Long Beach, which styles itself “The Most...

Long Beach, which styles itself “The Most on the Coast,” has become too noisy for the sisters at the Carmel of St. Joseph monastery on Ocean Boulevard. They are considering a move to Santa Barbara County.

“The people in Long Beach have been very, very generous to us but we no longer have solitude here,” said Mother Superior Jean Marie Kirby. “We hear noise--the traffic--all the time.”

The Carmel nuns recently purchased a 100-acre plot of land in Santa Barbara County with money that had been bequeathed to them. However, the convent would move only if the 14 nuns who live there vote to do so, Kirby said, adding that “the decision will be made soon.”

If they did stay, she said, the chapel and several rooms in their 80-year-old, two-story house would need enlarging. But even if those improvements were made, the sisters would still face the problem of limited space to move about on their one-acre site in Long Beach.

“Everyone needs a place of solitude,” the Mother Superior said. “We have so little room outside. There is a small garden but all the deliveries go through the gate there. If you move to our larger garden and sit down, you may find yourself in a portion assigned to another sister who comes out to water it.”

The autos aren’t in the condition that you’d expect of models at a dealership. In fact, the two cars atop the roof of Pioneer Oldsmobile/Hyundai, alongside the Ventura Freeway in North Hollywood, are both wrecked--sobering reminders not to drink and drive.

It wasn’t long ago that local video parlors featured a game called Death Race that awarded the player “bone-cracker” status if he ran over four pedestrians and “expert-driver” status if he scored 21 hits.

Pedestrians just don’t get no respect in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo is trying to change that. The council’s Planning and Environment Committee on Wednesday endorsed Woo’s idea to create a Pedestrian Advocate in the city Planning Department.

If the council approves the plan, as expected, the effect of a proposed real-estate development on foot traffic would, for the first time, gain the same consideration as such categories as street traffic, noise and air pollution.

Woo’s next proposal is the establishment of large car-free zones.

“It’s time for walking rather than driving and to create a city of sidewalk cafes and street vendors, instead of automobile-oriented mini-malls,” he said.

And, he added, perhaps the phrase “nobody walks in L.A.” will some day be stamped out.

Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky hasn’t announced yet whether he’ll run against Mayor Tom Bradley, but he’s not exactly keeping his intentions a secret.

The other day, Yaroslavsky was looking for his assigned car at the Chatsworth Christmas Parade.

Someone pointed to a yacht-length, white Imperial convertible.

“No, “ Yaroslavsky said, “that’s the mayor’s car, not mine.”

Then he smiled and added, “Not yet.”