Railtown

The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City

Ethan N. Elkind

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English

University of California Press
22 January 2014

The familiar image of Los Angeles as a metropolis built for the automobile is crumbling.

Traffic, air pollution, and sprawl motivated citizens to support urban rail as an alternative to driving, and the city has started to reinvent itself by developing compact neighborhoods adjacent to transit. As a result of pressure from local leaders, particularly with the election of Tom Bradley as mayor in 1973, the Los Angeles Metro Rail gradually took shape in the consummate car city.

Railtown presents the history of this system by drawing on archival documents, contemporary news accounts, and interviews with many of the key players to provide critical behind-the-scenes accounts of the people and forces that shaped the system. Ethan Elkind brings this important story to life by showing how ambitious local leaders zealously advocated for rail transit and ultimately persuaded an ambivalent electorate and federal leaders to support their vision.

Although Metro Rail is growing in ridership and political importance, with expansions in the pipeline, Elkind argues that local leaders will need to reform the rail planning and implementation process to avoid repeating past mistakes and to ensure that Metro Rail supports a burgeoning demand for transit-oriented neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

This engaging history of Metro Rail provides lessons for how the American car-dominated cities of today can reinvent themselves as thriving railtowns of tomorrow.

By: Ethan N. Elkind
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780520278271
ISBN 10: 0520278275
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 22 January 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ethan N. Elkind researches and writes on climate change law and policy with a joint appointment at UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law.

Reviews for Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City

Generally known as the car-commuter capital of the country, Los Angeles has had a long and complicated relationship with public transportation, and Elkind ... has taken on the daunting task of mapping out the messy saga. -- Daniel Davis-Williams LA Magazine 20140121 A fascinating account of LA's move away from an almost religious attachment to the automobile. -- Dan Farber Legal Planet 20140224 Essential reading. -- Josh Stephens California Planning & Development Report 20140311