Moving Beyond Cars: L.A.'s Alternative Transportation Celebration - August 18

Tomorrow evening, GOOD, in cooperation with railLA, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, the Coalition for Clean Air, and de LaB, will host a celebration to showcase the possibilities of a Los Angeles beyond the hold of cars. The event will be at the downtown exhibition LA Beyond Cars: A Global Perspective on Rail and Public Space, and the event sponsors are aiming for an entirely car-free party. They encourage all attendees to take alternatives forms of transportation to the party, whether it be bus, bike, scooter or walking. 

The event itself will have interactive urban planning workshops, prizes for the most original methods of transportation, and a cash bar. RSVP to their Facebook event page to sign up!

Moving Beyond Cars: L.A.'s Alternative Transportation Celebration

Los Angeles might have a car-crazed reputation but this city also has a vibrant community that likes to take bikes, buses and sidewalks, too. So GOOD is teaming up with railLA, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and de LaB for an event that shows how L.A. can move beyond cars. They're holding it at the exhibition LA Beyond Cars: A Global Perspective on Rail and Space which envisions the future of high speed rail in Los Angeles. And they're challenging everyone who attends to use alternative transportation. That's right—the goal is to make this a completely car-free party.

RSVP and share the event information on Facebook.

LA Beyond Cars: A Global Perspective on Rail and Public Space

In a culmination of its international Call for Ideas launched earlier this summer, railLA announced the July 29 opening of a curated exhibit entitled LA Beyond Cars. Participants to the Call for Ideas submitted conceptual designs, art, studies, inventions, city plans, videos and other creative solutions revolving around the topic of high-speed rail, its integration into the design of cities and visions of a future more sustainable, pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented and less reliant on automobiles. Over 100 works were received, including invited submissions from renowned architects MVRDV, Eric Owen Moss, Topotek1, and Pritzker Prize laureates Thom Mayne, Sir Norman Foster, and Zaha Hadid. The 15,000 s.f. exhibit space will display drawings, models, videos, animations, a rail-inspired installation by sculptor Stephen Glassman and will host interactive station design workshops by artist and planner, James Rojas.

The exhibit will run July 30 through August 28 from 11:00am-7:00pm in the "Jewel Box" at the base of the City National Bank Plaza towers, 525 South Flower Street, in Downtown Los Angeles.

This Saturday: railLA Asks LA to Think Big About High-speed Rail

Urban planner and artist James Rojas believes he has found a way to develop community consensus through design and provide a process for the public to envision their ideal California High-Speed Rail project, which is now in the process of finalizing its track alignments in Northern and Southern California. A demonstration of the pioneering technique he describes as Interactive Planning will be held July 17 from 11:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. at the Pico House in the El Pueblo district of Los Angeles. Interactive models of the 30/10 scenario for Los Angeles County and Union Station with High-Speed Rail will also be on display.

Organized by railLA and sponsored jointly by California Speaker of the Assembly John Perez and Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar, the event is intended to gather public input on how the area around Union Station will best adapt to the introduction of high-speed rail. For more information about the event, visit railLa's website.

AIA/LA and APA form railLA to promote the California High-Speed Rail Project

The Los Angeles chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA|LA) and the American Planning Association (APA), along with community members, business leaders, local governments and universities formed railLA to promote the California High-Speed Rail project and help advance a change in Los Angeles’ car-centric lifestyle.

Long considered the capital of American car culture and suburban sprawl, Los Angeles is the ideal location to illustrate the positive impacts of high-speed rail on the environment, traffic congestion, and sustainable urban design and planning. By creating a realistic vision of the opportunities that high-speed rail will bring, railLA will leverage private sector and grassroots support to ensure timely and efficient implementation of this statewide project with Los Angeles’ Union Station as its hub.

Launching June 1: Call for Ideas and Venues
The Call for Ideas, commencing June 1, 2010, will be an open, international call to all interested parties to “think big” on the broad topics of high-speed rail and its implementation in Southern California. The Call is intended to create a wealth of information about high-speed rail from around the world to be exhibited at selected venues through a separate Call for Venues. Entrants are encouraged to submit new and existing ideas, concepts, designs, plans, papers, videos, models, and other studies.

A select group of submissions will be showcased at an opening exhibit in Downtown Los Angeles later this summer, on the railLA website, and in various publications. A $2500 prize purse for the top five submissions will be announced at an opening exhibit on July 29, 2010. The deadline for submissions is July 13, 2010.