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ChineseWalk In A Park? For Angelenos, It’s No Walk In A Park.
[tags]la times, griffith park, ladwp light festival, green la girl, uncar[/tags]
Photo courtesy of deadeyebart a.k.a Brett via Flickr.
I found this hilarious LA Times article (via Green LA Girl) covering one of those rare times when the NIMBY’s are actually right. The Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council is asking the LADWP to make people walk instead of drive their cars during the annual LADWP Light Festival that is put on every winter in Griffith Park. The nightly event, which lasts 40 days, traditionally leads cars (over 150,000 of the last year) on a one mile path through the park where drivers and passengers can stare at ornate Christmas lights set up along the way. It’s a car-friendly and car-centric event to the extreme, with only an estimated 20,000 pedestrians walking the route (alongside the idling cars), and only one night (”Bike Night”) when cars are not allowed at all. Bernadette Soter, a board member in the neighborhood council, sums up the absurd L.A. car culture mentality with this gloriously deadpan statement:
“Think about it. It’s a one mile walk. In a park.”
But apparently, in Los Angeles, being asked to walk in a park is heresy on the highest level. Joe Ramallo of the DWP thinks the NIMBY’s are over reacting and just don’t want to deal with cars in their neighborhood. In fact, he worries that making the event too pedestrian-friendly could be dangerous - think people tripping, children coming too close to Christmas lights, and worst of all, teenagers hanging out. He’s got a good point. I’ve got another: what about our frosty winters here? I hear it gets below 60 somtimes. Don’t want people have to wear a jacket.
Only in Los Angeles.
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Wut I don’t get is how there aren’t any environmentalist groups all over this thing, especially in a time when environmentalism is so chic. They march and sue over everything so how is this not on their list? I can’t even imagine the impact 150,000+ cars must have on such an ecosystem. Where the hell’s sherrly crow?!
The problem is that it isn’t just the cars. To object is to object ot the Light Festival itself a wasteful endeavor no? Better to keep ones’ mouth shut than to risk waking up the rabble.
Well I think the NIMBY’s are using the “green” angle to further their “keep all these fucking cars outta my backyard” cause… I mean obviously having a bunch of Christmas lights lit up for gawking isn’t the most green thing… but I really don’t care about green or not… I just think it’s stupid and pretty unromantic and very LA to drive a mile through a park to see holiday lights. What memories for the children.
Yeah, but you’re not originally from here. While it is not exactly the greatest thing in the world, I did take my grandma and a couple aunts through the light show. It is unlikely that they would have walked the mile, since they are not in the greatest health. The Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena also draws tons of people, mostly drivers and the residents there actually enjoy it. (Don’t try to walk it, though…. there are no sidewalks and cars dim their lights, and they are traveling in both directions, unlike the DWP light show.)
I walked it. The people in the cars thought we were crazy. But it took way less time to do it on foot. A bit smoggy, though. The cars make it harder for the rest of us to enjoy, especially because the organizers force walkers to do the whole thing backwards.
Regarding the impact of the whole thing? Well, aside from the cars, I don’t think it’s as bad as Rob Dawg implied. The bulbs are all low-wat LED, and the power is entirely from fuel cells.
Griffith Park gets a hell of a lot of traffic every day of the year (way too much to sustain any sense of wilderness or wildlife), and I don’t think the Festival of Lights really should be singled out as the only impact to the park. (In other words, I imagine that banning it would create a lot of public grief, but minimal environmental benefit).
I don’t think it’s as bad as Rob Dawg implied. The bulbs are all low-wat LED, and the power is entirely from fuel cells.
This is the LADWP. 65% of their generation comes from coal. The price of the lights and the energy and the setup comes from utility rates. Claiming the cute little LEDs are fuel cell powered is to buy into the idea that electrons have name tags.
Rob Dawg,
I was referring to the power used in the Festival of Lights, not their power in general (which is, indeed, fossil-fuel heavy).
i agree and don’t mean to point this out as the sole impact on the park by any means. i couldn’t find your article about Griffith park renovations, but it adds a crap load of parking lots to make cars even more accessible. so fitting as LA’s biggest park; overtaken by the car culture just like the city itself.