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Miami (pop. under 400,000) has a downtown near Bayside and on Brickell that is really nice. And it's perfect that there's that "peoplemover" which loops around downtown, hinged in at a stop on its Metro Rail system. However, Miami Beach and Coral Gables are not in the city of Miami.
Los Angeles (population 4 million) has a walkable enough downtown, though there's not much to see, but, as another poster said, a lot of walkable districts are within its city limits - Miracle Mile, Korea Town, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Westwood (near UCLA), Venice Beach, Ports of Call at the harbor in San Pedro, and emerging areas such as various enclaves in the San Fernando Valley which contains over 1 million of the city's population. Then throw in a lot of the beach towns that aren't part of the city - SM, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Long Beach, and on and on...
I like South Florida for the warm turquoise ocean that LA doesn't have, but LA's status as a world city has been confirmed within the last 20 or so years.
Really, the only difference is the parking lot is in the front and not the back. The city could obviously use less parking requirements but just about all of it is being located underground these days.
And really, in my experience there aren't cars zipping in and out of these parking lots - they are extremely small and compact, so they have to drive really slow. It's not like walking through the parking lot of the Best Buy in Thousand Oaks, where you take your life in your own hands just exiting the vehicle.
Exactly. There's a HUGE difference between a strip mall in an urban populated area and a straight up shopping center/life-style center/plaza in the middle of the burbs.
You know in all honesty, the area you showed in Hollywood looks more inviting to me! In fact I stayed right there at the Sahara motel for about a week, I walked by that intersection many times! It sure was convenient to have a Ralph's across the street.
No let me clarify something, these "stripmalls" you find dotted all over LA, such as the ones in Hollywood and K-Town, aren't really strip malls in the sense of the huge ones you find in suburb cities. You know the ones that hold a thousand cars, have a Walmart, Home Depot, and every other box store imaginable? Not only that, they're surrounded by acres upon acres of grass. Those truly aren't meant to walk to. In contrast these mini-malls you see in LA hold maybe 30 cars and are easy to walk to. Like one guy said they're almost the same as the traditional street facing shops, only with dedicated front parking. Myself there is comforting familiarity in these little strip plazas. Here is a nice little strip plaza with a little bit of front parking: Google Maps
Good post. I see apartments around the corner behind that strip-mall. People can walk to those places. I don't see anything in this photo that would prohibit walking. It all goes back to aesthetics and what you're used to where you're from and what you perceive as un-walkable.
He does make good points, but the 'long bus ride' between walkable neighborhoods is a bit of an exaggeration - unless you are unfamiliar w/ LA and assume the only walkable areas are West Hollywood, Hollywood, DTLA, Old Town Pasadena and Venice/Santa Monica. Those areas have a bit of distance between them but are far from islands of walkability - in fact all of them are surrounded by additional, lesser known walkable areas.
I have been to that strip mall in the google maps once. Yes, it is ugly, yes it is terrible for the urban fabric, yes it was an urban planning mistake from the 80s... At the same time I easily walked to my appointment there with no problem. Like someone said, it wouldn't be out of place in Miami. It seems in Central LA most of the retail is streetfacing anyways... these strip malls are probably 1/3 to 1/4 of the urban fabric, and are being torn down at a relatively quick clip.
I also agree with him about the strip malls and how they do not give you the same walking experience as an entire block of storefronts. Unfortunately I can't entirely agree with you that they are an 80's mistake because they are still being built in many neighborhoods, especially Asian neighborhods like Koreatown.
I do agree with you about the long bus ride comment. A theory that I have is that a partial reason that many people find LA to be disconnected compared to eastern cities is that they tend to experience those eastern cities by walking and on public transportation yet experience LA by car. That's bound to give you completely different perspectives of each.
Perhaps if people were to experience LA by public transportation they might have a different impression. I know that I did. I lived here for 10 years before realizing how walkable and transit accessible much of LA is. Like everyone else I went around by car and everywhere was a long trip. After realizing how much there was in the middle, LA became a completely different place for me.
I also agree with him about the strip malls and how they do not give you the same walking experience as an entire block of storefronts. Unfortunately I can't entirely agree with you that they are an 80's mistake because they are still being built in many neighborhoods, especially Asian neighborhods like Koreatown.
I do agree with you about the long bus ride comment. A theory that I have is that a partial reason that many people find LA to be disconnected compared to eastern cities is that they tend to experience those eastern cities by walking and on public transportation yet experience LA by car. That's bound to give you completely different perspectives of each.
Perhaps if people were to experience LA by public transportation they might have a different impression. I know that I did. I lived here for 10 years before realizing how walkable and transit accessible much of LA is. Like everyone else I went around by car and everywhere was a long trip. After realizing how much there was in the middle, LA became a completely different place for me.
About strip malls being built, I haven't heard of any being built in Koreatown in the year or so I've lived here. I definitely could be wrong though. The HollywoodCommunity Plan basically makes strip malls impossible to build in greater Hollywood.
Good post. I see apartments around the corner behind that strip-mall. People can walk to those places. I don't see anything in this photo that would prohibit walking. It all goes back to aesthetics and what you're used to where you're from and what you perceive as un-walkable.
The amenities are there and within walking distance, but we're saying that the quality of the walk is less than if those businesses were spread out along the entire block. IOW being close to amenities is just one metric than can be used to rate the walkability of a neighborhood and as a metric may be overrated by Walkscore. Another component would be the locations of those amenities. Otherwise living across the street from a major mall would be a walker's paradise, when we know that it's really not. At least not for what most of us look for. Some may disagree.
About strip malls being built, I haven't heard of any being built in Koreatown in the year or so I've lived here. I definitely could be wrong though. The HollywoodCommunity Plan basically makes strip malls impossible to build in greater Hollywood.
Well I shouldn't say "strip malls". The mall that we're discussing is actually a "mini mall" to use LA terminology and other US cities really don't have them like we do. Their strip malls usually occupy much more land than our mini malls. Not really a mini mall in the 80's sense, but this is a new mall in Koreatown.
I think much also has to do with the time of development; there are smaller shopping strips all over (the two stories are more common in LA from what I ahve seen)
I think much also has to do with the time of development; there are smaller shopping strips all over (the two stories are more common in LA from what I ahve seen)
They are more visible in LA it seems and on main corriders than you typically in denser areas of the country
That last one you posted looks the closest to what you would see in central LA. The large apartments and other street facing retail around a mini mall helps make them more functionally walkable. The first two don't look very walkable at all, one is across from a large park and the other across from a big box retail center. I think the area in the second link didn't have paved sidewalks!
Well I shouldn't say "strip malls". The mall that we're discussing is actually a "mini mall" to use LA terminology and other US cities really don't have them like we do. Their strip malls usually occupy much more land than our mini malls. Not really a mini mall in the 80's sense, but this is a new mall in Koreatown.
Interesting, not visually pleasing and definitely more accommodating to the car. Still I would gave no problem walking there if I lived around the corner
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