Here in Van Nuys

Here in Van Nuys

4 comments on Dreaming of a Fantasy L.A. that Looks Like Spain

Dreaming of a Fantasy L.A. that Looks Like Spain




It sometimes seems that the developers ideas of what Los Angeles could be are comprised of Disneyland fantasies: Cheesecake Factories, Starbucks, two million dollar lofts in Venice, and a Virgin Record store on every corner with a multiplex movie theatre and 24 Hour Fitness. These are retail complexes with thousands of parking spaces, where shoppers are lured to a fake city street in order to waste money at overcrowded and Fitch and the Gap.

But atomized development with a Third Street Promenade stuck here and an Old Pasadena out there does not a fine city make. There needs to be a central core of walking, vitality, culture, commerce, architecture, civility and beauty. The Staples Center, Disney Concert Hall, and the new Catholic Cathedral are offered up on the altar of praise as examples of LA’s “new maturation”.

Yet a walk through downtown LA is still one of the most disturbing and dystopian experiences in the world. There are no public restrooms. Dark tunnels, poisonous air, huge freeway overpasses and blank walls mixed in with thousands of homeless people attests to our utter cruelty and indifference to human life. We are SO PROUD of being American, yet we lack those human traits that are in evidence in many poor nations from Sri Lanka to Peru. Are we big enough to be self-critical? Don’t ask the G.O.P.

In Spain, a nation with a climate similar to Southern California, the city of Barcelona is an example of an urban area where cafe life, architectural variety and pedestrians are blossoming. Coming out of 50 years of a dictatorship, Spain some how seems more free than the United States and Barcelona compared to Los Angeles is much more livable and pleasant.

The new Busway across the San Fernando Valley is a progressive and imaginative creation. But what SURROUNDS IT will determine how successful it eventually is. Barren boulevards like Sherman Way, Van Owen, and Burbank are not enticing destinations. Neither are the enormous concrete parking lots, strip window office towers and trees on top of parking garages that is also known as Warner Center.

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4 responses to “Dreaming of a Fantasy L.A. that Looks Like Spain”

  1. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Van Nuys Boulevard is the big, wide underused street that could be the focus of development. It’s wider than New York’s Park Avenue.

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  2. Steven Rosenberg Avatar
    Steven Rosenberg

    If that development does happen (and if you’re talking multilevel residential development, it’s happening big time in the entire Valley), that would probably mean above-ground rail on the current Orange Line route.

    Now we wait for the busway down Van Nuys Boulevard, which is already extremely wide because it accommodated the Red Cars way back when.

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  3. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    What eventually happens is that the development builds AFTER the public transport is built. There are destinations right now, but we need to shift the density along the busway. Or put a subway underneath Ventura Blvd.

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  4. Steven Rosenberg Avatar
    Steven Rosenberg

    Theoretically at least, the Orange Line bus stops could become hubs for activity. While it’s not exactly Ventura Boulevard, many of the stations are pretty well located:

    At Fulton and Burbank, you’ve got Los Angeles Valley College, the H.E.L.P. Group, Valley Cities Jewish Community Center and a smattering of small eateries — could be more of the latter.

    At Oxnard and Van Nuys, close proximity to the V.N. Civic Center.

    Woodley and Victory – Woodley Park

    Balboa and Victory — Balboa Park

    I’m a little fuzzy at Reseda Blvd., but it’s pretty dense with apartments and condos around there.

    Also fuzzy at Tampa.

    Winnetka — Pierce College

    De Soto (not much)

    Then Owensmouth — Promenade Mall and Warner Center.

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