For sale: More gridlock in downtown?

You can buy some of this empty air above the L.A. Convention Center from the city (at left). And that has some people up in arms. The "air rights" sale would allow developers elsewhere in downtown L.A. to build projects larger that city zoning rules presently allow, reports The Times' Sharon Bernstein and Cara Mia DiMassa. Critics raise concerns about overdevelopment and traffic. Backers say "Don't Worry!" -- downtown has mass transit! But as Cara and Sharon note:

A recent survey showed that the vast majority of downtown's estimated 30,000 residents "rarely or never" use public transportation.

Mark Lacter over at LA Biz Observed is pretty skepitcal about the whole deal, especially the claims that it won't add more traffic and congestion.

Comments

[Scott Mercer]

Get those statistics right!

The survey showed that about 65% of downtown residents "rarely or never" used public transit. I don't know if that constitutes a "vast majority." A majority, sure, but a "vast" one? That sounds like spin to me.

In any case, my point is that in the rest of the city, that number of people who "rarely or never" use public transit rises to 90% in many neighborhoods! Downtown residents are doing more than their share of public transit use.

[Peter McFerrin]

All the commentary I've seen surrounding this ignores something fundamental: people who live downtown often don't *need* to ride transit. They can walk. Yes, walking--I know it's something that a certain class of Angelenos doesn't often do for non-recreational purposes, but y'all should seriously look into it.