A Long Road

Looking East along the new LA Railway tracks around 1909. The Edwards and Winters building which now houses Tritch Hardware is at left. The road to Pasadena, behind us and in the immediate foreground, has not yet been graded as part of the state system. (Photo courtesy of the Frackelton Murdock family and the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society)

I wrote this piece back in February. The idea was to throw a bunch of ideas onto paper with the hope that some of them could be used for a brochure about Colorado Boulevard for the Take Back the Boulevard initiative that TERA, The Eagle Rock Association is putting forth.

The essay itself is the result of an “interview” with Eric Warren, the Eagle Rock historian. I put the word interview in quotation marks because it was less formal and more enjoyable than that term would imply. The truth is I got to spend a great afternoon with Mr. Warren as he talked about the history of the Boulevard and we looked at a few of the many photographs he has documenting the history of our part of town.

Colorado Boulevard has a history.

When we in the twenty-first century look back on that history we are apt to see only the history that fits our rose-colored vision. The truth is more complex.

Whether the native Americans used the route will always be open to debate as they left no sign, an aesthetic we could perhaps emulate.

The earliest vision of the Boulevard may have come from the Spanish landowner, Jose Maria Verdugo. There is record of his buying up land along the route possibly as a connector between the San Fernando and the San Gabriel missions.

The reason that this earliest of real estate deals may have been in the making is simple: to keep one’s feet dry.

Automotive arrogance OR New Civility?

By pure coincidence, Mike and I simultaneously began drafting posts on the same issue– but from polar opposite points of view. Read our two posts below and tell us what you think….

Blessed by the recession

Is it my imagination or is there a new kind of civility on the streets?

When I bike to work, I notice that at any four way intersection, drivers actually seem aware of me and want to give me right of way. If I attempt to wait my turn as any other vehicle would, drivers get confused. They

Automotive Arrogance

Everybody’s experienced some smart-ass cutting them off in traffic. It seems there’s a certain mentality that considers others as an obstacle to progress.

It’s damned irritating when it happens to you while driving.

It is flat out frightening when it happens to you while walking in the crosswalk.

I was coming back from downtown not long ago and looking to

Narrow Streets Los Angeles comes to Eagle Rock

Narrow Streets Los Angeles is a great blog by David Yoon which recently published a couple great makeovers of some of our local streets.

Click to see Colorado Boulevard made over by Narrow Streets. The makeover of the intersection of Eagle Rock Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard is even more compelling…. Diptych prints are available from the website.

For readers that don’t like following links, here’s a tasty excerpt:

What strikes me about the “before” picture is the amount of effort + regulation such large intersections require — just look at all those dotted turn guides painted on the asphalt! Makes sense, though: the bigger the intersection, the less drivers are able to clue in on their surroundings, and the more guidance they’ll need. It’s all so formal + rigid, isn’t it? A smaller Eagle Rock Blvd. would be far more spontaenous. Infill it with shops + commerce — there’s plenty of room — and you’d have even more diversions to explore.

Benefit of Living on a Bicycle Boulevard: Diverters, Part 1

Dear readers,

My name is Severin Martinez and I am new to the team here at Bipediality. You might know me better as the author of Walk Eagle Rock.  I have lived in Eagle Rock for about seven years but only within the past two years have I started to view our town from a pedestrian and bicyclist perspective. I am in my second year of college and have never driven or owned a car. However, until I started walking and bicycling and taking transit by choice, I aspired to learn how to drive, borrow my mom’s car and get places with an automobile like many people my age. I principally bike, walk, and take transit now because I want to support a more livable city and lifestyle. It is a privilege to join Jane and Mike here and I hope you enjoy my first post.

…….

Prior to the car culture we know today, streets belonged to people. People would share the streets with horses, trams, wagons, bicycles, and everything possible. People played on the streets, and enjoyed them. And this had been going on for centuries, a long time compared to the 90 years cars have really been making a big presence on our streets. Fast-forward to today, cars dominate the once lively streets. My how things have changed…

…But all is not lost. While cars do have a place in today’s social city fabric, especially as emergency vehicles, or street services need to get places fast or simply have uninterrupted space to travel, we still have opportunities to tame cars on our streets. As public spaces become increasingly scarce in our urban landscape perhaps it is time to reconsider the way we use some of the limited, public space we have – our streets. Berkeley, California has taken initiative in addressing safety, public space, public health and transportation all at once with their pioneering concept of Bicycle Boulevards. For those not familiar with bicycle boulevards, view this 3 minute video. Don’t be fooled though, bicycle boulevards benefit more than just bicyclists. Here are some examples of one dramatic treatment used on bicycle boulevards that have an equally dramatic traffic calming effect and benefit all– physical diverters.

The street turns into a cul-de-sac for cars but bicycles and pedestrians may pass through. Note the bench behind the man cleaning the path in this picture– neighbors or walkers frequently stop, sit and enjoy the shaded quiet area.

The kind of traffic calming cul-de-sac pictured above creates a

A Stroll Around Eagle Rock

On this blog a great deal of attention has been paid of late to the goings on about re-working Colorado Boulevard. And that is certainly a worthy goal.

However, pedestrian advocacy is not the sole purpose of this blog. We also  celebrate our own two feet.

So I took a walk.

Using as a guide the book Secret Stairs I took a walk through back stage Eagle Rock, the part that has always endeared this place to me, the part that I live in.

Learning from Hermosa Avenue

David and Helen Gustavson are the powerhouses behind Wiota Circle, that little jewelbox of color and texture off the 134 on ramp. Helen chose the plantings. David masterminded the erecting of the Eagle Rock replica monument. This was a labor of love spanning many years, and utilizing the contributions of many volunteers.

David offered us some interesting thoughts on how Colorado Boulevard could be improved:

Some Simple Facts

In California, every traffic collision is entered into the  Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, and that data is made available online.

These documents compile SWITRS data for Colorado Boulevard in Los Angeles, between Eagledale and Avenue 64. This three-mile stretch roughly coincides with the boundary of Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council and the 90041 zipcode.

We are not traffic analysts, however, it seems clear that there has been approximately one reported accident a week over the past five years. More than half of the accidents involve injuries.

What should one make of this data?

We challenge others to digest the comparable information for Colorado Boulevard in our neighboring cities of Pasadena and Glendale, and share your results with this blog.

For printable pdfs, click on these links:

Accident_Stats_Graphs

Accident_Stats_Table

protecting the historical landscape

On this plain of York Valley, the most immeasurable change of slope, noticeable to bikers only,