THE REAL WORLD--Well, it was another whirlwind weekend for me, a dermatologist with multiple work venues, and working diverse aspects of medicine ranging from teaching and speaking to the clinical visits with my cherished patients. And when the opportunity presents, to figure out how transportation and planning affect our economy, environment, and quality of life ... with such an opportunity presenting itself to me on my recent trip to Lubbock, TX. (Photo)
Lecturing to medical students from my med school alma mater of Galveston, TX (present at a statewide dermatology conference) was a real treat. We talked about a few brand-name medicines that I like because--despite their short-term expense--they have long-term cost-effective implications which I strongly support. Yes, it was pharma-sponsored--but I've turned down offers to speak on products I don't think are cost-effective.
I got to Lubbock last Friday via a one-stop at Las Vegas, and I actually won a little from the slots at the layover. But the real luck I appreciated was the statement my driver made when we drove from the hotel to the lecture venue in just a few minutes: "From one end of town to the other in eight minutes--now that's technology!"
And it is--whether it's Uber or your own personal car, in the right setting an automobile is a convenience and first-rate technology. Ditto with the airplane. And they work doggone well for getting me from LAX to Lubbock, TX in half a day.
But so, too, is (again, under the RIGHT circumstances) a train, a bicycle, or a bus. I got up at 3 AM to catch an early flight to Dallas and back again to LAX, in order to walk from one terminal to another at LAX to my car to drive to my part-time clinic at Temecula, where I work one Saturday a month. I was tired, but I wasn't giving up on my patients.
On the way home, I picked up the American Airlines magazine and read a rather thought-provoking and well-written article called "City of Glass", which decried his home city of Dallas for its lack of pedestrian- and transit-friendly, and lionized Vancouver (to where the author and his girlfriend went on vacation) as an example for other cities to follow.
To a large degree, I entirely agreed with the author--Americans need more pedestrian and bicycle and transit options. That's just common sense--but it's ALSO common sense to recognize where they’re NOT helpful.
Getting from LAX to Lubbock, TX via a plane and a car, and getting from LAX via a car, is not going to be helped by transit or pedestrian or bicycle projects.
Should the average resident of Lubbock, TX have more sidewalks and bicycles and, when appropriate, bus/transit service? Heck, maybe Uber or something like it needs to be available for those who are without a car, or who don't want a car, to affordably get around.
But otherwise, the average able-bodied individual in Lubbock, TX needs a car--and helicopters and planes to transport those living in the surrounding communities to access the regional hospital in that fine city.
And although the author did (perhaps with some tongue-in-cheek humor) go on and on about how sexy and wonderful the people in Vancouver were, and how awesome it was to go bicycling and running in Vancouver (which has no freeways to access its urban core, and truly is a city to visit and enjoy, if you've not been there), there was a missing factor in the article.
There was also a missing factor in the adjacent advertising of how working professionals can find love and relationships (a CEO and a marketing executive, no less!):
Where the HELL was the discussion about children?
You know--those short people who make us tall people look like idiots when it comes to technology and the latest in pop culture? Those expensive critters that keep us from traveling, exercising, sleeping, etc?
Life is good when two young, or two not-so-young, people can get around and date and travel and exercise and all that...without having to deal with small children who really aren't so portable, and who need constant monitoring and supervision.
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I'm sure that both Vancouver and Lubbock are great places to live, and are both cities that love their children...but so long as families (who, by definition, do NOT have as much money on hand to do things and go places) aren't sufficiently represented in how we live and how we travel and how we budget, this whole transportation/planning thing will be missing a huge element in its overall accuracy and relevance.
And the reason I love my jobs, but need to do multiple jobs, is that I will NOT let my two kids and wife go without, even when it comes to traveling. But what about those families with multiple jobs (and aren't doctors?). What about them?
Will THEY be able to travel to Vancouver or Lubbock? Will THEY have affordable transportation, education and the ability to see the two great nations of the United States and Canada?
Until then, there will be those of us who debate transit, cars, planes, bicycles, sidewalks, etc ... but their input will have to be taken only with limited credibility.
From Vancouver to Lubbock, and everywhere in-between, until we offer room for children and young, poor adults the ability to play a role in our society, it will be the planners who look silly and behind the times--and it will be the journalists who are fun to read...but easy to ignore when it comes to that thing called The Real World.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. He also does regular commentary on the Mark Isler Radio Show on AM 870, and co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 88
Pub: Oct 29, 2015
