Centralized Transit in the South Bay

Back in April, I composed a series of posts about centralization around Westwood, Hollywood, and Downtown, using Steve Belmont's assertions in his book Cities in Full as my guide. He articulates the model of a compact, high density commercial hub tightly ringed by what Belmont refers to as the "Central Residential Ring": close in neighborhoods ideally suited for high density housing because of their proximity to the centralized employment and transit resources.

The South Bay subregion is ideally suited for increased centralization. The area roughly bounded by Slauson to the north, Vermont to the east, Artesia to the south, and Santa Monica Bay to the west already has relatively high population density, an underutilized commercial core (El Segundo's Central Business District), and a transit network loosely centered on that commercial core.


View Larger Map

The area comprising the Central Residential Ring includes the cities of El Segundo, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Lawndale, and Manhattan Beach. It also includes the Westchester area of the city of Los Angeles and the northern section of Redondo Beach as well as the unincorporated areas of Westmont, West Athens, Lennox, Del Aire, an Alondra Park.

The entire area covers a total of just under 57 square miles, within which live approximately 511,000 people at an average population density of 8,879/sq. mi. When the massive area occupied by low or unpopulated areas like the Chevron Oil Refinery and the census tract that includes LAX are excluded, the population density rises to 10,564/sq. mi. For comparison, Washington, DC, has a population of 588,292 and a population density of 9,581.3/sq. mi.



Despite a decent sized population and high average residential densities, the South Bay core remains a disjointed urban landscape. This is due to its extremely car oriented design, key gaps in the public transportation network, and a fragmented residential organization. However, all the elements are in place to easily encourage development of greater centralization in this subregion.

Employment is already centralized in the area bounded by Sepulveda and Aviation Boulevards, Rosecrans Avenue, and Imperial Highway, but the land remains extremely underutilized. Valuable land is given over to parking lots which separate the office buildings they serve from the streets and sidewalks. The area is unpleasant to walk in because it is so dominated by automotive traffic.

Transit connects the downtown core directly to Santa Monica, Westwood, Downtown, Long Beach, and San Pedro. A small constellation of satellite transit hubs (LAX City Bus Center, Downtown Inglewood, Howard Hughes Center, and South Bay Galleria) compliment that core and provide additional connections beyond it. However, the lack of connectivity within the core discourages El Segundo from fulfilling its role as the primary transfer point for all South Bay traffic. This is similar to the situation surrounding the Downtown Connector: the most vital links lie at the core and their absence greatly weakens the entire network.



The area is rich in residential environments, from Manhattan Beach and Hawthorne to Westchester and Inglewood, but they too are disconnected from one another due to reliance upon automobiles and the lack of a cohesive, concentrated downtown core. Just like the satellite transit hub network, housing and commercial development in nearby Inglewood, Hawthorne, and Gardena would also benefit from a strengthened core.

In terms of the public transportation network, these are the proposals I offer for improving connectivity in El Segundo's Central Business District:

• Designate the El Segundo Green Line station as main transfer point for buses in El Segundo's downtown core.
• Extend Metro 439, Metro 120, BBB 3, and CC 6 buses from their current termini at Aviation to the El Segundo Station (439, 3, and 6 via Aviation Blvd; 120 via Nash & Douglas.
• Extend Metro 715 from its current stop at the LAX Bus Center to the El Segundo Green Line station via Aviation Blvd.
• Create direct shuttle service between the El Segundo Green Line station and all LAX terminals via Aviation Blvd and the LAX Bus Center.
• Detour Metro 232, Torrance Transit 8, and Commuter Express 438 to make stops pass El Segundo Green Line station.
• Reroute Beach Cities Transit Line 109 to terminate at El Segundo Green Line station rather than at Aviation.

I can't comment upon frequency and duration of service of these line at this time.