But real life is more complicated. By having open systems, information more readily flows, and there is a greater chance that information pertinent to the building of some subway will come to light. So what if it’s harder or messier – there is no guarantee that the end result will be better in a one-party system – it may be more quickly built, but the relative lack of information flow will mean that any problems with the construction may not come to light as quickly in a more open system. Think about the SARS outbreak – the Chinese govt denied the existence of the outbreak of SARS at the start, and was that a good thing to do?

It would of course require cuts in other sectors to help pay, and given how spend thrifty they are, I doubt we will ever see such a thing (Californians love their local program initiatives). Ahnuld’s green push gives some incentive to completing this task in the not so distant future, but by most expert accounts it seems hopelessly ambitious and difficult. Still at least they’re trying, and thats ok.

The larger issue is that we seem to have created a situation now where nothing substantial can happen wrt infrastructure. On the one hand we have (often for goood reason) people who aren’t willing to accept govt reassurances about how they will be compensated; on the other hand we have governments that seem unable to comprehend the simple idea of buying out people for a FAIR price rather than insulting compensation; on the third hand we have various (usually very much minority) organizations who for whatever obsessive reasons of their own want to throw a spanner in the works regardless of honest assessements of cost/benefits for society as a whole.

What we really want is honest assesment of the situation, and some ideas of how to resolve it. I do think that, until each of these three pathologies is admitted by the relevant parties, no progress is possible.

On more general points:
(1) The LA subway is not perfect, but it is nice for the situations when it works. For example I’ve used it to get to theaters, which is otherwise a nightmare for parking.
(2) LA traffic is far more bearable if you get yourself organized, subscribe to some good podcasts, and listen to something interesting as you drive. I really recommend this way of doing things rather than letting yourself stew, or relying on whatever random stuff comes over the airwaves.

Stevie, it’s a shame you never tried the LA light rail yourself. It’s not an all-in-one solution, but for limited applications from Pasadena, it’s pretty good. (to Union Station to catch the Flyaway shuttle to LAX; to downtown museums; to the Fashion District; to parts of Hollywood; to the South Pas farmers market.)

It’s worth re-iterating Peter Erwin’s comment that LA once had an extensive network of streetcars & trains — LA got sprawly on mass transit, not cars.