Month: March 2007

Three interrelated issues continue to dance around in my brain:

1. The development of high-density housing in Pasadena’s central area

2. The fact that little/none of this housing is “affordable”

3. The (nice but unrealistic) idea that the residents of this housing will not use their cars to get around. I agree that some will choose alternate forms of transportation some of the time, but they will still be car owners and car drivers. That’s how we roll in SoCal. We roll.

I’m not thrilled about high-density development in the downtown area of Pasadena, but I would stomach it if middle-income and low-income people could afford the housing that is being built. But since none of this new housing stock is affordable to those folks anyway, it’s a bad thing happening for no good reason.

So here’s a letter I wrote to the Los Angeles Times, which is based on my previous post No Car Left Behind:

The article “History, density are uneasy neighbors in Pasadena,”(March 23) reveals the fuzzy thinking behind the development of the old Ambassador College site.

Mike Winter of Sares-Regis says the Westgate development “…will complement Old Town’s commercial space, placing consumers within walking distance of Colorado Boulevard’s shops and restaurants, and giving them less reason to drive.” Greg Galletly of Dorn Platz makes similar comments about the Ambassador West development.

Their assumption? If we build it, they will get out of their cars and walk. Pasadena already has several mixed-use, high-density projects in areas more central than the Westgate and Ambassador West projects. The growing traffic in Pasadena indicates that no one has left his/her car behind.

If we build it, they will get out of their cars and walk. To get to Old Town, Ambassador West residents, most of whom will be seniors, will have to cross the freeway. Been a pedestrian lately? Walking over the freeway just isn’t that pleasant. It’s noisy and smelly. There is no shade, no window-shopping, just cars whizzing below.

If we build it, they will get out of their cars and walk. High-density development alone will not shake that steering wheel loose from the hands of a typical Southern Californian. The perceived safety and utility of the personal automobile outweighs the perceived pleasure of a stroll to the shops and restaurants.

As much as we’d like to–for our waistlines, our wallets, and the environment–most of us aren’t ready to get out of our cars yet. We’re not ready for the lifestyle change. Developers need to quit pretending that their money-making projects will do the trick.

I believe in walking. I’m lucky enough to be able to work at home, to walk to the office of one of my clients, to walk to the gym, and to the new Farm Fresh Ranch Market. I don’t know what’s up with that market though…it looks like they never finished the floor. It’s orange, uneven and blotchy and makes the whole place look tacky.

I believe in public transportation too. Sadly, walking is infinitely more reliable than public transportation (in my experience).

Every once in a while, I will take the bus–the 260 southbound. It runs along Fair Oaks Avenue. It is a quick and easy way to travel the 3 miles from home to Pasadena’s Old Town (and I don’t have to park when I get there!). The route starts in Altadena, just north of where I catch the bus, so the southbound bus is usually on time.

But when I’m ready to leave Old Town, waiting for the northbound bus can eat up the better part of a day. Typically, the bus is 30-40 minutes behind schedule, and sometimes it just never shows up. Sometimes, after a long wait, two buses will arrive at the same time.

After 30 minutes of waiting, I start walking. It’s a game that I call “Walk as fast as you can to the next bus stop and see if you can make it there before the bus shows up.” I take off at a fast clip for the next bus stop (usually 2-3 blocks away). I look back once in a while to see if the bus is coming. If I get to the next stop, I stand there for a few minutes, searching the street for the bus bearing those words in orange that I long to see: Line 260 Fair Oaks Loma Alta.

If I don’t see the bus, I keep going. Once, I made it halfway home. I got to a bus stop and could see the bus was coming. Yippee! There was another guy standing at the stop with me. Turns out the driver recognized the guy as a problem passenger, so the driver didn’t stop. Fortunately, one of Pasadena’s ARTS buses came by, so we both hopped on that.

Despite the difficulties I’ve encountered, I won’t stop riding the bus. But I’m a believer. I believe we need to get out of our cars and get ourselves around some other way.

A while back, I blogged about my bucket–my 1980 Toyota Corolla with the bashed in door and pro-peace bumper stickers, like “An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind” and “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”

We bought a new car for The Scout (Mr. WCGB) last December, so The Bucket was no longer needed. I let my friend Adela have it. Last August, Adela was rear-ended. Though it was clearly the other driver’s fault, Adela ended up with bupkis. The Bucket had been a gift to me from my priest…it was only right to pass it on to someone who really needed it. It’s been on my to-do list: Go to DMV and change the title over to Adela’s name.

Adela lives in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles, and she tells me her neighborhood has been getting worse. (Antonio Villaraigosa, are you listening?) Crack dealers, homeless people drinking all day and night in the alley behind her apartment building, drug-addicted prostitutes hanging around…your basic urban nightmare. Adela encouraged her landlord to fix the back gate to the apartment building, which he did. But now that the gate is locked, the druggies can’t get to the dealer who lives in Adela’s building. (Crack? Crystal meth? Both of those and much more?)

Retribution time. First, Adela’s tires got slashed (on The Bucket and the other car that her partner drives). Then last night, they torched The Bucket.

Adela’s neighbor knocked on her door at 1:30 am to tell her about the car, which by that time was fully engulfed in flame. The Fire Department came, but didn’t bother to call the cops, even though it was clear that arson was the likely cause of this fire. So no police report. That’s how it is when you live in a low-income neighborhood in metropolitan Los Angeles. Those who live in Hancock Park get a different level of municipal services than those who live in Highland Park.

Adela called Pick a Part to come get the car. She wanted to get it out of sight as soon as possible–told me that she didn’t want her kids to see it (she has four). Jessie (towing guy) let me take his picture, though he declined my offer to e-mail him a link to this blog. He’s smiling because I was making jokes. “Well Jessie, thanks for picking up this car. Now, when will you be bringing the new one?”

There was so much debris in that little car. I’m sure when Jessie got on the freeway, all kinds of stuff was flying out all over the place.

A tan boot had been hanging on the electrical wires above the car. The fire turned the boot black.  I hear that shoes/boots on wires is tantamount to a store hanging out a shingle: Drugs Sold Here.

The intensity of the heat flattened one of the tires.

We say farewell.

Adela just called me to say that this afternoon, someone bashed the windshield of the other car in. She’s afraid to call the police.

Adela needs a car, and a new place to live. I’m going to ask my church for money to help her out. If you want to help, let me know.