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ChineseZach Behrens, transit geek
[tags]los angeles, north hollywood, laist, google maps[/tags]
LAist co-editor Zach Behrens was stunned at the revelation that he’s now a transit geek because of the map he drew.
Left photo credit: LAist
Zach Behrens, co-editor of LAist, had to done do it. He created a Google Map. A Google Map of a proposed streetcar route for North Hollywood. He’s officially a transit geek now.
Behrens drew a bowtie-shaped route connecting the Metro Red and Orange lines with the funness of the NoHo Arts District via Lankershim Boulevard and Vineland Avenue.
His rationale?
Some people find that even the 20-minute walk up Lankershim stops them from using the Red Line. And if they do, those local residents will drive to the station, a tactic that only works during non-peak hours when spaces are available. A few females have told us they are concerned of walking solo at night.
The NoHo Arts District has made leaps and bounds since the days of boarded up shops and true ghettoisms, yet it still has lots of room to grow. Maybe a streetcar fits into that too.
Behrens has added a complementary route, running along Moorpark Street from his house Van Nuys Boulevard to the city limits at Clybourn Avenue.
In short order, Kymberleigh Richards will educate us on the impossibility of such a service — especially if it’s in the Valley — and Rob Dawg will … be Rob Dawg.
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Hey! I resemble that remark. Will everyone be happy if we just take the tires off the buses and run on the rims? We’ll put this one on the shelf between the the Canoga Ave freeway interconnect and Whitnall Freeway projects. For some reason the shelf is getting crowded and the monorail study was being used to level the table.
Don’t forget the BRU telling us how putting in a streetcar is racist.
And don’t forget everyone giving facts and statistics without citing a single source. Except Wikipedia.
73.4% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
In the case of the MTA they are made up years in advance just in case.
Zach is a dreamer. That’s what’s great about him.
When reality doesn’t satisfy my streetcar jones, and I start feeling a little Blue (Line), I pull out my 1939 Los Angeles Railway Streetcar map and sigh deeply while I wistfully look out the window. Mmmmm. 22 streetcar lines. That’s better.
Actually, I already posted on Zach’s blog (although as a guest, because I never have figured out how to register at LAist to post under my own name).
And here is what I said, in the way of education:
Those nasty things called facts are always getting in the way of daydreams, aren’t they?
And I didn’t even use Wikipedia or Metro press releases (I happen to have copies of both studies in my files).
I don’t think a lot of these projects are all that well thought out. One track or two? Mixed with traffic (a disaster) or in its own lane? How will people board? (I’ve seen pictures of people standing in the street to board Red Cars, but nowadays, boarding ramps would be needed for safety and handicapped access reasons.
I think most of these “streetcars” are toys anyway. We need to be concentrating on building the regionwide rail network….If local areas want streetcars, and can make them work, they’re welcome to do it with their own money, as far as I’m concerned….