City Icons: Los Angeles

You didn’t think I was going to write about the Hollywood sign did you? Perhaps rivaled only by Mexico City, Los Angeles is all about car culture and the many hours spent driving on its massive network of freeways. LA, like Mexico City, is also one of the smoggiest cities in the world. The difference between the two transportation wise is that Mexico City has an excellent metro system while Los Angeles is in the midst of completing a more extensive metro. I can’t imagine Los Angelinos will abandon their beloved cars en mass once it is complete and more convenient.

For those not used to the freeway system it can take nerves of steel to navigate six lanes populated by aggressive drivers who put the pedal to the metal only to hurry up and wait when they hit a traffic snarl. The city’s freeways are essentially parking lots during rush hour. In fact I had to wait a while well after rush hour before traffic starting moving to capture the motion of cars pictured above.

What are the cities of the world you have lived in or traveled to where a car is not necessary? I’ll vouch for New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Previous Posts in this Series:

Seoul
Panama City
Tokyo
Dubai
Mexico City