Recently, there was a competition in regards to the recent voters approval for having mass transit in Los Angeles County, Measure R and Proposition 1A. Sponsor by Sci-Arc and the Architect’s Newspaper, this competition expressed an opportunity to come up with ideals and designs that will take advantage for government’s interest in improving public transit and life, even President Barack Obama is giving billions of dollars for creating a better infrastructure.
The winner of this competition was the group firm Radical Craft led by LA based Joshua G. Stein which proposed a high speed rail that loops around the LA basin at speeds of 100-150 miles per hour (MPH), with a urban corridor development along Sepulveda Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. While the winners were praised for their radical ideas in this format, what really lies is the lack of practicality, shows no certain nuance of the community and does not fix the immediate problems that exist today. It is more conceptual and abstract approach in which the analysis are convincing and insightful, but the end product brings more questions than probable solutions. What should have been an opportunity of a lifetime to bring a cohesive proposal to the public becomes a lost cause for 15 minutes of fame and disclosure. It’s hard to imagine to come up with one clear view where the issues are broad and diverse that can bring a sigh of hope for a particular community and the rest of the area.
Transit oriented development winning proposal from Radical Craft along the Sepulveda Blvd in the Sherman Oaks area. (from LA Curbed)
Site development map along the Sepulveda Corridor of Sherman Oaks in phases. It would eliminate mostly medium-rise apartment complexes and single family residences with civic and commercial development. What about Mix-use development? (from LA Curbed)
Can anybody say Monorail? (from LA Curbed)
This idea reminds of a Simpson’s episode of bringing a monorail into the town of Springfield, rather than improving mainstreet in downtown. Another scenario can be seen in a much smaller scale is Disneyland.
Song of the Blog: What Difference Does it Make? by the Smiths on their Debut Album The Smiths.