Wilshire Grows and Traffic Follows
A swath of residential developments are ushering in a more dense and more lively atmosphere into L.A.'s Wilshire corridor. But many are concerned that the new residences will add too much traffic to an already congested area.
"There are more than two dozen residential developments -- adding up to thousands of new housing units -- either completed or proposed along the boulevard between downtown and the Miracle Mile district."
"Some of the projects are rehabs of shuttered office towers, such as the 1100 and 1010 Wilshire towers and the Mercury, the old Getty Oil headquarters across the street from Solair. Others are brand-new projects, sleek glass-and-steel towers like the Solair, where officials gathered Monday to mark the building's 'topping off'--the point in construction when the roof's concrete is poured and the structure itself fully enclosed."
"But the building boom is meeting with growing concerns from some residents. There is particular alarm over new projects planned near the corner of La Brea Avenue and Wilshire, already a major traffic bottleneck, where hundreds of new housing units have been proposed."
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The flaw in BANANAism
The objections to these sorts of projects come under the heading of BANANA- Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody, under the theory that if people are allowed to live near other people, they will create traffic.
The flaw in this argument is that if the BANANA lobby forces everyone to live in two-acre lots in the exurbs, they will still be creating traffic congestion as they drive into town from their exurbs. The only difference is that by driving an extra 20 or 30 miles a day, they will be creating even more of it.
Prof. Michael Lewyn
Florida Coastal School of Law
Jacksonville, FL