What Built LA a Blueprint for Young Cities

The automobile built LA. The basis for such an immense, sprawling metro area, cars and the complex networks of freeways are the heart and soul of this incredible city. The means residents navigate the Greater Los Angeles is area is unlike any other in the entire world.
The southern California love affair with the automobile began in the 1920’s, when it had the highest automobile ownership in the entire country. Having blossomed ever since, thanks to a middle class boom in the fledgling years, automobile ownership influenced the infrastructure and highway system the city is built around today.
The quick adaption to the automobile in the 1920’s essentially made the LA metro area the first sprawling area. Catering to this far-flung demographic, politicians and officials saw to it there was continued investment in highway building and traffic planning. The auto-loving public continuously voted down legislation to build light rail systems, initially proposed to connect the San Fernando Valley to the rest of the metro area.
Passing on all chances to build a rail in favor for the comfort and privacy of their own cars, as the LA area continued to grow exponentially year after year, local commuters now experience the most traffic congestion seen anywhere in the country. The most heavily traveled highway in the United States- the 405- moves over 300,000 people daily, while Interstate 1, interstate 10 and Route 101 also help make up the most expansive metro highway system in the country.
Unlike the much older, denser populated cities in the East, LA’s populations weren’t concentrated around public transportation means, rather were spread across miles of hillside, seaside and flatlands stretching through valleys and into the desert. This is due in great part to the population boom in LA having corresponded with the onset of the automobile as an American cultural centerpiece. This gave rise to ‘automotive cities,’ those encouraging and facilitating private transportation. Many newer cities, namely those dotting the sunshine belt, have a layout and design based on this more automobile-centric way of life.
People in LA love their cars. There is such a love for the car in this city its entire framework was laid to cater to the automobile. This framework is still very present today- given it’s the second largest market in the US and still has no rail system in place- and was the first region built with the automobile in-mind from square-1.