As everyone knows by now, I come from the Rodney King, “Can we all just get along?” school. People are probably tired of my ongoing calls for reasonable compromise. I’m so boring and predictable. And calls for compromise tend to irritate those who seem to prefer to fight. I think this includes a lot of people.
Yet hardly a month goes by when there isn’t yet another opportunity to plead for a win-win outcome (as opposed to the bitter divisiveness that pits neighbor against neighbor).
This month, two projects come to mind: 1) the proposed “roundabout” at So. Bundy and Mayfield (instead of the stop sign that was installed a while back); and 2) the big housing/retail development proposed for the northwest corner of So. Bundy and Olympic, called Martin Expo Town Center.
Let’s start with the stop sign at Mayfield and Bundy.
Probably just about everyone in Brentwood has found this a bit of a nuisance while driving north or south. Especially during rush hour heading north on So. Bundy, cars can really back up, occasionally all the way to below Wilshire. It’s not good.
Before the stop sign, there was undoubtedly too much speeding heading in both directions. Neighbors who live close by say they feared for their safety when crossing So. Bundy.
I drive this stretch all the time. I rarely see pedestrians crossing there, so it often seems like the stop signs are overkill. But it would only take one accident to put all this into grim perspective. We need to be concerned with pedestrian safety.
The city is now preparing to start construction on a “roundabout,” much like the one on 26th Street a little north of Wilshire. This is seen by city planners as a reasonable compromise between pedestrians and motorists.
I think, as a community, we should embrace the roundabout solution. It slows traffic enough to calm things down and eliminates the gridlock we now experience.
It’s hard to see what the downside of this proposal might be, other than the temporary inconvenience that might be caused by construction. But that too will pass soon enough. We need to think long-term.
Long-term is finally becoming a reality in the form of the Expo Line, which will connect Santa Monica and the rest of the Westside to Downtown Los Angeles. Who ever thought we’d see such a wonderful thing in our lifetimes?
But it’s almost here. And, lucky for us, the Expo Line will have a stop on Bundy, just below Olympic. This is very convenient for those of us who live in Brentwood. Except for one thing: there’s no parking at the Expo Line stop.
The owners of Martin Cadillac are now proposing a big housing, office, and retail center at the northwest corner of So. Bundy and Olympic. While the prospect of new construction usually brings out the “anti” forces, I’m hoping we can turn this into an opportunity that benefits all.
What if any approval for this project requires lots and lots of parking for the Expo Line? Wouldn’t that be nice?
And what if the emphasis for the project was on housing? We complain a lot about all the new jobs in Santa Monica that cause people from the Valley and points east to drive through Brentwood in order to get to work in the morning – and home at night.
If more people could live close to the jobs in Santa Monica and West LA, we might actually see a net reduction in car traffic. So more housing at the corner of Olympic and Bundy could actually be a very good thing.
A hugely popular video game called “League of Legends” is made by Riot Games, which will take up a huge complex just north of Martin Cadillac. Look for the “ElementLA” signs (on the west side of Bundy) next time you drive by. That’s where Riot Games will go. Then there’s that big Westside Media Center on the south side of Olympic.
What if many of the young programmers and other creatives who will work in the immediate area lived in the new apartments being proposed for the Martin property? The residents could walk, skateboard, or even crawl to work.
I hope city planners and developers will get really creative on this one, offering mega incentives that will favor Martin residents who work close by – or who will take the Expo Line to and from work. Let’s put on our thinking caps and figure out how to make this work, rather than allowing ourselves to slide into yet another divisive conflict that will keep us all fighting for years at a time.
