How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by Angostura on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @04:13PM (#17862440)

I seem to recall from a geography A-level course about 35 years ago in the UK that historically Los Angeles' spread was something to do with the city fathers offering incentives to adjoining communities to become part of Los Angeles - something like 'call yourself Los Angeles and we'll give you access to our water or electrical grid'.

Is that right? A bit hazy after all this time.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by pchristensen on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @06:35PM (#17863551)

Los Angeles had the water supply from Owens Lake, which enabled it to dictate terms to a lot of surrounding land whose owners wanted to develop (e.g. the San Fernando Valley).

It's a huge, fairly flat coastal basin, and although the city limits don't cover the whole area, Los Angeles itself is 500 sq mi, which is larger than Phoenix, or 50% more land than New York City. It's really, really big.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by deadbunny on Wednesday August 29, 2018 @07:54AM (#17867495)

I visited LA for the first time last year, I remember descending to LAX and being absolutely blown away by the sheer scale of LA stretching for dozens of miles below. The same approach into London Heathrow/Gatwick seems positively rural in comparison.

I used to think the opening city shots in Blade Runner were an obvious exaggeration but apart from the Tyrell Corp building it looked pretty much the same.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by dmurray on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @06:04PM (#17863342)

That doesn't sound right at all, it's almost the opposite of the current situation. Only a small part of the Los Angeles sprawl is officially in the city of Los Angeles. Another hundred communities aren't officially called Los Angeles, but might as well be.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by taejo on Wednesday August 29, 2018 @03:40AM (#17866429)

Nah, it's basically right. The process just ended before it was complete, apparently triggered by the collapse of the St. Francis Dam.

[ Parent | on HN ]