LA Beyond Cars

Rail LA - Call for Ideas co-chair
Downtown LA - 2010

What if we could change our city?
What if we could reduce the time it takes to travel to work?
Can public space span train tracks and connect divided communities?
Can transit stations create new hubs of community activity?
Will High-Speed Rail transform the way we build cities?
Will we need cars?

LA is at a cossroads. It has grown from distant communities of missionaries and rancheros to a diverse yet separrated community of suburbs, and now to an unhappily-joined community of industries and sprawl. The growth of Los Angeles as a de-centralized city has created a playground for the automobile -- where no less than a six lane freeway will do, massive parking lots litter the built environment, and traffic strikes fear into anyone looking to traverse the city.

This is not to say that the automobile is no longer relevant, rather public life and, more importantly, pedestrian life has suffered as a result of its pervasiveness. This exhibition is intended as a catalyst for change, a means to promote tangible and ideological rail proposals to provoke a civic discussion amongst Angelenos as we restrategize rail and public space in the City with the introduction of high-speed rail.

The proposed project is a massive undertaking that holds the opportunity to both heal the wounds of past infrastructure mistakes that divided our communities and breath new life.

Let’s see what we can create.

-New Ideas
-Existing Projects / Designs
-Documentaries + Fiction Films
-Designs for LA Union Station

Critical Acclaim


LA Streets Blog
Good Event

Rail LA Officers


Chair - Gunnar Hand, AICP
Vice-Chair - Gerhard Mayer, AIA
Secretary - Ashley Zarella Hand, LEED AP, Assoc. AIA
Treasurer - Bob Vanech

Project Credits


Rail LA Call for Ideas Committee Co-chairs - Erik Alden and Artur Grochowski
Project Team - Sebastian Munoz, Jonathan Louie, Kellie Konapelsky, Joshua Van Blankenship, Paul Chavez, Vance Breshears, Benjamin Grobe, James Rojas, and Alan Huynh

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