Constellation Station or No Station in Century City

(This article originally appeared in the May 1, 2012 edition of the Century City News)

By Michael Douglas Carlin

I attended the board meeting of Metro this past week. I was in awe of our democratic process. The mayor presided with a presidential flare. He made us laugh and he kept the process moving. In the face of very sharp criticism he kept his cool. Whatever you might think of the mayor he is heading on to higher offices and more important roles… this is clear.

The City of Beverly Hills was in full force attempting to stop the subway from tunneling under the high school. Their mayor, city council, and city attorney all spoke during the public comment periods. Their argument was chiefly “it isn’t safe to tunnel under a school.” That didn’t stop the casting of aspersions; “Rich developers are conspiring to place the stop in the heart of Century City.”

This fight isn’t new. Beverly Hills and all incorporated cities within Los Angeles County have been building within their city’s limits at alarming rates. They get tax revenues from these developments. The city of Los Angeles has lagged in approving these buildings and all of the incorporated cities have capitalized on what has been a weakness in Los Angeles. All of this development does spill over onto the streets of Los Angeles that has inadequate infrastructure to handle the traffic as people commute to jobs in these buildings. Beverly Hills has been one of the most prolific cities in capitalizing on the bureaucracy of Los Angeles.

When Century City (The City of the Future) was formed, over 50 years ago, there was supposed to be a freeway to get traffic into and out of this new business hub. The city of Beverly Hills organized to kill this important route that was called the “Beverly Hills Freeway.” This caused developments to slow because Century City was miles away from current freeways and getting to and from the hub proved difficult at rush hour. This subway would make Century City more relevant. Killing the stop at Constellation and Avenue of the Stars would essentially kill the subway for Century City and allow the City of Beverly Hills to continue their development pattern with less competition from Century City.

How many of you remember when Creative Artists Agency moved to Century City? How much revenue did the City of Beverly Hills lose? This isn’t a fight with a rich developer on one side and the people on the other side… this is a fight with rich people on both sides. Isn’t it odd that officials in Beverly Hills would be treating this like they were economically challenged in calling out the Century City developers?

The scientists have spoken and proclaimed that Santa Monica and Moreno isn’t a safe site for a subway stop because of two faults that intersect there. They have said that Constellation and Avenue of the Stars is safe. This includes Lucy Jones of the USGS, who was an unpaid volunteer.

So let’s take the rich developer interests out of the equation from both sides of this argument. What is in the best interests of the people? More ridership will embrace the subway at a stop in the heart of Century City. More workers (average people like you and me) will get on the subway and commute. Building on Santa Monica Blvd. isn’t safe. How many high school students could find themselves in that subway station during an earthquake? Let’s not put kids at risk. Experts have weighed in on building a subway under the high school and concluded that it is safe. Perhaps during the actual tunneling process no kids should be in the school. Perhaps the tunneling could be done during Spring Break.

Los Angeles has lagged in the development windfall that has struck our city. They shoulder an inordinate amount of the costs of the infrastructure to support the development of the incorporated cities. The tax base of Los Angeles has also lagged. This has created pressure on the budget of the city. Today we sit at a critical juncture to get it right for Los Angeles by getting it right for the workers in Century City. The subway is an important asset for the most important business hub on the West Coast. Let’s defer to the experts and scientists by building something safe and meaningful for the future… in the city of the future.

Our democratic process is awesome. Everybody gets to be heard, file lawsuits, or stop progress… for a time and when the people rally together to shirk the bullies the right thing gets done. I would hope that all of us get involved to see this issue through to a successful result for Century City and Los Angeles. Century City needs a subway… Los Angeles needs Century City. They majority of the public comments were in favor of the Constellation Station and they all seemed to be making logical appeals instead of emotional pleas. The Metro board approved the subway through La Cienega and Wilshire. There will be a hearing about the Beverly Hills findings and based upon this “new information” the Metro Board will plot the next step.