Bradley writes that the stats on walking in Los Angeles are actually really good: "Fully 12 percent of all trips in Los Angeles are by bicycle or on foot-that's more than Austin or Portland. In sheer numbers, L.A. has more bikers and walkers than Washington, D.C., or Chicago, or even San Francisco. And it happens to be far safer for biking and walking than all three, according to a 2010 Benchmarking Report by the Alliance for Biking and Walking."
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Why bad air/smog in L.A.?
So why is the air so polluted in L.A. then? Is it simply geography, or all of the actors showing off their luxury sport cars?
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is surrounded by mountains, and the ring of mountains traps bad air. (See http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010041623/interstate-commerce-reduc... ).
Other cities in California have similar problems (See http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-04-28/news/20876841_1_ozone-pollution-sh... ).
Thus, it appears that the air pollution problem in southern California is in part the result of climactic factors beyond anyone's control, and that that part of the world will always be more polluted than other places with identical levels of traffic.