Eye
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Golden
LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne wrote an interesting piece on the expanding transit network in Los Angeles. Citing the pessimistic view of most towards Southern California's hopes and objections to building a cohesive transit network, he looks at the pending opening of the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (Sunday!) and the transformative nature of projects like it:
The real significance of the stations' debut on Sunday flows from the fact that with every substantial extension of the rail and subway network, another piece of the future Los Angeles comes startlingly into focus. More transit means more pedestrians, more people who pay attention to the shape and design of the city up close. That, in turn, means a growing constituency for shared space in Los Angeles and new interest in our long-neglected streetscapes and public sphere.
To put it another way: Transit and the life of the street are inextricably intertwined, and a boost to one is almost always a boost to the other.
The real significance of the stations' debut on Sunday flows from the fact that with every substantial extension of the rail and subway network, another piece of the future Los Angeles comes startlingly into focus. More transit means more pedestrians, more people who pay attention to the shape and design of the city up close. That, in turn, means a growing constituency for shared space in Los Angeles and new interest in our long-neglected streetscapes and public sphere.
To put it another way: Transit and the life of the street are inextricably intertwined, and a boost to one is almost always a boost to the other.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)