What No One Expected
So the title of this article is a bit “geeky”; it references one of the most famous episodes of the original Star Trek television series. Here’s the thing: 2022 L.A. is a megalopolis that commonly outpaces even some of the most outrageous science fiction. This has good and bad elements to it, and we’re going to briefly look into some from either category here.
1- Faster Inner-City Navigation With Scooters
One transportation option that hasn’t worked so well for L.A. is the scooters. A dozen different companies offer scooters and apps for people to get around quicker in the city. It works, but it doesn’t work. L.A. is far from the only city to have such transportation options, but it is one of the most extreme. Locals kind of dislike the scooters.
If you go to Echo Park in downtown L.A., there’s a dirty little pond that, at any given time, has dozens of those scooters resting in the muck at the bottom. People just threw them in. This is one aspect of L.A. that prompts continual change: the public’s response to transport options. Many don’t realize it, but L.A. has a subway as well; and it’s a transient nightmare.
Elon Musk decided to get in the game with a better solution, he’s presently building a tunnel to Dodger Stadium which, when complete, will reduce a massive amount of traffic burden in the city. It will also be a futuristic underground highway. Residents seem excited about this coming traffic relief option.
2- At-Home Cannabis Delivery
Something else L.A. has been a pioneer in is Van Nuys cannabis delivery. Starting first with medical options, and branching out into recreational areas, for many years now it’s been possible to place an order online for cannabis and have your ideal strain shipped right to your front door.
3- Traffic Like a Dystopian Novel
While the 2020 health crisis may have knocked L.A. from the city with the worst traffic in the country, to the city with the second-worst traffic in the country, that’s not a huge change. If you’ve driven in L.A., you know: it’s a nightmare. Not only are the roads always clogged, but people drive like caffeinated waterfowl in a wind tunnel.
A Mixed Bag of Potential
Increasingly innovative ways of transportation define L.A.; some work better than others, everyone is presently awaiting Elon Musk’s tunneling efforts with baited breath. Substances like cannabis can now be delivered right to your front door, which is convenient and discreet for millions of locals. Also, such options allow them to avoid downright dystopian traffic.
Los Angeles is a city built in a desert and on the hopes and dreams of migratory Midwesterners. Whatever you think of the city, it is its own animal, and it is sprinting into tomorrow as fast as it can. Will it make it to “Tomorrowland”, or find itself implode? Only time will tell.
