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So if we look at the most recent ACS data for transit shares we get...
Manhattan - 510,968 (61.66%)
Chicago - 322,032 (26.80%)
Philadelphia - 169,194 (28.28%)
San Francisco - 153,201 (34.48%)
Washington, DC - 123,928 (40.68%)
Boston - 109,843 (35.63%)
Central LA - 77,447 (18.39%)
Seattle - 77,183 (22.03%)
At some point, I'll have to cut the fat for Chicago and Philly too to make the comparison fair.
I wanted to see how Central Los Angeles would look compared to other cities. For the most part, I adhered to the boundaries in this L.A. Times article. However, I excluded Hollywood Hills and Hollywood Hills West because those are large areas that are sparsely populated. That removes 11.87 square miles from the 57.87 square mile L.A. Times definition (for a total land area of 46 sq. miles).
Population - 831,350 (18,072 ppsm)
Transit Riders - 77,447 (18.39%)
SOV commuters - 249,033 (59.15%)
Walk to work - 19,682 (4.67%)
Bike, cab, other - 11,380 (2.70%)
No vehicle households - 73,074 (21.20%)
I think we already knew this, but if Central L.A. were its own city, it would be the third densest large city in America, literally nipping at SF's heels.
Neat.
Are those stats from that article (and the 2000 census) or from more recent estimates?
A few more. The Haight in SF may be the most "New York" like neighborhood in the country outside of NYC.
94102 is mostly not Haight-Asbury, a portion just to the west and southwest of downtown. CityData has a median household income of $22,159, maybe you typed the wrong zip code?
94102 is mostly not Haight-Asbury, a portion just to the west and southwest of downtown. CityData has a median household income of $22,159, maybe you typed the wrong zip code?
I wanted to see how Central Los Angeles would look compared to other cities. For the most part, I adhered to the boundaries in this L.A. Times article. However, I excluded Hollywood Hills and Hollywood Hills West because those are large areas that are sparsely populated. That removes 11.87 square miles from the 57.87 square mile L.A. Times definition (for a total land area of 46 sq. miles).
Population - 831,350 (18,072 ppsm)
Transit Riders - 77,447 (18.39%)
SOV commuters - 249,033 (59.15%)
Walk to work - 19,682 (4.67%)
Bike, cab, other - 11,380 (2.70%)
No vehicle households - 73,074 (21.20%)
I think we already knew this, but if Central L.A. were its own city, it would be the third densest large city in America, literally nipping at SF's heels.
Nice work. LA has a long way to go to catch up to other cities.
I thought it was heading in the right direction (and maybe in the short term over the last 10 years it has) but this report makes me feel more mixed about the direction of non-auto share over the past 30 years:
The only two projects currently underway that would help increase transit share is the Purple Line extension and the Wilshire BRT lanes. One is almost a decade away, and the other is limited to one corridor, although it is easily LA's most important and jobs-rich corridor. We need more bus only lanes in Central LA, it's the inexpensive and logical thing to do, unfortunately taking away LA driver's lanes is like kidnapping their first born.
Transit share - 38.5%
Walk commuters - 9.6%
Bike commuters - 11.7%
SOV commuters - 27.0%
No vehicle - 31.8%
Median HHI - $94,479
I too thought it was a little puzzling that Haight would have such a low auto share. Not that it isn't pedestrian friendly or urban, just not to the extent that areas further east in SF are. HH income also makes a lot more sense.
for some areas the walk versu transit may come into to play, especially for smaller cores (none NYC)
Places like Back Bay or West CC with walk share of 32 and 44% as an example - no need for transit as are so close
It affects NYC as much, especially since the core has a large number of residents in the vicinity with the high residential densities. You can see transit share decrease in the core compared to just outside. For example, Midtown East has a 44% transit commute rate, 38% walk. Upper East Side 59% transit, 19% walked. Highest transit use is areas not adjacent to the core; Central Harlem is 73% transit, Park Slope / Carroll Gardens (also includes Red Hook and Gowanus) is 68% transit despite having much higher car ownership than anywhere in Manhattan.
Nice work. LA has a long way to go to catch up to other cities.
I thought it was heading in the right direction (and maybe in the short term over the last 10 years it has) but this report makes me feel more mixed about the direction of non-auto share over the past 30 years:
The only two projects currently underway that would help increase transit share is the Purple Line extension and the Wilshire BRT lanes. One is almost a decade away, and the other is limited to one corridor, although it is easily LA's most important and jobs-rich corridor. We need more bus only lanes in Central LA, it's the inexpensive and logical thing to do, unfortunately taking away LA driver's lanes is like kidnapping their first born.
Haha.
I was expecting the % of walking commuters to be higher in the downtown core area. It looks like it's still fairly poor though non-Hispanic White income is in the six figures (not surprisingly). Are there a lot of people who live downtown who still have to drive to work due to the multi-nodal set up of the region?
I was also surprised by the % of people living in central Boston commuting by SOV.
The only two projects currently underway that would help increase transit share is the Purple Line extension and the Wilshire BRT lanes. One is almost a decade away, and the other is limited to one corridor, although it is easily LA's most important and jobs-rich corridor. We need more bus only lanes in Central LA, it's the inexpensive and logical thing to do, unfortunately taking away LA driver's lanes is like kidnapping their first born.
You don't think the regional connector might help in making light rail more convenient?
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