L.A. MTA Faces Tough Crowd In Lawndale Over Green Line
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Green Line. Image courtesy of Creative Commons.
The L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority held a community meeting Thursday in Lawndale to discuss a proposed extension to the South Bay Metro Green Line.
The proposed project would extend the Green Line from its current terminus in Redondo Beach to Torrance and eventually be connected to a larger public transit network that is also being planned.
However, the crowd of concerned citizens who gathered for the last meeting in a series of three could best be described as contentious.
“My property value is going to drop $50,000 or $60,000 right off the bat,” said Lawndale resident Gary White to boisterous applause from most of the attendees. “This project is going to cost $500 million and nobody is going to use it, it’s a boondoggle.”
The project would be at least partially funded by Measure R, which citizens of Los Angeles voted for in 2008, but Measure R would provide only $272 million, about half the projected total cost of the four-and-a-half mile extension.
Daniel Rojas, a graduating senior at UCLA spoke in favor the proposed extension of the Green Line and was heavily booed by the crowd after suggesting that not everyone present would be alive to see the project finished.
“Think about the future and your children,” said Rojas before being drowned out by booing.
Other community members insisted that the extension would have very few riders because of the locations it would run to.
“This line would be like a bridge to nowhere,” said Bob Thegze. “It would run to an oil refinery.”
The MTA is also looking at an option to construct a shorter segment of the proposed extension using only the $272 million provided by Measure R. That line would stop at the South Bay Galleria.
However, some citizens were opposed to the construction of even a truncated railway running through their community.
“There is nothing special about the South Bay Galleria,” said Thegze. “People have their own galleria’s in their own communities, they won’t ride this train to come to the South Bay Galleria.”
Another concern voiced by attending community members was the safety of children if the rail line should run through their neighborhood.
“We’re not trying to stop progress,” said one Redondo Beach resident Laurie Prinzi. “We just want them to move the project.”
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Comments
Anyone who thinks building a train traveling 55 mph down the middle of a rarely used/abandoned right-of-way bisecting a community of mostly R-1 houses is going to increase their property values needs to have their head examined. This thing should have been put down Hawthorne Blvd from the get. Not only does it make a lot more sense from a transit rider and TOD sense, it would have cut between 2/3rds to 90% of the opposition.
Good luck pushing this one through without even all the funding being identified.
This extention, and the eastern extention of the Gold Line are a waste of scarce rail transit dollars. I despise ignorant NIMBYs, but there are much more worthy fights, such as the Purple Line vs Beverly Hills High. Rail lines should be built where the population and job density justifies it. Period. These extensions were politically motivated sop tacked on to measure R. The population and job densities around either line do not justify the hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, while nothing is even being planned for dense, highly congested areas such as the Sunset Strip, midtown Hollywood, Pico Union, Echo Park, Venice, Los Feliz Blvd., Olympic Blvd. and many more.
It's interesting to watch the community reaction to this project, compared to similar projects elsewhere in the county. If there is significant local support for this project, it doesn't seem to be showing up at these meetings. Meanwhile, the anti-rail folks have been stimulated into action. Seems like they're organized.
The terminus of the project, at Crenshaw Blvd. in Torrance, doesn't seem to have been well thought out. The line should end in a place where people want to go, or can imagine taking the train to. The "Torrance RTC" is in the middle of refineries, not exactly inspiring. Maybe the South Bay Galleria is a better terminus. Or farther down the line, in Downtown Torrance.
Better outreach (with less of a condescending tone) from the project staff would, I think, also help.
What a pathetic exhibition of NIMBY'ism.
It's so sad how many people don't seem to know about benefits of mass transit,
and how many residents, selfish homeowners, choose to demonstrate their selfish opposition in public.
Moreover, their ignorance is amazing: the property values actually INCREASE near the train station, not decrease. And - speaking of safety - let's remember that car accidents (and deaths from cars) are so much more frequent than train accidents; so, if you, NIMBY's, want to speak of safety, please be more objective, and mention about how astonishing the figures are from car-related accidents; train accidents numbers are pale in comparison.
Last but not least. Those lunatics who oppose rail projects keep confining themselves (and their children!) to cars, and only cars. While a rail line would provide a fast, reliable alternative to driving.
Shame on the South Bay selfish homeowners!
I hope that MTA doesn't stop the line because of a few "affected" homeowners. However, it has been shown that property values within walking distance of a transit stop actually increase in value...the MTA is doing a poor job of showing the benefits of having a transit stop nearby. Build rail now!!!