Main entry:

Elkind, Ethan N., 1976-

Title & Author:

Railtown : the fight for the Los Angeles metro rail and the future of the city / Ethan N. Elkind.

Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2014]

Description:

xvi, 292 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-280) and index.
Introduction. The Once and Future Railtown -- An Eighteen-Month Promise -- The New Mulholland -- Bureaucratic Paper Shuffling and Jurisdictional Squabbling -- Henry Waxmans Hot Air -- Tunnel Stiffs, Fires, and Sinkholes -- The Wish List -- A Knife in the Seat -- Of Race and Rail -- Switching Tracks -- Subway to the Sea -- Conclusion. The Future of Los Angeles Rail and the American City.

Summary:

"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."-- Provided by publisher.
"The modern Los Angeles Metro Rail system resulted from the sustained efforts of local leaders, particularly with the election of Tom Bradley as mayor in 1973. Political compromises and funding pressures, however, severely weakened the effectiveness of the subway and light rail lines. Railtown presents this history by drawing on archival documents, contemporary news accounts, and interviews with many of the key players in the story to provide critical behind-the-scenes accounts of the people and forces that shaped the system. Although Metro Rail is growing in ridership and political importance, with expansions in the pipeline, Railtown 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"-- Provided by publisher.

Resources:
Honor with Books

ISBN:

9780520278264 (hardback)
0520278267 (hardback)
9780520278271 (paper)
0520278275 (paper)

Subject:

Metro Rail (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Local transit California Los Angeles.
Urban transportation California Los Angeles.
Transports publics Californie Los Angeles.
Transports urbains Californie Los Angeles.
HISTORY United States State & Local West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
POLITICAL SCIENCE General.
SOCIAL SCIENCE Sociology Urban.
Local transit California.
Urban transportation California.
Local transit.
Urban transportation.
City planning California Los Angeles History
Transportation California Los Angeles History
California Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area (Calif.) Social conditions.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 287846
Call No.: BIB 229249
Status: Available