Cine`ma

Last Write Up

Biological Transportation in Los Angeles (ILC)
Evergreen State College
Summer Quarter 2011
Student: Taylor Arneson
Faculty: Eddy Brown
4 Credits





In the age of oil, people sometimes forget what transportation was like before we sunk a drill bit and set up a derrick. Los Angeles is one of the most car dependent cities in the nation where cars are king. Massive amounts of oil have been extracted from the soils beneath our feet. It wasn’t always this way in Los Angeles, actually it never really was until the last 100 years. Native peoples walked and carved canoes out of solid pine and cedar trees (and used oil tars to seal them). They were able to navigate the ocean and Channel Islands for thousands of years in these dugout canoes. Newcomers (Spanish conquistadors) arrived on sailing on the ocean winds in 1781 along with horses, oxen and mules. Trains arrived in 1870 and horses and mules began to loose favor as real estate became more expensive (this made hay more expensive). Cars were much faster, oil was cheap, and you didn’t need to fuel a car with oil when it wasn’t in use, unlike working animals.

The United States has one of the most highly developed transportation systems in the world, however there are also many negative impacts from this system. We suffer high death rates on many highways, have evelated levels of asthma and other smog related illnesses and we have lost the sense of walkability in many communities, small towns and cities. There is a markable difference in places developed prior to WWII when pedestrians took a backseat to the private auto. Suburbs are the culmination of this design. With a garage door opener, it was possible to leave your house, go to work, without setting foot outside or talking to neighbors.


Nevertheless, we are not doomed for failure in these places, in fact, some suburbs provide an ideal layout for small scale home farms, with ample areas devoted to grass that could just as easily grow vegetables. Many unused paved areas are often transitioned to bike lanes and paths in more progressive areas. The major problem, however, lies in that solution. How do people get out of the suburbs to the cities to get to work? Well, they can’t. It makes a lot more sense in most cases to bring the work to them. We move thousands of pounds of machinery and about 200 lbs of human to sit in front of 20 lbs of paper. The paper can be sent to them, electronically, or in the mail. Many people can tele-commute these days, and sit at home instead of sitting in the car. Instead of taking trips to far away places, a new kind of tourism is emerging. One that is right under our own noses. People in cities often get to know certain aspects of their environs in detail, other aspects are usually overlooked as large metropolises contain sprawling masses of hidden places.

People are becoming more aware of local food issues, and while they may get their food from less than 50 miles away rather the national average of 1500 miles away, real connections are made when you are able to visit the farm where your food is grown. This is an essential part of local, ecological tourism, connecting with food by visiting the places where it grows, the people who grow it and understanding the processes involved.

It takes someone with a very detailed knowledge (most likely a native or a bike messenger) to know a city like the back of his hand. These people can provide a unparalleled experience to bring people on journeys of discovery that allow them to expand their views on the places closest to them, gaining a more intimate feeling than getting tidbits from tourist traps, this is information about where they reside that may be of use on a daily basis. It is certainly more affordable to travel within your own region than going on faraway trips. This opens the experience up to a much larger audience than the traditional middle to upper-middle class travel experience.

I have long held the idea that cultural exchange and examination of different styles of urban design, architecture, landscaping and art pose an excellent subject for local eco tourism. Working with a skilled web designer, I often dream of setting up a site where anyone from local to international travelers can customize a tour based on a wide range of walking, biking, horse, boat and biofuel transportation options. Once they select a custom package of the type of places they would like to visit, they get a price based on the amount of labor and level of impact per transportation type, saving money by walking or biking mostly. Expressed here in a simple table.

Walking Bicycle
Natural History Museum $10 an hour per person $15 an hour per person
Green Architecture $12 an hour per person $16 an hour per person
Community Garden by donation $9 an hour per person

Other activities such as horseback riding, which are typically limited to specific areas can be expanded upon by pressure from equestrian groups and citizens who would like to see more areas open to equestrian travel. Horses are the most expensive activity I have encountered thus far, both as a prospective client seeking horseback rides and a prospective horse owner, working with them in the past, it is no secret that they are expensive animals to own and work with. I attempted to find a horse owner willing to rent to me for urban explorations but there was little success. I was met with skepticism. After research on the legal issues with riding a horse in the city, I found it is legal to ride a horse on the sidewalk almost anywhere in Los Angeles (outside the downtown Metro exclusion zone) with a $16 a year license as long as you pick up the manure. Buying a retried police horse, trained to deal with it all (bombproof), might prove to be the right combination of light work to keep a horse happy in his golden years and an affordable employee. It is a similar concept to those seeking to employ retirees as a method to get qualified workers who are often more responsible and punctual than their younger counterparts. I look forward to pursuing this idea further.

Bicycles are perhaps the most utilitarian invention ever created. A single human on a bicycle is the most efficient converter of energy to land miles in terms of distance traveled. In cities based on timed traffic it is often difficult to get places any faster in a car than a bicycle. The bicycle is still the most common form of human transportation world wide for good reason. And transportation is just the tip of the iceberg. For years I have been advocating (with little success, albeit) to get bike shops to carry other forms of bicycle uses. Anything from sharpening knife blades, making a smoothie, anything that uses mechanical power to change the physical make up of something. There are agricultural uses like water pumps and nut shellers. This has potential to be an important component of any tour as an introduction to cycle power and it’s uses and history.

Dogs are also an option for transport, more popular with the younger crowd as wheeled skate devices are implemented in the form of sleds, much as ice skates compare to rollerblades. The major drawback of this activity in Los Angeles is the heat. Most dogs capable of pulling human weight are not bred to be in hot climates such as southern California. However winter time, early morning and late afternoons of summer time as well as night rides are potentially better. Dog training is difficult, and again, this is a slightly more intensive and expensive activity, but it is also very popular as dogs are man’s best friend.

The LA river is no doubt in a sad state from it’s former glory. It was described as so beautifully by the Spanish, first to record it’s existence on paper. The channelization was an important (although misled) effort to save lives and alter the landscape to function as was most convenient for direct human use. Today, only 3 sections are left with a natural soft bottom. In the Sepulveda Basin, the Glendale Narrows, and near the port of San Pedro. The most easily navigated is the Sepulveda Basin by far. In the summer time, when the flow slows to a trickle, treated sewage water is sent into the channelized river, creating opportunity for some plants to grow there (and wildlife to stop through) that normally would not. This provides good opportunity for nature hikes and kayak trips. On 2 kayak trips i counted at least 20 different species of trees and 14 kinds of birds and water fowl.

In the context of transportation and tourism, Los Angeles is at it’s most technical. Hundreds of double decker busses tour Hollywood and the homes of the stars in Beverly Hills. Yet there is a market for travels off the beaten path emerging in almost every city. There are tours of haunted places, the sets of TV shows, freak shows on the Venice boardwalk and niche tours for different culture and language groups. This contract provided the opportunity to examine the feasibility of other options for more ecologically friendly and informative tours with dialogues for locals and visitors to appreciate together. Bringing together tourists and locals for discoveries that are both new, yet relatable to each individual is the goal. Encouraging people to experience a new sense of place through an outdoor venue rather than an air conditioned bus with highly predictable stops. Smaller scale, individualized tourism provides the personal touch of someone enthusiastic about sharing and learning new things about the city rather than giving the same old speech on the same street.





Example Itinerary:

Bike Tour Times Location Activity
1:30pm stop 1 Jimmy Bike Shop 1/2 off tune up / talk
2:15pm stop 2 Green Building Site walk tour / history
2:45pm stop 3 Public Fruit Tree Harvest / history
3:00pm stop 4 Beach Beach Natural Hist.
4:00pm stop 5 Community Garden Planting seasonally

This tour could accommodate 6 people for three and a half hours, costing them roughly $40 each, totaling $240. Half might go to the organization and half to the tour guide. The rough idea is to make it about the price of a movie per two hours as a baseline price. As transportation sophistication goes up (ie anything but walking), so does the price.

As my project progressed it was clear that a budget that never existed in the first place was quickly spent on a kayak and supplies, gas to get to the LA River locations and bike repairs and camera equipment. I spent time to find the most frugal prices and routes to and from places. There is a substantial amount of market research, planning and marketing etc that will have significant infrastructure, labor and time investment to build a successful business from a educational project. It maybe the next big thing, it may never materialize, it may take another form at the hand of invisible forces. The important issues here are the need for advocacy in pedestrian centered transportation, understanding of local economies, ecologies and their mutually exclusive interconnectedness.

success and failure in the river

After two days of adventuring in the Sepulveda basin section of the Los Angeles River, a sense of familiarity and accomplishment is lingering. After a rocky (no pun intended) start, I got to know the access points, portage sections, shallow areas, wildlife hangouts and rapids along the 1.6 mile stretch of natural bottom river that runs through the Sepulveda flood control basin and wildlife habitat. Very few people are aware of, or take advantage of this little oasis in the San Fernando Valley for two primary reasons, one; there is no visible, direct and convenient access point, two; it is now illegal to enter the river and those who do, while highly unlikely, face the possible citation of trespassing, a $500 wager with the LAPD and park rangers. Today temperatures in this area are exceeding 100 degrees F. There are chlorine filled pools that cost $2,50 per day for swimming, or a trip down the trash infested river that costs nothing. Here are some snapshots of the video project to come from yesterday's excursion.

NPR Story of Urban Rangers in the LA River

NPR LA RANGERS

Biking down Broadway. LA, CA.

Suburban Dog Sledding. LA, CA

In a effort to continue with the exploration of Los Angeles via transportation that excludes the use of internal combustion engines and other motors, I have gotten around in some novel ways, however, I must acknowledge that none of it would be easy (or even possible in some cases) without the use of said motors. It is a way of life, THE way of life here. People would starve if trucks didn't bring in food from far away places. The supply of food in America would last about 3 days without diesel trucks and railroads to transport it in fresh form, ships and planes are needed to get it to our continent before it spoils. Refrigeration I just would not have enough time in the day to go from where I live to where I work using any other method besides a car. It has been done, it is possible, but realistic, no. There is the possibility of working from home or working closer, but not everyone has that luxury. I have friends that I have met over the years all over southern California, and there is no way to get to all of them by bicycle or make them all come to me (as nice as that sounds it would only happen if I were severely injured). And many would not appreciate me arriving all sweaty out of breath.  

In the meantime, it is still fun, healthy, relaxing (sometimes) and economical to ride a bike. It is the perfect utilitarian invention of the 20th century (although some bikes clearly predate the 20th century). My hope is that it will reach it's critical mass in the 21st century. 

Río de Porciúncula

So a little history on the LA river, which was described as beautiful paradise with abundant game. It still is, but our current situation is quite out of context for a group of Spanish explorers in 1781. I was able to kayak a 6 mile stretch of this river a few days ago. In the summer time it is filled with treated sewage water, which comes out quite warm and disgusting, and the flow was very shallow, in some places I had to get out and drag / push the kayak. I tried to film it but only got a few minutes before the film ran out. I was an excellent introductory experience, more scouting is needed to find the deepest and least rock filled water. More to come.

Dog Harness

Canines were the first animals domesticated by man (some would argue they domesticated us), and continue to be used more commonly than any other animal for companion and service. Dog mushing is a very climate specific phenomenon. It historically has occurred mostly north of the 45 parallel.

I met my dog Irwin very close to the 45 parallel, in northeastern Vermont (The North East Kingdom) but he was from Montreal. He is a mixed breed of hunting dog and mountain (sled) dog. He pulls against any collar, harness or contraption by nature and seems, by all accounts to enjoy it. Recently we have immigrated south to Los Angeles, where the warm climate in summer makes his long double coat and big paws and head hot and tired.

A few unfortunate encounters with hot concrete, glass and asphalt has led me to use the urban skateboard sled harness in the late evening and at night with lights. I have spent many hours, researching, using, seeking out and building different collars and harnesses. After a few different designs, I feel somewhat comfortable with the current incarnation of two weight lifting belts riveted together with copper studs and two goat reins. 

Can you guess what this is? It is a map, a map of the bike paths in Los Angeles county. What is it missing? A central connection. There are 4 main arteries that come towards downtown Los Angeles from Northeast, northwest, southwest and southeast. They all stop short of being functional beyond a recreational element. Downtown Los Angeles is a broken bottleneck of freeways, choking on it's own excess concrete and smog, failing to yield to new ideas beyond the realm of the automobile. Investing billions into a subway that barely puts a dent in traffic, the only other viable options are walking and bicycling more. Investments put into human scale infrastructure are much more valuable and pay back more rapidly, but to whom? The payback goes to the community, in the form of higher quality of life, which is usually the sacrificial lamb in the name of construction jobs, car jobs, and maintenance crews. So how do we make a lucrative situation for the city businesses and governments to consider more bike paths and safe bike lanes? If industry is the only answer they will accept, should we put huge banner billboards up along the bike paths to fund them? Line it with ATMs, vending machines and hot dog carts? Make people pay a toll to ride their bikes? How about tax gasoline to fund bikeways? Hmm doesn't seem like a popular idea right now. But people ride bikes anyways on the street, so is it really dangerous? Yes, a drunk driver hit 6 people at once about 2 weeks ago less than a mile from my house. This is not an uncommon occurrence. Cars hit bikes all the time, Some even do it intentionally. I have been hit, i have seen people being hit and the driver running off, luckily I've never been witness to a really bad accident, many people walk away, but the fact is, bikes and cars were not particularly designed to coexist on small streets with fast speed limits as is the case in Los Angeles. While there are 527 miles of bike lanes, it scarcely compares to over 22,000 miles of streets in Los Angeles County. Many of these bike lanes have been nick named "death lanes" due to cars being parked on one side, while traffic zooms by on the other. With people pulling in and out of parallel parking spaces and opening their doors right into the bike lane, there is often not enough room or time to react, and it is one of the most common types of bicycle accidents.

The LA River Expedition

Since it dawned on me to pursue any and all possible options of getting around in Los Angeles, one of the first ideas I had was to navigate the Los Angeles River, which is technically not a river but a seasonal creek by flow volume. It is under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineer, which controls all waterways in the US deemed navigable. Since no vessel larger than a canoe or kayak has ever successfully traveled the river, this poses an interesting question, as the Army's decision has impacted the water in such drastic ways, channelizing it with concrete after the severe flood of 1937. So yesterday, I bought a kayak and a waterproof video camera.

As a distant goal of this project is to eventually lead tours with different modes of travel to showcase environmental, social and economically sustainable businesses, communities and how they interact with natural features. So it behooves me to introduce someone who is a little ahead of me, already beginning to offer expeditions on the river. Here we have LA River Expeditions whose mission is to "lead guided recreational/educational canoe/kayak excursions down the more pleasant, soft-bottomed stretches of the LA River".

first mixed commute

          Yesterday I went downtown to the central library to look at oversized maps and aerial photographs of early road systems. Both of my family members work downtown, so a ride was easy to come by. I caught the subway into North Hollywood where I visited the local High School. It's the only one left in LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) with an agriculture program. I was able to take some photographs and videos of both the ambiance it lend to the campus as well as some of the dilapidated conditions.

           The subway was pretty clean and efficient, but still does not serve most communities. I was happy to see the diverse ways people get sound here, and on the way down the west coast from Olympia, there were hundreds of bicyclists, I felt embarrassed that I was driving such a large vehicle, but I also noticed that they had vehicle convoys that helped them carry stuff so I didn't feel so bad. Many were carrying large panniers, and I remembered riding my bicycle fully loaded down the same highway (101) for hundreds of miles. I don't think I'd bring much more than a wallet and credit card if and when I do it again. It's nice to be prepared with camping stuff for all the elements, but if you want to get somewhere and really enjoy the process it's best to be as light as possible.

           Google maps is a great tool that I use often, however one frustration is that while you can plan a route by foot, bike, public transport or car, and have multiple destinations, it does not recognize that you may be switching transportation forms. It does tell you to walk from bus stop to destination, but unless there is some advanced option I'm not aware of, you can't do that.

Firework Cities

As I rode my bicycle in the beach areas of Los Angeles this past Monday, I couldn't help but notice the fireworks. I didn't think much of them, other than the lack of opulent displays that pepper the beach in times of economic excess. It seems the city of Los Angeles canceled almost all of their large displays, so that people were going greater distances (mostly by car, often drinking) to see fireworks.

Then today, as I was in the historical map section of the downtown public library putting dozens of over-sized early maps of the city in chronological order, it dawned on me that the cities and their surrounding fiefdoms, were like fireworks, that explode from a central point, radiate out, and linger and often fade away, only to be replaced by other explosions at different times. Seeing all the clusters of development explode in a timeline made a city that didn't always fit together in it's different sections, not to mention obstructions like the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains, breaking up the grid of development.

Weekly Study Plan

Week 1: Contract approval, meeting with sponsor, refining contract, setting up website. 

Week 2: Travel arrangements, reading selections, historical review, route planning

Week 3: Historical map research downtown Los Angeles public library, readings, LA update

Week 4: Two mapped routes, with stories, photos and explanations, review of literature

Week 5: Pre screening of bicycle film festival entries and written review of 2 films related

Week 6: Two mapped routes, with stories, photos and explanations, designing travel accessories

Week 7: Kayak / bike trip down the LA river with documentation and journal entries

Week 8: Final Paper draft and or outline posted on blog, one walking trip by beach with report

Week 9: Work on final paper, dog powered travel and written review of experience

Week 10: Complete final paper, video of experiences completed and posted to blog

no one walks in la . . .

3rd Street promenade in Santa Monica, California. 5 blocks of car free consumerism. 

asphalt nation

          Asphalt Nation is a powerful examination of how the automobile has ravaged America's cities and landscape over the past 100 years together with a compelling strategy for reversing our automobile dependency. Jane Holtz Kay provides a history of the rapid spread of the automobile and documents the huge subsidies commanded by the highway lobby, to the detriment of once-efficient forms of mass transportation. Demonstrating that there are economic, political, architectural, and personal solutions to the problem, she shows that radical change is entirely possible. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in the history of our relationship with the car, and in the prospect of returning to a world of human mobility. (publisher's synopsis)

little history lesson

          Transportation corridors used today in California and its cities were routes used by native americans, and adopted by the Spanish as the mission roads. As the combustion engine emerged over animal power, the dirt paths were laid in concrete and molded into the megalithic interstate highways that still rely on ancient observation and knowledge of geography. Spanish place-names like La Cienega (the swamp) and La Brea (the tar) still adorn busy street names.

          In the 1870s the transcontinental railroad was completed with the labor of thousands of Chinese immigrants working for 31 dollars per month, minus food supplies. Waves of midwestern settlers flocked to Southern California, mostly from articles in the Los Angeles Times, which was more or less a advertisement pamphlet for real estate speculators such as the times owner, Harrison Gray Otis, a retired Army General. When the train rates from Kansas and Oklahoma to Los Angeles fell to one dollar, thousands poured into downtown Los Angeles, creating a short term economic boom, and never-ending housing, water, employment and transportation shortage.

           A street car system was developed around 1900 and soon became the largest and most advanced system in the world at the time. Reaching up into the mountains, down to the valleys and out to the sea, faster than most car trips across the same distance today. Billions have been invested into congested megalithic freeway systems. It operated smoothly for almost 50 years until it was bought and dismantled by Goodyear, General Motors and Union Oil. These companies were convicted of conspiracy in a court of law to dismantle street car systems in more that 50 cities across the US and were required to pay a nominal fine, less than $5,000.

riding for vietnam

 I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow in Malibu, CA who was riding a horse from Oregon, (where he lived) to Mexico. He was doing this to raise awareness of women's rights issues in Cambodia and Vietnam, where he had served in the war and met his wife.