M
maxy505
Guest
I was in LA (more precisely, the San Fernando Valley) for the first time last week, staying with inlaws. My impression of the Valley is that it’s the Scarborough of LA – some nice areas, some a little dangerous (no ghettos though), many commuters (their commute is far worse than taking the DVP), but a significant amount of local employment as well. The population density is roughly the same as Scarborough; it’s a bit hard to estimate because of the mountains there and the ravines here, but anyways it’s close. There are no residential buildings over 3 stories anywhere, unlike Scarberia. I think there were about as many tall office buildings as Scarlem has (5-10). Housing prices were similar to the ‘bro until just recently; I assume they’re in the midst of a crazy bubble right now, because prices have tripled in the past 5 years.
The area I was staying in had a Costco, Home Depot, and a big mall, but seemed a lot more walkable (again, I’m trying to discount the weather). The mall was relatively close to the street and had a 3-storey parking garage. Most of the main streets were lined by small businesses, similar to the eastern half of the Danforth – restaurants, dollar shops, barbers, etc. 75% of the housing was detached on a small lot, with the rest being townhouses and low-rise apartments. Not much infill going on but what there was, was more townhouses and low-rise.
The transit system is 100% buses. The backbone is a new busway (the Orange line) that runs across the width of the valley right in the middle, terminating at a subway line on one end, and near the mountains at the other end. Geometrically, its equivalent in Scarborough would go along Kennedy right from the lake to Steeles. I quote: “The San Fernando Valley East-West BRT project is a 14-mile landscaped exclusive busway with 13 stations located on Metro right-of-way between North Hollywood Metro Red Line Station and Warner Center in Woodland Hills. In addition to the busway project, Metro right-of-way will be improved with a parallel bicycle/pedestrian path. Existing bus service will also be enhanced to operate as a feeder system for the busway.†The stations consisted of a long sheltered platform, ticket machines, and automated announcements when a bus was approaching and arriving. Frequency was 5 minutes during daylight hours, but I'm not sure about off-hours. The vehicles are a modern low-floor articulated bus with a bike rack on the front. They have signal control at intersections so the overall speed is very good.
I’ll try not to be influenced by the lovely sunny weather they have when I say that, regarding urban form, the Valley looks like a much nicer place to live than Scarborough. Downtown T.O. has downtown L.A. beat hands-down, but for raising a family in my own house (as I’d like to do if I can afford it), I’d take the Valley over anything I’ve seen in the GTA. I don’t see why new suburbs can’t be built in the same way as the Valley, but it obviously isn’t happening here. Cornell? Not even close!
Single-family dwellings in cities was once a luxury available only to the rich, but the automobile has opened the opportunity to anyone who is a) willing to commute long distances and drive everywhere for everything, or b) fairly well-off and can afford a house closer to the heart of the city. Most Canadians appear to want a single-family home for themselves at some point in their life, although not necessarily all of the tradeoffs that currently have to be made. I think the San Fernando Valley is the best example of suburban development -- characterized by single-family houses -- that I've ever seen.
My questions for y'all: Can anybody familiar with the Valley, or LA in general, offer their knowledge and impressions? I'm seriously thinking about moving there for a couple years, so my wife can be closer to her family.
And to generalize a bit, how would you design the ideal suburb, and/or what’s the best suburb you’ve seen?
The area I was staying in had a Costco, Home Depot, and a big mall, but seemed a lot more walkable (again, I’m trying to discount the weather). The mall was relatively close to the street and had a 3-storey parking garage. Most of the main streets were lined by small businesses, similar to the eastern half of the Danforth – restaurants, dollar shops, barbers, etc. 75% of the housing was detached on a small lot, with the rest being townhouses and low-rise apartments. Not much infill going on but what there was, was more townhouses and low-rise.
The transit system is 100% buses. The backbone is a new busway (the Orange line) that runs across the width of the valley right in the middle, terminating at a subway line on one end, and near the mountains at the other end. Geometrically, its equivalent in Scarborough would go along Kennedy right from the lake to Steeles. I quote: “The San Fernando Valley East-West BRT project is a 14-mile landscaped exclusive busway with 13 stations located on Metro right-of-way between North Hollywood Metro Red Line Station and Warner Center in Woodland Hills. In addition to the busway project, Metro right-of-way will be improved with a parallel bicycle/pedestrian path. Existing bus service will also be enhanced to operate as a feeder system for the busway.†The stations consisted of a long sheltered platform, ticket machines, and automated announcements when a bus was approaching and arriving. Frequency was 5 minutes during daylight hours, but I'm not sure about off-hours. The vehicles are a modern low-floor articulated bus with a bike rack on the front. They have signal control at intersections so the overall speed is very good.
I’ll try not to be influenced by the lovely sunny weather they have when I say that, regarding urban form, the Valley looks like a much nicer place to live than Scarborough. Downtown T.O. has downtown L.A. beat hands-down, but for raising a family in my own house (as I’d like to do if I can afford it), I’d take the Valley over anything I’ve seen in the GTA. I don’t see why new suburbs can’t be built in the same way as the Valley, but it obviously isn’t happening here. Cornell? Not even close!
Single-family dwellings in cities was once a luxury available only to the rich, but the automobile has opened the opportunity to anyone who is a) willing to commute long distances and drive everywhere for everything, or b) fairly well-off and can afford a house closer to the heart of the city. Most Canadians appear to want a single-family home for themselves at some point in their life, although not necessarily all of the tradeoffs that currently have to be made. I think the San Fernando Valley is the best example of suburban development -- characterized by single-family houses -- that I've ever seen.
My questions for y'all: Can anybody familiar with the Valley, or LA in general, offer their knowledge and impressions? I'm seriously thinking about moving there for a couple years, so my wife can be closer to her family.
And to generalize a bit, how would you design the ideal suburb, and/or what’s the best suburb you’ve seen?