Readers React: If you want density, don’t try to remake L.A. — move to Manhattan

To the editor: Missing from columnist Steve Lopez’s tirade on traffic and housing is an example of a city the geographic size of Los Angeles where public transportation eliminates the need for cars. The declining Metro ridership Lopez mentions demonstrates it is an unacceptable alternative to many who have a choice.

And thank you so much, Mr. Lopez, for saying that those of us who would like to preserve neighborhoods made up of single-family residences are to blame for the region’s bad traffic and high cost of housing. Of course, he does not mention that Manhattan, where the cost of housing per square foot far exceeds that in Los Angeles, is all but completely without single-family homes.

Richard Agay, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I applaud Lopez for his frank recommendations on L.A.’s housing and traffic crises.

Why not do more to introduce nontransit riders to the many advantages of giving up driving, especially for the swelling numbers of retirees and those using their cars for discretionary travel? As a proud holder of a senior TAP card, I get a rush of satisfaction not having to drive and park my vehicle.

Public transit is not only cheap and increasingly efficient; it provides a unique sense of freedom.

William K. Solberg, Los Angeles

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