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10 - Unsustainable

Assignment 10 - Week of 29th

Jess D. Hernandez-Rangel

November 23, 2010

Jess D. Hernandez-Rangel Neighborhood Unsustainable, Page 1

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My Neighborhood

I live in Panorama City, on Van Nuys and Plummer; there are various unsustainable

characteristics. In the Map above my Apartment is Center Yellow Pin. The first notable

characteristic is the distance between main throughfares, about .5 of a mile

(Represented by yellow lines). This does not fit the human scale of walkability well, this

increases the need for vehicular transport. To further increase the need for vehicles, the

nearest grocery store is .5 miles away, while may still be walkable the sidewalks are not

pedestrian friendly and public transit stops are not hospitable. Third, there are no parks

close enough to create biofilial connections; and the nearest park (Noted on Map) isplaying fields; because of this, the larger public parks in LA area are visited more

causing damage to them (Garbage and Vehicular pollution). There is also the Pacoima

Wash (Thick white line on left of map), which is cemented and does not capture water

run off well. This causes flooding at intersection, which becomes highly toxic after it sits

for days until it seeps into ground or evaporates. There are further examples of

unsustainable characteristics in following pages.

Jess D. Hernandez-Rangel Neighborhood Unsustainable, Page 2

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Neighborhood

Jess D. Hernandez-Rangel Neighborhood Unsustainable, Page 3

Thereisalackofbicyclelanes,bicyclistmustridewithintraffic.Thereisstreetparkingthroughmostofthearea,whichplacesbicyclistincloseproximitywithfastpacedtraffic.Thishinderspeoplefromthinkingbicyclingissafee

noughformoflocaltraffic.

Mayapartmentbuildinghasalarge

varietyofnon-nativeplantsandlawns.

Thisisalsofoundthroughoutmostofmy

neighborhood,whichisastapleofthe

sprawlthatcreatedtheSFV.The

propertycouldreduceiswaterusage,by

switchingtonativedroughtresistant

lants.

Sodiumlampsareusedthroughouttheneighborhood,whileeffectiveinreducinglightpollutiontheyareconsiderablymoreharmfulwhenattemptingtoreplaceandstillusehigherenergyratethroughouttheirlifecycle.AlternativescouldbemultidiodeLEDlamps.

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Neighborhood

Jess D. Hernandez-Rangel Neighborhood Unsustainable, Page 4

Thesewidestreetscreatenotonlyhazardsforpedestrians,butalsofosterspeedingandthesentimentthatoneneedstodrive.Thehighvolumeofvehiclesintheareacreatealotofnoisepollutionandespeciallyinc

reasetheamountofcarbonemissions.

Fortunatelytherearevariousbusstops

aroundmyneighborhood;unfortunately

mostarewithoutproperprotectionfrom

theelements.Themajorityarecanopy-

less,illlighted,andifluckyhaveaAD

sponsoredbench.Thesefaultsinstops

makesthemuninvitingforpedestrians.

Thesidewalksarenotwideenoughforstationaryactivity,combinedwithlackofbicyclelanesmakesitdifficultforpedestrianstoownthesidewalkaswell.Therearealsolengthyhighfences,whichcreateainhospitablesceneforpedestrianstowanttowalkthrough.