#koretz

[thelovebudllc]

Is Work Life Balance A Myth? A Q&A with Dr. Janna Koretz

It’s no secret—our work lives and personal lives often feel like they’re competing in a never-ending tug-of-war. Whether you’re a business leader, a high achiever, trying to carve out a little more time for your health and wellbeing, or simply trying to keep your head above water in a demanding career, the elusive concept of “work-life balance” feels, well… impossible. That’s because, as Dr.…

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[nonpartisaneducation]

The Rot Festers: Another National Research Council Report on Testing

[hirscheyfresh]

Open letter to Jay Greenstein, Chief Field and Transportation Deputy to LA City Councilman Paul Koretz

As you may or may not have heard, on November 15, Paul Koretz, Councilmember CD5, unilaterally killed a study of proposed bike lanes along Westwood Blvd, a heavily trafficked route for UCLA students, faculty, and local residents that will only become busier with the opening of the new Expo line station near Pico and Westwood. (More about that here.) I emailed the Councilmember shortly after this decision was announced and received a response today (two-and-a-half weeks later) from his Chief Field and Transportation Deputy, Jay Greenstein, stating that Mr. Koretz "continues to support the exploration of bike lanes for Sepulveda Blvd. along with consideration of additional safe and community friendly north/south travel options." Given how little consideration Mr. Koretz seems to have given to the study of a Westwood Blvd bike lane, I found the second half of this response disingenuous at best. Below is my response to Mr. Greenstein's email.

Dear Mr. Greenstein,

Thank you for your response. I have no doubt that Councilmember Koretz has the wellbeing of his community at heart. However, while Sepulveda is certainly an important thoroughfare for all kinds of travel and just as certainly in need of safety improvements for bicycles, it is not an adequate substitute for bicyclists traveling from the upcoming Westwood Expo line stop to Westwood Village (of which there will certainly be many). 

First of all, detouring onto Sepulveda from the upcoming Westwood station adds an extra mile to what would be a two-mile trip, increasing trip time by 50% and roughly 6 minutes. If drivers were in the position of these hypothetical cyclists, being forced permanently to take a detour that would increase trip time/distance by half would spark outrage on a vast scale (an analogous situation is the drama around the 405 Sepulveda pass closures -- "Carmageddon" -- that only lasted for a weekend). To propose that such a "compromise" should be acceptable to cyclists is naive at best.

In addition, while Sepulveda is not primarily a retail- or consumer-centric corridor -- most of the businesses between Wilshire and Pico on Sepulveda are large pet hospitals or office buildings -- Westwood Blvd is. As such, the benefit the to the local economy from increased bicycle traffic, which has been shown time and time again to boost retail and restaurant receipts, would be incomparably larger if safe bicycle infrastructure were installed on Westwood than on Sepulveda. The fact that car traffic would not be affected by the proposed "floating" bicycle lanes only bolsters this point.

Finally, while Westwood Blvd has the standard 35 mph speed limit and is designed as such, traffic on Sepulveda is legally limited to 45 mph and regularly travels much faster. As we know from years of collision studies, increased travel speeds lead to exponentially worse outcomes in the even of a crash. Therefore, it is highly likely that any successful bike lane project on Sepulveda would either require speed limit reductions, mode separation of bicycles from cars, or both. Westwood, on the other hand, would not require such extensive revamping and could therefore be completed more quickly and easily, with vastly less friction to the surrounding community.

Again, while I certainly support studying an expansion of bicycle infrastructure to a thoroughfare as important as Sepulveda, it is abundantly clear that Westwood is the more necessary, more profitable, and easier route to implement. The fact that Councilmember Koretz has declined to even study this route, let alone implement it, is irresponsible to the health of the community he serves and to the safety of all users of Westwood, especially cyclists. I hope that he reconsiders such a shortsighted decision and at least allows the study to be completed. 

Thank you for your consideration.

Best,

Alex Hirsch