Where transit service is frequent and convenient people do use it. L.A. from the Hollywood Hills to the ocean to Slauson Boulevard to downtown has a density per mile that s equal to San Francisco, in an area twice the size. Hollywood and Koreatown are as dense as Paris. West Hollywood is the densest city west of the Mississippi. Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont are very dense corridors.
Government plays a crucial role in establishing the car as the dominant mode of transportation.
With the projected population growth there will be ample momentum to change. We need to channel new growth away from open space and into denser communities along significant transportation corridors that are well-served by public transit. We need to build more affordable housing near jobs and transit. We are the most mobile people on the planet. Everyone thinks the MTA is a transit agency and forgets that it also builds and maintains roads.