Fake news site The Onion imagines the logical result of car-centric planning during a pandemic.
The Onion is so quick to satirize and so close to the mark it can be hard to tell the difference between fantasy and reality.
The latest example: an article about restaurants opening for dining on the 101 freeway in Los Angeles.
In an effort to provide residents with a way to more safely patronize restaurants without fear of contracting Covid-19, Los Angeles officials announced a new initiative Tuesday to designate open-air dining areas along the 101 freeway median.
The Onion is a totally fake, satirical news site, but this bit of mirth was obviously inspired by real pictures of the massive parking lot for a complex of malls in Glendale, California—a city located just to the the northeast of Los Angeles—set up for "outdoor" dining. As a former resident of Glendale, I can tell you that the parking lot in question is very much a disincentive for visiting that location, but that didn't stop restaurants, and diners, from seeing an opportunity for a touch of normalcy. A much less satirical article by Alissa Walker provides a dispatch from the experience of eating there, and reports that the experience wasn't all terrible.
Any statue observer and lover of Los Angeles will note an error in The Onion's headline, however. Around here, it's THE 101.
FULL STORY: L.A. Designates Open-Air Dining Areas Along 101 Freeway Median
The Deepening Transit Crisis: L.A. Times Reports Drug Use on Transit
An article by the L.A. Times earlier this week has raised the temperature of the debate about drug users and crime on rail transit. Concerns about public safety on transit are a common symptom of post-pandemic transit around the country.
Cities Need More Public Bathrooms–Well Beyond the Pandemic
COVID-19 laid bare the dismal state of public bathrooms in America, and some cities stepped up to add more facilities. But why remove them while the need remains?
L.A. Metro Denounces—but Doesn't Scrap—710 Freeway Expansion Plan
The agency's board members spoke out forcefully against air pollution and displacement, but stopped short of completely rejecting the project, looking instead to cleaner vehicles and regulations that mitigate community concerns.
Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.
How Cities Can Support Climate Adaptation
In the face of federal cuts to climate resilience funding, a panel at ULI’s Resilience Summit offered suggestions for maintaining managed retreat and other climate adaptation programs.
Transportation Research Centers Lose Key Federal Funding
The federal University Transportation Center program funds critical transportation research and innovation at 35 consortia of colleges and universities.
Savannah Reduces Speed Limits on Almost 100 City Streets
The historic Georgia city is lowering speed limits in an effort to reduce road fatalities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Clovis
City of Moorpark
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions