(no subject)
(it's a little long, but worth at least a glance)
http://www.laweekly.com/2010-03-06/news/black-lung-lofts
I think this is disgusting. I think this is disturbing. My city council representive thinks new developments adjacent to freeways is reasonable due to the economic times. How good am I at contributing to the economy when I'm sick or dead Mr. LaBonge?
I have been living a couple of hundred of feet, or closer, to the freeway for 6 years now. At first, I lived here because it was an apartment that I found in a short period of time and it was kinda close to friends. Then I realized it meant I lived near the Subway station. Did you even know Los Angeles had a subway before I first started rambling in here about it? I didn't before I moved to the area I'm in right now, hundreds of feet from the 101 freeway.
When I moved into my first and my second apartment, no one informed me of the health problems associated with living so close to a freeway, like asthma and accelerated artery hardening. By law they must tell you if there is lead paint in the building, but there is no need to inform people of the actual dangers of living near the freeway.
At first I lived here just because. Then I lived here because it allowed me to walk to public transportation. From what I understand, the common "acceptable" distance for a pedestrian to walk to access public transportation is usually acceptable at about .5 miles. I live about .4 miles from the train station.
Almost everyplace I go outside of my apartment includes walking or biking. How many car owners can say the same? Probably 90% of trips I take do not involve getting in a car, which is to say I am not contributing to the horrible pollution affecting my home. By trying to help myself and everyone else by not driving, I live in a situation that means I am suffering more from everyone else's choices of selfishness and irrationality than most of those people. Funny isn't it?
After using public transportation for a while, you start seeing the problem with it. Transit Oriented Developent is cheered as people say it's so great a new complex was erected near a station and is insanely expensive or not insanely expensive, but coincidently, next to a freeway. Since when did someone using puiblic transportation CARE ABOUT BEING CLOSE TO A FREEWAY? This is one reason I think train station in the middle of the freeways are frankly stupid. What pedestrian's destination is in the middle of a freeway? What pedestrian finds the freeway to be the most plesant place to walk? Have you ever tried to stand on the street, talking to someone on the phone or in person?
When you spend more time with a city as I do when walking, biking or even just staring out a window, you understand more about it, but you see it's stupid flaws. LA has a huge problem with layout. Land is always "short", but what % of it is dedicated to cars in some way - streets (while bikes can be here, they are unwelcomed ), freeways, driveways, car lots, parking lots, parking garages, car repair places, gas stations. I have a city council member that has no care for people like me. Despite the crap that falls out of LA's mayor mouth (who a pathetically small % of LA even voted for) about wanting to be "green", his actions don't show it. If you really wanted a green city, you'd stop making it so car friendly and get people outside in the weather they claim they moved to LA for and make it ok for people to leave their windows open for climate control instead of keeping everything closed to keep out the air. Instead of pumping away at a stationary bike indoors, being cooled by a nice fan or air conditioner, they'd get their ass outside and bike someplace they needed to go. They'd stop covering the smell of plants in the air with the stink of motor emissions. They'd stop making the streets unsafe and unwelcoming for people using their relatively green transportation options of their legs.