Maylin

Traci Park's Olympic parking lot A notoriously anti-bike lane councilmember is using the "car-free" games to stop a fully approved 100 percent affordable housing development

I am so tired of writing about LA's most infamous surface parking lot, Lot 731

LA city leaders advanced a $175K feasibility study for a "mobility hub" for the 2028 Olympics this morning. It's also the site of the Venice Dell affordable housing project. Here's the motion passed by the City Council's Transportation Committee: cityclerk.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2...

In a joint committee meeting today, LA city council is set to discuss the Willits settlement & also hear a presentation on a public-right-of-way inventory pilot and the city's ADA transition plan: lacity.primegov.com/Portal/Meeti...

Assuming available funding, a complete timeline for the study, permitting, and construction is included below. The draft timeline is subject to change based on staff resources, competing priorities, litigation, California Coastal Commission permitting, and the City's contract procurement process. Mobility Hub Project Draft Timeline Phase Timeframe Task Order Solicitation March/April 2026 - July/Aug 2026 Feasibility Study Aug/ Sept 2026 - Jan/Feb 2027 Permitting & Approvals Nov/Dec 2026 - Nov/Dec 2027 Detailed Design & Engineering March 2027- August 2027 Procurement & Bidding Sept 2027 - Nov 2027 Construction Dec 2027 - April/May 2028 Commissioning & Launch June 2028

I cannot stop laughing at this absolutely delusional timeline! As noted in the report, just getting Coastal Commission approval will take at least a year.

You know what already has Coastal Commission approval? THE 100% AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT PLANNED FOR THIS PARKING LOT

Councilmember Traci Park just got the city's transportation committee to advance a mobility hub for 2028 at the site of the Venice Dell housing project she's been trying to block.

Among the many issues with this plan, here's a big one — Metro does not show a mobility hub planned for this site

"In 2024, there were an average of almost 5 traffic injury deaths among PEH every week... These are not random accidents. They are the outcomes of people being forced to live, walk, and sleep in spaces not designed for human habitation, such as in freeway underpasses and along busy roadways."

Very upsetting: Overall mortality rate for unhoused people is down but traffic violence mortality rate up by 25%.

publichealth.lacounty.gov/chie/reports...

Oh my GOD. The woman KIRO Radio allowed to go on the air tonight and accuse me of DEFAMATION against the Civil Rights Office director, without contacting me before engaging in this attempt at reputational damage, ALSO claimed I paid @mayorofseattle.bsky.social. $30,000. Which is an ACTUAL lie..

Here is the latest LA Public Health dept. report on deaths among people who are unhoused showing a dip in their "mortality rate" for the first time since 2014: publichealth.lacounty.gov/chie/reports...
Among the recommendations, which include housing, they also call for harm reduction strategies.

It's here!

lacity.primegov.com/Portal/Meeti...

Haven't seen it yet

There are other gated streets in LA, but almost all allow ped/bike access.

This is a big deal. Part of this project is along a stretch of Pico where homeowners succeeded in gating four public streets decades ago, forcing people biking, walking or rolling to detour around the gates down dangerous streets (Pico, Arlington, Western).

afrolanews.org/2024/10/deca...

The purpose of a system is what it does and that system is the LAPD taking a year to two years to fulfill my public records requests.

‘We told you it was coming': Developer never fulfilled its promises to DeKalb for land swap. Now it wants to sell Five years after DeKalb County swapped land with developer Blackhall, a public park remains closed and in disrepair.

In 2024, my "Cop City" reporting for @thexylom.com won me an Atlanta Press Club Award.

Now, @wabe.org confirms what we knew all along: DeKalb County's parkland swap and open contempt of a judge's order to reopen said park has led to no new park but one emboldened Republican now running for Congress

New closed session coming up in LA city council about the Willits settlement and "significant exposure to litigation."

cityclerk.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2...

City Attorney Takes Her Own Swing at Man Sucker Punched by LAPD in 2024 - Streetsblog Los Angeles Eleven months after Officer Joshua Sportiello punched Alexander Mitchell in the face, the City Attorney's office filed misdemeanor resisting charges against him. Was it in retaliation for Mitchell's c...

SCOOP: City Attorney Takes Her Own Swing at Man Sucker Punched by LAPD in 2024 - la.streetsblog.org/2026/03/06/c...

The city’s only #MeasureHLA accomplishment in 2 years: 300 feet of new bike lanes

It’s Not Complicated The mainstream media failed the public during the genocide in Gaza. The Key's editor-in-chief shares her vision for what comes next.

Former LA Times managing editor @sarayasin.bsky.social launches The Key, a new publication about Palestine that will be "a home for journalists who have had their stories spiked in mainstream outlets."

Her opening essay is worth every second of your time: www.thekeymagazine.com/p/western-jo...

Is the Mayor's Office of Public Works (MOPW) new? A rebranding? Was not aware of it.

personnel.lacity.gov/jobs/opening...

Text group: "OME Chiefs, 6 members" A text message says: "In LADOT press clips: https://futureis.la/p/la-has-stopped-repaving-our-streets" Response says "A good read," Thanks for sharing"

Learned through a public records request that there is/was a group chat called "OME Chiefs" for the Office of Major Events in the mayor's office.

How to get people excited about transit "It will literally be your best selling t-shirt, it will get you so much PR, and if anyone interprets this inappropriately that's a them problem"

I wrote about the one actually great thing that happened this week

"Streetsblog L.A. reached out to multiple departments for this story, including LADOT, the Bureau of Engineering (which manages L.A.’s sidewalk program), StreetsLA and the Department on Disability. All of them referred inquiries to the mayor’s office."

“Disrespectful” and “infuriating”: L.A.’s progress on making streets safe and accessible for disabled people stalled for decades - Streetsblog Los Angeles Curb ramps have been required when repaving a street since 1992. Why is L.A. only now saying it must follow the law?

Can only write 3,000 word pieces now, sry

Nine people froze to death in Connecticut last year. 'No one should die without a home' The questions their stories raise is still the same: Who is responsible when preventable deaths become routine?

NEW: Nine people experiencing homelessness died from hypothermia in Connecticut last year.

@jrabethomas.bsky.social and I spoke with friends and family for four of those people about who their loved ones were.

Our latest at @ctinsider.bsky.social — www.ctinsider.com/news/article... #nutmegsky

Reporting on public works in LA is laughably hard. City departments refuse to provide even basic details about how the city operates and/or send a 3-line statement that says nothing.

Listening in on Metro 10am Finance Committee meeting - about to get underway. Follow online at boardagendas.metro.net/event/financ...

Why is the driver in fatal West Portal crash likely to avoid jail? Experts weigh in as outrage erupts Backlash erupted after a San Francisco judge signaled probation, not prison, for a driver accused of killing a family of four in a 2024 West Portal crash.

A speeding driver killed a family of four, including a toddler and an infant. The judge in the case has signaled he will give the SF woman probation instead of prison.

It's a stark example of how killing someone with a vehicle is often perceived and treated differently within the US justice system.

If you want to know why this happened, I wrote about why LA doesn’t fund walking and biking infrastructure and how it might get even worse as we host a string of megaevents over at my newsletter which you should definitely subscribe to 😇

Melrose was supposed to undergo a complete streets makeover from Highland to Fairfax that would have installed stormwater gardens to mitigate flooding, among other critical safety improvements. The previous councilmember killed the project