A great photo in the new history book on UCLA, “UCLA: The First Century,” shows the campus covered with cars (and no apparent parking structures) in 1956. (See an earlier blog post on the book.)
By the way, President Obama will be back on the Westside Feb. 15, so your future commute that day may not be so free and easy.
We posted the audio of the “scoping” session on UCLA revised hotel/conference center proposal that was held on Nov. 14. There were repeated concerns raised about traffic. The plan evidently calls for all traffic to enter the campus through Westwood Boulevard, southern entrance from the Village.
But there is a limited turn-around space in front of the proposed hotel/conference center which must also accommodate various municipal bus lines that terminate there, hired buses that will pick up and leave off hotel/conference guests, and other drop-off vehicles, as well as the entrance to the project’s own parking. Comments from the public suggested that accommodating so much traffic in such a small space was impractical.
But maybe there is an answer, courtesy of Westwood’s Hotel Palomar. From yesterday’s LA Times:
Hotel lets guests walk for discount
A hotel in Westwood is rewarding guests who defy the stereotype that Angelenos don’t walk. Hotel Palomar last month began rewarding guests who walk at least 10,000 steps a day with a 50% discount on their next hotel stay. To record the achievement, the hotel hands out free pedometers and walking maps to guests who sign up for the Walk This Way package.
The package, which will be offered until June 30, also includes a $20 credit for food and drinks at the hotel. The deal is also available at the Hotel Palomar San Diego. For the average person, 10,000 steps is about five miles of walking. It’s a target that first gained popularity in Japan in the 1960s as a daily goal to remain healthy and active.
The Hotel Palomar Los Angeles suggests that guests who wish to walk 10,000 steps circle nearby Holmby Park or the UCLA campus…
Full article at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1114-travel-briefcase-20111114,0,6949116.story
Bottom line: No cars or buses are needed. Guests can walk to the hotel/conference center (and get a discount on the already cheap $180 room rate – a Palomar style 50% walking discount would cut their room cost for future events to $90). Just a modest suggestion!
As the song goes:
Just to be helpful, here are the Google-map walking directions from LAX to UCLA:
Los Angeles International Airport
1. Head north on World Way toward West Way 0.6 mi
2. Turn left onto Sky Way 0.3 mi
3. Slight left toward Davidson Dr 230 ft
4. Turn right onto Davidson Dr 417 ft
5. Turn right onto Alverstone Ave 364 ft
6. Turn left onto W 96th St 315 ft
7. Continue onto S Sepulveda Blvd 2.3 mi
8. Slight left onto Sepulveda Blvd 1.0 mi
9. Turn right onto Jefferson Blvd 0.6 mi
10. Turn left onto Overland Ave 2.2 mi
11. Slight left to stay on Overland Ave 1.8 mi
12. Turn right onto Santa Monica Blvd E 0.1 mi
13. Turn left onto Manning Ave 1.1 mi
14. Turn right onto Hilgard Ave 0.2 mi
15. Turn left onto Westholme Ave 0.1 mi
16. Turn right toward Portola Pl 128 ft
17. Turn right onto Portola Pl 0.1 mi
18. Slight right onto Charles E Young Dr S/Portola Pl 469 ft
19. Turn left 0.1 mi
20. Turn left 72 ft
University of California, Los Angeles
The LA Times today profiled Urban Planning Prof. Don Shoup whose book on “The High Cost of Free Parking” is widely cited, including this nice photo. As a previous post has noted, Prof. Shoup has also campaigned against parking on sidewalks around UCLA.
The article is at http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-1016-shoup-20101016,0,4071324,full.story
An interesting local observation from the profile:
In Shoup’s view, Old Pasadena and Westwood Village illustrate the effects of different parking policies. In 1993, Old Pasadena installed $1-an-hour meters and began using the revenue to spruce things up. Many area employees who had parked on the street and moved their vehicles every two hours began to pay for parking in city structures, so that curb spaces were freed for customers. The shift helped transform the area from a blighted eyesore into a vibrant destination with shops and restaurants. Shoup doesn’t take credit for Old Pasadena’s change, but he often uses the area as Exhibit A in his talks. That same year, Shoup said, merchants in Westwood petitioned the city to cut meter rates from $1 an hour to 50 cents. Curb parking was underpriced and overcrowded, and the meter money flowed into the city’s general fund rather than back to the area. Today, Westwood Village residents and merchants bemoan the cracked, trash-strewn sidewalks, neglected landscaping and numerous vacancies.
Too much car-love is the bottom line:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip_pjb5_fgA&fs=1&hl=en_US]
Photo from LA Public Library collection
Prof. Donald Shoup in the Dept. of Urban Planning has been campaigning to end illegal parking on the sidewalks around the UCLA campus. Prof. Shoup, the author of The High Cost of Free Parking, began trying to get Jack Weiss – when he was the LA City councilman for the area – to have the police enforce the law against such parking. Parking on sidewalks blocks access for ordinary pedestrians and, particularly, for handicapped persons. A lawsuit against the City has been filed on that basis.
Let’s just say that when Weiss was in office, he was not known for responsiveness. There is now a new city councilman, Paul Koretz, and Prof. Shoup has continued his campaign, as per below. You might be interested:
Dear Councilmember Koretz,
I have attached two photographs I took of cars parked on the sidewalk in North Westwood Village today, Thursday, September 23. None of the many cars illegally parked on the sidewalks in North Westwood Village had a citation, but every car parked at the curb on the other side of the street had a citation for parking on the street during street-cleaning hours.
You may not be aware of the many emails and letters sent to your predecessor, Jack Weiss, about how parking on a sidewalk violates both the California Vehicle Code and the Los Angeles Municipal Code. More important, the City’s policy of not citing cars that block the sidewalks in North Westwood Village may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that sidewalks be accessible. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Barden v. Sacramento sets a nationwide precedent requiring cities to make all public sidewalks accessible. As a result, cities must remove barriers that block disabled access along the length of the sidewalks. Here is the link to an ADA lawsuit filed against Los Angeles; on pages 10–11 it specifically mentions parking on the sidewalks in North Westwood Village as a barrier to travel by persons with disabilities:
http://www.its.ucla.edu/shoup/PinedaVsCityOfLosAngeles.pdf
In case this issue has escaped your notice, here is the link to copies of letters and e-mails sent to Jack Weiss, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, and Mayor Villaraigosa about illegal parking on Los Angeles sidewalks: http://www.its.ucla.edu/shoup/CorrespondenceAboutADA.pdf
If you or any of your staff are concerned about general issue of accessible sidewalks, here is the link to a recent article on repairing broken sidewalks in Los Angeles:
http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/PuttingCitiesBackOnTheirFeet.pdf
Donald Shoup, Professor
