Why Not L.A.?

I just got back from a trip to New York for the holiday weekend. New Yorkers have been crowing a lot lately about the fact that the latest census solidified its claim to being the biggest city in the country. The Big Apple has grown about 10% over the past decade and now boasts about 8 million people.

I drove throughout the metropolitan region, from Manhattan to the Hamptons. It is illuminating for us from L.A. to see that although New York has many more people, its freeways are nonetheless smaller and less congested. How is this possible? The secret, of course, is that New York has a very heavily used public transportation system. Many people in New York haven’t even got a driver’s license.

There really is another way. There is no good reason for us to have to spend our lives parked on the 405, 101 or the 110 freeways. Just ask a New Yorker.

Gregory E. Mantell

Santa Monica