Great article that provides lots to think about, but this the broad point that we can’t have nice things is not really accurate-Its just that public transport is not a priority in this country.
I think a big part of it is that our government cares more about protecting the things and regulations that exist rather than allowing new things to come into being.
Los Angeles like so much of America doesn't favor its residents. It wants to attract the affluent people who live in the sprawl away from the city and draw them in through the freeways. The actual residents and the people who live in the community are viewed as a liability instead of an asset or a community.
Unrelated, I think that some of the best writing about being carless in L.A. comes from DJ Waldie. I found his 2004 book Where We Are Now: Notes From Los Angeles to be incredibly insightful. The specificity of his book lent itself to universals.
Chris, you have haunted some of the places in L.A. that I have also haunted. I see the photo by the Denny's in Commerce CA above, and I have also seen the photo you took of the homeless encampment along the San Gabriel River bike trail.
This doesn't challenge any of your argument, but one piece you didn't mention is how much current drugs are driving the severe mental illness. Most of the drugs people are taking currently are polysubstances and are manufactored. I have worked in addiction for a long time, and it is harder than it has ever been to treat illicit drugs. Sam Quinones' books touch on many of these issues and are excellent to read.
Can confirm about Istanbul. I was there last year and was struck by the combination of relatively chaotic/unregulated urban space (by European standards) and the actually very efficient and pleasant public transport. Really a fantastic city.
"It is why we “can’t have nice things” because we have to construct our infrastructure to be asshole-proof, and so we don’t build anything or build with a fortress mentality, stripping our public spaces down to the austere and utilitarian, emptying them of anything that can be vandalized." Is this to mean homelessness and drug abuse is caused by a lack of park benches?
Here's another solution (though the urbanist set won't like it):
If you like walking and "vibrant" street life, live in Amsterdam or Quito. If you're really prefer to live in a city like LA, get in the driver's seat and cue up the Beach Boys. The best mom-and-pop eateries are in those despised strip malls. Don't waste another moment waiting for a bus.
There's a time and a place for everything. Every place doesn't need to be an urbanist theme park, but -- while every place doesn't need to exude car culture -- let LA be LA.
I really tried to think like this to justify still living in America but driving really is an atomizing experience. I feel much more isolated from other people than when I was using the public transit in other places. what frustrates me the most is knowing that we're rich enough to have good public transit and actually enforce rules and that we just choose not to.
“Germany, and much of northern Europe, is an example of a high-regulation high-trust society (compared to the US), where nice fully functional things can be built, without fear of misuse.”
Used to be high-trust. Just like Sweden. But then somehow, about 11 or 12 years ago, it began to get low-trust real quick.
Import the third world and become the third world. These nice things in Northern Europe will go away if the Muslim and African population in the region continues to grow. Sweden used to be one of the safest countries in Europe, and now it has a gang and crime problem that is one of the worst in Europe.
Chris noticed in his travels that even relatively poor countries in Eastern Europe are nicer than the US in many ways, but he never noticed the obvious cause, which is differences in demographics.
The major issue in homelessness is not the lack of housing. It’s the refusal of society to say no. No, you can’t camp in this city. No, you can’t shit in the streets. No, you can’t panhandle aggressively. No, you can’t shoot up publicly and leave your used needles lying around. The fact that we are not going to allow you to destroy our city by doing these things is not our problem. It’s your problem. You can solve your problem by not doing drugs, getting help for your mental problems, getting a job, and sharing rent with others so inclined until you can afford a place of your own, probably in a lower cost community. This is not going to happen because the people we have elected allow the homeless to wallow in their victimhood rather than accept personal responsibility for their self destructiveness.
Do you think that perhaps the "good" examples you cite are homogeneous cultures compared to the US, which is clearly not?
Great article that provides lots to think about, but this the broad point that we can’t have nice things is not really accurate-Its just that public transport is not a priority in this country.
Great post and your rant is warranted. I’ve been made aware of the verbiage I couldn’t articulate myself. This hits home.
I think a big part of it is that our government cares more about protecting the things and regulations that exist rather than allowing new things to come into being.
If a Sombrita costs 10k to make—we should really be on the lookout for the assholes with $9,500 in their pocket. I think we all know their out there
Los Angeles like so much of America doesn't favor its residents. It wants to attract the affluent people who live in the sprawl away from the city and draw them in through the freeways. The actual residents and the people who live in the community are viewed as a liability instead of an asset or a community.
Unrelated, I think that some of the best writing about being carless in L.A. comes from DJ Waldie. I found his 2004 book Where We Are Now: Notes From Los Angeles to be incredibly insightful. The specificity of his book lent itself to universals.
Chris, you have haunted some of the places in L.A. that I have also haunted. I see the photo by the Denny's in Commerce CA above, and I have also seen the photo you took of the homeless encampment along the San Gabriel River bike trail.
This doesn't challenge any of your argument, but one piece you didn't mention is how much current drugs are driving the severe mental illness. Most of the drugs people are taking currently are polysubstances and are manufactored. I have worked in addiction for a long time, and it is harder than it has ever been to treat illicit drugs. Sam Quinones' books touch on many of these issues and are excellent to read.
Can confirm about Istanbul. I was there last year and was struck by the combination of relatively chaotic/unregulated urban space (by European standards) and the actually very efficient and pleasant public transport. Really a fantastic city.
"It is why we “can’t have nice things” because we have to construct our infrastructure to be asshole-proof, and so we don’t build anything or build with a fortress mentality, stripping our public spaces down to the austere and utilitarian, emptying them of anything that can be vandalized." Is this to mean homelessness and drug abuse is caused by a lack of park benches?
Here's another solution (though the urbanist set won't like it):
If you like walking and "vibrant" street life, live in Amsterdam or Quito. If you're really prefer to live in a city like LA, get in the driver's seat and cue up the Beach Boys. The best mom-and-pop eateries are in those despised strip malls. Don't waste another moment waiting for a bus.
There's a time and a place for everything. Every place doesn't need to be an urbanist theme park, but -- while every place doesn't need to exude car culture -- let LA be LA.
A(n electric) car in every garage!
I really tried to think like this to justify still living in America but driving really is an atomizing experience. I feel much more isolated from other people than when I was using the public transit in other places. what frustrates me the most is knowing that we're rich enough to have good public transit and actually enforce rules and that we just choose not to.
As I've already indicated, I never expected "the urbanist set" to agree with my perspective.
FWIW, I don't look to the subway for my social life. To each their own, I guess.
Meanwhile, let LA be LA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDHErN3dOkc
If you don't like car culture, there's always Amsterdam -- or Boston, Brooklyn, or The Bronx.
Curious if you’ve read The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacob’s?
“Germany, and much of northern Europe, is an example of a high-regulation high-trust society (compared to the US), where nice fully functional things can be built, without fear of misuse.”
Used to be high-trust. Just like Sweden. But then somehow, about 11 or 12 years ago, it began to get low-trust real quick.
Import the third world and become the third world. These nice things in Northern Europe will go away if the Muslim and African population in the region continues to grow. Sweden used to be one of the safest countries in Europe, and now it has a gang and crime problem that is one of the worst in Europe.
Chris noticed in his travels that even relatively poor countries in Eastern Europe are nicer than the US in many ways, but he never noticed the obvious cause, which is differences in demographics.
Santa Fe NM has beautiful bus stops but almost no busses!
Hey, Chris. This is a policy blog, whether you mean it to be or not.
The major issue in homelessness is not the lack of housing. It’s the refusal of society to say no. No, you can’t camp in this city. No, you can’t shit in the streets. No, you can’t panhandle aggressively. No, you can’t shoot up publicly and leave your used needles lying around. The fact that we are not going to allow you to destroy our city by doing these things is not our problem. It’s your problem. You can solve your problem by not doing drugs, getting help for your mental problems, getting a job, and sharing rent with others so inclined until you can afford a place of your own, probably in a lower cost community. This is not going to happen because the people we have elected allow the homeless to wallow in their victimhood rather than accept personal responsibility for their self destructiveness.
The biggest problem is we have a FED that prints money causing income disparity.