patience, he also showed the best side of sports, refusing to allow his life and career to be defined by one error.
The post K-Town parking, San Francisco vs capitalism, Dodger great Bill Buckner: HWR, May 28 appeared first on The Source.
