The Manhattanizing of L.A.

From the New York Sun:

Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times carried a piece by one of the most provocative of urban pundits, Joel Kotkin, under the headline, "Why the Rush to Manhattanize L.A.?" Mr. Kotkin speaks of a zoning vote last week by the Los Angeles City Council that will create a denser downtown, along with efforts to expand the Los Angeles subway, "create a Times Square for Los Angeles," and "duplicate New York’s 5th Avenue." He attributes the rush to campaign contributions by real estate developers, and darkly predicts, "Traffic congestion is likely to get worse."

If the Los Angeles Times is going to pose that sort of question, we’re happy to answer them with some of our own. Could it perhaps be that the residents of Los Angeles decided to pursue Manhattanization, not under the duress of powerful real estate developers, but because they were tired of having to get in their car and drive an hour on the freeway any time they wanted to go anywhere? Could it be they decided that a nightlife that didn’t involve drinking and driving might be a good idea? Or that density might be better for the environment than sprawl?