The sad thing is this is the way LA used to be all the time. We’ve always gotten a bad rap for traffic, but in the 50’s – 70’s there was rush hour traffic in the morning and afternoon and that was it. If you drove the freeways midday or after 7 at night you just flew. And weekends were always a breeze.
But the area has grown so fast (I blame the Rose Bowl – people snowed-in in the east see the sunshine and pack the SUV) that the freeways can’t keep up with it.
Believe it or not we have a subway. No, seriously. We do. Honestly. I’m not kidding. But it doesn’t go to most of the places that Angelinos (yes, we’re called that) need to go. That's why locals don't even know we have a subway.
Okay, back in the 60’s and 70’s there was terrible smog, but if you could see through the brown haze and didn’t have a choking fit, you had an easy commute on the 405.
You could claim that the mass exodus this week is because the entertainment industry shuts down for the holidays, but they’ve essentially been closed since the week before Thanksgiving. They’ll be back after the Super Bowl. No, it’s the whole town. The only distinction is that entertainment folks all flock to Hawaii or Aspen, where as the rest of city scatters everywhere.
So I try to take this week to eat in restaurants that are schleps and normally I’d avoid because of the commute. I might even venture downtown. No. Strike that. It’s still downtown.
But I will try to take as much advantage of this week as I can. I may drive over Laurel Canyon at 5:00 PM just ‘cause I can. I know – that’s crazy talk – but I might just do it. Come January it’s back to the house, Amazon home deliveries, and Post Mates.
from By Ken Levine
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