My proposal for the Los Angeles subway

Primary Central Business Districts (CBDs)
a. Downtown
b. Hollywood
c. Westwood

Directly connected to all 3 CBDs
a. Santa Monica/West L.A.
b. Beverly Hills/West Hollywood
c. Los Feliz/Silverlake/Echo Park
d. Miracle Mile/Hancock Park/Koreatown

Directly connected to 2 CBDs (all others require 1 transfer)
a. Pasadena
b. USC/University Park
c. Baldwin Hills
d. Culver City
e. Westchester/LAX
f. Sherman Oaks

Directly connected to 1 CBD (all others require 1 transfer)
a. Encino
b. Studio City
c. Universal City
d. North Hollywood
e. Burbank
f. Glendale
g. Eagle Rock
h. Boyle Heights/East L.A.
i. Southgate/Lynwood
j. Morningside Park
k. Inglewood
l. Venice/Mar Vista

Transfers required to LAX from:
a. Westwood: 0
b. Hollywood: 0
c. Downtown: 1

My LA subway plan is based upon latent but unrealized relationships that organize Los Angeles. The core of the system is built upon two parallel corridors (the Red and the Purple Lines) connecting three central business districts (Downtown, Hollywood, and Westwood/Century City). As the only line connecting all three CBDs, the Red line serves as the backbone of the system. The Purple line acts as a secondary parallel corridor and the backbone of the Wilshire District as it radiates outward from downtown towards the “new downtown” of Century City.

The area served by these two lines is Los Angeles’ equivalent of Manhattan. This is the heart of the metropolis, where the region’s cultural and commercial energy is primarily concentrated. The spacial relationships between the three CBDs similarly mirror those of Manhattan: the original downtown office district (Downtown LA/Lower Manhattan) followed by a second central business district (Hollywood & Mid-Wilshire/Mid-town Manhattan). Los Angeles adds a third emerging CBD with Century City and Westwood.

If the central corridor represents LA’s equivalent of Manhattan, the San Fernando Valley, The San Bernadino Valley, and South Los Angeles all represent LA’s equivalent of the outer boroughs. As such the Orange, Gold, Blue, Yellow, and Pink lines act as feeder routes providing service from the progressively less dense residential regions into the center city. Both the Yellow and the Pink lines each serve the additional role of cross-town route running perpendicular to the central corridor, while the Orange line serves as a “side corridor” linking the two Valleys’ most appealing downtowns (Pasadena, Glendale, Universal City, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, & Encino).

The Expo line serves two roles: a radial route connecting downtown to Culver City and Venice, and a link providing direct connections to Hollywood and Westwood. The Pink and the Green lines work together to form an “outer” circumferential route largely bypassing the central corridor and directly connecting the peripheral areas.

This subway system will serve two roles. Most immediately, it will relieve the congestion that is choking our metropolitan area and draining it of its resources (time, money, fuel, environment). But perhaps more importantly, it creates a framework upon which we can most effectively and sustainably direct further growth and development. The space in all three CBDs currently remains ineffectively and under-utilized. At the same time, new development continues to expand the edges of our metropolis further outward. Our first priority should be directing new commercial, business, and residential development away from the peripheral areas and back towards the cores, where infrastructure is most concentrated and of greatest practical use. Neither the region nor the world can afford to continue squandering our resources on increasing sprawl. It's time to invest in what we have.