Someone has to either (a) teach that guy how to use <P> rather than <BR&gt or (b) fix his style sheet so the paragraphs don't run together. It's hard to read. While ranting about the design of cities, it seems only fair to pay some attention to the design of websites. I spend more time on websites than I do on streets.

This guy makes some very good points, but a) I don't think he's
hanging out with the right people, and b) based on what I've
heard about L.A., he should live somewhere else if he wants
to be in a place where people walk.

Well, it depends on what part of Venice Blvd. he lives on. If he's close to Culver City, that's actually a pretty good walking neighborhood these days.

And, of course, Venice Beach is walkable, too.

In the seven plus years I lived in LA I lived within two miles of almsot every place I worked. I walked to work for 6 months in Culver City. Didn't even have a car.

Yeah, but you always drove to Evolution.

I finally read this post and found it pretty enjoyable. He makes good, if somewhat obvious, points about why we need public spaces without cars.

I had issues, however, with his comparison of college campuses to urban campuses. Yes, college campuses are great because everyone walks everywhere and you can hang out outside and play frisbee and drink coffee or whatever. But why is this different from any courtyard/park/bench in the middle of an office park or group of office buildings? Granted, not every workplace has a convenient outdoor spot, but lots do. Plenty of people walk outside on their lunch breaks and sit in the sun and eat sandwiches and then walk back to their offices. Maybe the he overlooks the fundamental point that college students have lots of time to sit around outside while working people don't?

More importantly: he ignores the fact that college campuses are so comfortable because they are so homogeneous. When you walk around your college campus, everyone (with a few exceptions) is the same as you: same college lifestyle, same income level, similar housing situations, same annoying econ prof, went to the same parties last weekend. In an "urban campus", there will be homeless people, and people who throw trash on the ground, and Republicans, and people who are trying to convert you with stress tests. The nature of urban spaces is that they bring together lots of very different people, and to say that they will gel together in the same picturesque way college kids do is silly. I think we need car-less spaces for lots of reasons, but the real challenge is to make them inclusive -- which college inherently is not, since it's a private institution with paid security guards to keep out anyone who doesn't belong there.