Editor,
I want to respond to the Indy’s article, “Trolley Use Dips as Congestions Remains Unchecked,” in the Nov. 10 edition. There are many issues in this article. I want to focus on Mayor Toni Iseman expressing her frustration over attempting to lure motorists to leave their vehicles in Laguna Canyon lots.
I want to suggest that city hall try to find new ways to solve our summer season carmageddon. For 40 or 50 years we have used one bucket of tools to no avail. So dear City Council, is it time to look in some other buckets? For example try Google Scholar / parking problems.
“Our downtown has been described as a ‘huge engine of communication’, analogous to a switchboard which ‘permits a wider range of alternative choices than would prevail under a more dispersed [suburban] arrangement.” The specific functions of the downtown have certainly changed in the two decades since Deutch’s analogy, but its ability to concentrate a select group of activities based upon its central location has sustained its importance to the well-being of the city. The costs of this ability are, however, substantial. This article approaches a problem eventually faced by most participants in central business area activities, automobile parking, and offers a framework for recognition and solution of this often misunderstood urban problem. How to fix our carmagddon is not a technical issue. Sorry to say it is a political issue. A final note: adding more auto infrastructure will not solve this problem.
Michael l Hoag, Laguna Beach
