NBC and that MTA land

NBC wants to move to Universal City, according to The Times' Meg James. On the surface, it seems like smart growth: "The company intends to relocate the network and local news operations from Burbank to a new headquarters in a massive complex planned a couple of miles away on Lankershim Boulevard, across the street from Universal Studios. A Red Line subway station and a sprawling parking lot now occupy the proposed site next to the 101 Freeway. The subway stop will remain and be part of the new complex."

But there are concerns about traffic. "It's too big," said County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who is also a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. "This project has a long way to go. This is their opening salvo, but it's not a fait accompli as far as I'm concerned. Traffic and the scale of the project are going to be my concerns."

Comments

[Charles]

No one has mentioned the big white elephant. In a post 9/11 world do we really want to be building a big red bull’s eye for the militant extremist? Within a few blocks we’ll have Universal Studios, NBC, their partners, the 101 Freeway, the subway, a major bus thoroughfare, some commercial centers, major natural gas, water, sewer and electrical lines, the LA River, and tens of thousands of workers, commuters, visitors, merchants and residents at any given moment. So much in one small area doesn’t seem very prudent especially since terrorist have pledged to attack LA and the Hollywood studios. We need higher density in LA but don’t rebuild the twin towers, look to Paris or Beijing even Washington DC as examples of high density cities that were strategically planned to protect against an attack, either foreign or domestic. We’re not a capital city but we are the capital of our nation’s most important intangible export and a symbol of freedom, democracy and mankind’s cumulative achievements. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel, put some public area buffer zones between all these targets.

[m]

this - between lankershim, bluffside drive and campo de cahuenga way - (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=universal+city+station,+91604&sll=34.139896,-118.363148&sspn=0.006456,0.01133&ie=UTF8&ll=34.139595,-118.362504&spn=0.006456,0.01133&t=h&z=17&om=1) is where they want to stick 1800 parking spaces and 1 million square feet of office and media space, retail and restaurants.

[thedessie]

What of the park and ride / MTA lot there? I use that station all the time, and one of the main reasons I do so is the convenient parking. The loss of that lot would be a bad thing for the Red Line IMHO.

[m]

I've already said this many times in many locations and forums, but as a resident of this area for the past few years, a regular user of this metro station, this is a horrible idea that makes me not only want to leave the area, but leave the entire Los Angeles area because of what this action means overall -- money gives people a right to decrease the quality of everyone's life.

Why?
-This construction will block beautiful views of the mountains and the nearby park. LA is special because of the mountains, otherwise it's dirty, the air is bad, it's overpriced and the people are overall pretty rude and selfish.
-Pedestrians are not given proper consideration in this area, especially when construction is going on. As it is, the lights are not responsive to pedestrians pressing the buttons for crossing signals, the lighting is horrible at night and construction can occur without any thought of the reduced/eliminated sidewalk access.
-This is a very awkward location in terms of freeway access, traffic lights, and pedestrian crossings. It is not uncommon to see people driving through red LEFT turn signals, drivers not watch for pedestrians, drivers not obeying arrows and signs that say "no entering".
-This project is touted as being green and the red line is claimed as being a reason for having this development occur where it is planned, but they are also adding 1200 parking spaces for the people that work in these new buildings. Build all the green building you want, but if people are still in cars and nature is being hidden by massive man made structures, this is not a green project. If it was being built because of the red line, they would be using the money that is planned to be used for the parking lot (a tall structure that will block the view of the nearby park and mountains from the people walking on the sidewalk to the train station) would be going towards public transportation, buying green vehicles that can be used by everyone to do necessary errands and getting programs like flexcar into the san fernando valley and adding bike lanes and racks.
-We don't need more shopping in the area. We need a post office, a library, schools, pet resources, doctors, stores to buy healthy ingredients and non processed foods and Metro vending machines where ticket passes can be purchased. All of these things are at least a few miles away, at minimum. There are already tons of resturants, starbucks, blockbuster, cell phone stores, gas stations, car dealerships, gift shops nearby on ventura, plus all of the things at Citywalk that is only a short bus ride away from this location.
-The proposed site is wedged between a turn in the 101 freeway. The dirty air in this area is overwhelming. I lived in an apartment building near this site for a while that had it's back to the 101 freeway. My apartment was constantly covered in black dust and the freeway noise is horrible. This is not a healthy place to build any buildings.

[Dan W.]

Good for NBC. As Los Angeles evolves and becomes more urban, some businesses who moved out the dense areas for cheap land will relocate to more transit accessible areas.

[Brandon]

Forget about it then, why don't we let LA lose all the potential revenue from this project and have NBC stay in Burbank. Or even better yet, why doesn't NBC move even farther away and give another county their millions in tax revenues.

What is wrong with people, this a major metropolis, not Des Moines.

[Sheryl]

Has anybody ever notice that THE PARKING LOT IS ALWAYS FULL????????????

Jesus, please us.

There are about 5 park and ride lots thru the whole SYSTEM that people actually use--and they're going to convert the busiest one to a damn TV studio? WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO BACK TO BURBANK, NBC.