An extension of one of L.A.'s light rail lines opened this past weekend. Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne offers a hopeful prediction that the extension will inspire an improvement in streetlife.
"[T]he opening on Sunday of the eight new Metropolitan Transportation Authority stations that make up the Gold Line extension -- six above ground and two below, reaching south and then east from Union Station into Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles -- is among the most significant civic milestones the city has reached in several years."
By expanding transit service to an area highly dependent on it, Hawthorne predicts an uptick in pedestrian activity and a corresponding increase in engagement with the city's development and evolving design.
FULL STORY: An extension of more than the Gold Line

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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
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Philadelphia Is Expanding its Network of Roundabouts
Roundabouts are widely shown to decrease traffic speed, reduce congestion, and improve efficiency.
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