Get L.A. Moving

A nice article that highlights the map making efforts of myself and Numan Parada of the Transit Coalition is on page 2 of the California section.

It was a bit of a personal piece that didn’t delve into the grassroots mobilization component and exhaustive research that has transformed the map into a plan, but hopefully this won’t be the last Times article on our efforts.

A couple of clarifications. Credit for the digital production of the map goes to Steve Boland and Jason Law. Relying heavily on MTA studies and with the input of lots of transit advocates/engineers I drew the lines and placed the stations, but they helped create the crisp clean digital illustration. And both times I returned home to Los Angeles from Harvard were for family reasons, not just to create the Get LA Moving Plan and organization.

Throughout the week we’ll get around to further substantiating the $31-38 billion cost estimate and addressing Prof. Giuliano’s 3rd world small town solution of a busway network (L.A. has more in common with London than Curitiba) and claim that most corridors lack the density to support rail (I actually heavily relied on the Census/SCAG/MTA’s population and employment density statistics).

UPDATE: Full article below the cut.

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A big thanks goes to Jason Burns who designed the page: www.myspace.com/getlamoving

In the 2004 election the internet helped draft a presidential candidate and catapult another into frontrunner status. And almost 20 months before the 2008 election, the strength of this media and networking tool was already apparent. The net is such a powerful political organizing tool because at a very low cost people who are geographically distanced can come together to strategize and publicize. Each individual brings certain talents, energy and personal networks, which begets more individuals - more talents, energy, networks and investments. Tasks that in the past required conventions and countless conference calls can be accomplished through email, blogs and community forums.

Some time late last year the transition from conceptual map to organizational plan occurred. I was encouraged by the response from the local blogs and outpouring of support when people found out what we were doing on the Transit Coalition and SkyscraperPage forums. But it primarily was a result of a survey and calculation using my background as a political activist and operative.

Seeing gas surge above $3 a gallon, the environment return to the top tier of political issues, and traffic relief become the #1 priority of Los Angeles voters, I and others were unsatisfied with the lack of action and vision from our politicians. There appeared to be a disconnect, and in such situations it has always been my instinct to rally the people to force political change.

Below the cut is the GetLAMoving.com action plan. It’s a general explanation of how we indend to build this movement through this website. As always we want to know what you think. What are we missing? What should be a higher priority? (more…)