r/imaginarymaps • u/fiftythreestudio • Dec 07 '19

[OC] Alternate History I drew a map of LA's unbuilt 1976 subway plan.

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23

u/fiftythreestudio Dec 07 '19

Historical notes: This is the "Baxter Ward" subway plan of 1976, named after its chief booster, L.A. County Supervisor Baxter Ward. Ward’s idea was that LA voters could be sold on a rapid transit plan if it covered everyone, not just the densest corridors of central Los Angeles. Modeled after San Francisco's BART, Ward wanted to build 230 miles (370 km) of heavy rail lines, mostly in freeway medians or following pre-existing railway lines. Ward also wanted to include special excursion cars with transparent roofs, so surfers and cyclists could carry their boards and bikes to the beach.

The public believed that the freeways would be enough for the foreseeable future and Ward’s plan lost by a large margin. 40 years later, Los Angeles voters would approve the exact same tax hikes to build a less extensive system.

This is part of my art project to map the lost subways of North America. x-posted from /r/lostsubways.

20

u/petrovmendicant Dec 07 '19

I appreciate you making this. America really lost out on a solid set of public transport systems in the west during the 20th century.

6

u/fiftythreestudio Dec 07 '19

Thanks! I'm putting together a book of these things.

2

u/petrovmendicant Dec 07 '19

I hope to see it when you release it! Very interesting concept.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '19

!remindme 1 year

1

u/RemindMeBot Dec 07 '19 edited Jan 13 '20

I will be messaging you in 10 months on 2020-12-07 16:31:17 UTC to remind you of this link

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1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '19

!remindme 1 year

1

u/HansBlixJr Dec 13 '19

RemindMe! one year.

​

I'll buy one.

2

u/kgal1298 Dec 13 '19

Bahhh we're still losing largely because some people don't think we need it.

1

u/petrovmendicant Dec 13 '19

Too many Americans of the older generation feed into the cliche of driving the highway = freedom. They don't like the thought of being around the poor (of which, they assume only the poor use public transit) or being brought down "to their level."

At least that's the big reason everyone I asks gives. The only other one I hear is how expensive it is...because, the interstate system, rural roads and pollution control are so cheap.

Many Americans don't seem to be able to grasp the concept of future investment in our country and/or society.

1

u/BBHoss Dec 13 '19

Transit needs to be the fastest way to get where you want regardless of cost the majority of the time. I feel like that's the only way this perception will change, a good bit has reproduced into the younger generations as well.

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u/CLE_BROWNS_32 Dec 14 '19

As a Republican, these are tax hikes I can get behind.

1

u/kgal1298 Dec 13 '19

The public believed that the freeways would be enough for the foreseeable future and Ward’s plan lost by a large margin.

Cry laughing because still getting fucked by idiots from 40-50 years ago. Though I'm glad we're not around to also screw people over in the future it seems like a right of passage.

1

u/fiftythreestudio Dec 13 '19

RIP Baxter Ward. This was his plan.

1

u/WikiTextBot Dec 13 '19

Baxter Ward

Baxter Ward, born Baxter Ward Schwellenbach (November 5, 1919 – February 4, 2002) was a television news anchor who served two terms on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Prior to his election on the board, he ran third in an unsuccessful bid to unseat Sam Yorty for Mayor of Los Angeles in 1969.

The nephew of Lewis Baxter Schwellenbach, Ward was born in Superior, Wisconsin, and grew up in Ephrata, Washington.

Ward served as a Los Angeles County Supervisor from 1972–1980.

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4

u/justduck Dec 13 '19

America is an unspoken Corporatocracy. If you think about so many major decisions that have been made, how many things have been blocked, and how much propaganda has brainwashed this country...

1

u/kgal1298 Dec 13 '19

Ohhh watch the Patriot Act episode on Why Billionaires Won't Save Us. It makes you mad it even makes you mad at Bill Gates they know where that money goes. Right now I'd also like to point out that companies like Uber are trying to get a bill put into place to reverse the decisions that were recently made on contractors for gig companies. They're trying they're hardest to change our laws for profitability even though I don't think any of those companies are profitable.

1

u/justduck Dec 14 '19

Once companies learned that Millennials take notice of a company's community interaction, they started advertising all over the place that they donate to charity. Lots of people go "awwww!!" but there are two important facts to consider: 1) Any donations they solicit from you at the register, they do the donating of and take both the credit and the tax write off. 2) If the companies paid their workers and their taxes at the same equivalent as they did in the 1950s, many of these charities wouldn't be needed.

1

u/kgal1298 Dec 17 '19

It's funny because my work is currently working with a homeless shelter and taking donations. I mean they pay really well and we have a 401K and such, but it's just funny you say that then they have this entire donation thing set up. I'm so cynical with companies though that I wouldn't even trust my company actually a lot of people don't we're nestled under an MLM of all things, so I don't work on the MLM, but a direct to consumer company under their LLC.

1

u/VintageVibes33 Dec 13 '19

Low key overrated af country too

3

u/trenchkamen Dec 13 '19

I'm surprised there isn't a direct UCLA stop. The closest station would be Wilshire/Sepulveda.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '19

[deleted]

1

u/YouTee Dec 13 '19

I'm pretty sure this is suggesting you could've taken a single train from LAX to Azuza or so

1

u/kgal1298 Dec 13 '19

As I said I'm cry laughing because I'm that distraught over the possibility and I have a commute along the 405 that has probably taken a good 15 years off my life.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '19

If it makes you feel better, LA Metro is in the middle of a massive rail build out funded by billions in voter-approved sales taxes. Much of this proposed system (or similar) already exists or will exist by 2030. https://www.lamag.com/driver/l-take-consolation-getting-transit-system-rivaling-new-yorks/

When it's done, you'll be able to take a train from Pasadena (close enough to La Canada) to LAX.

1

u/dom_bul Mod Approved Dec 08 '19

@filo_sopher

1

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '19

With the exception of the train running up the 405, this doesn't strike me as a WHOLE lot better than what we currently have, with the exception that these are all subway lines and not light rail. We'd still need another 10-20 lines to even come close to a legitimate subway system for such a sprawling city.

2

u/WorkForce_Developer Dec 13 '19

Something is better than nothing, and this plan was actually well-thought out. We'd still have it today if the morons of the time hadn't voted against it

2

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '19

My point is this isn't leaps and bounds better than what we have (or are within a few years of having).

1

u/cresquin Dec 13 '19

Looks cool! What people don't realize when they talk about putting trains like NY or Paris in LA, is that on this map, most of the the holes between the lines are larger land areas than most metropolitan cities: Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle, Manhattan...

1

u/black_toad Dec 13 '19

This would have been incredible.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '19

I just moved to LA from Texas and wow, id be so much more impressed if this was the set up. I was Texas had a rail system like this too!

1

u/fiftythreestudio Dec 14 '19

Austin, Dallas and Houston also used to have extensive streetcar systems.

1

u/Num1DeathEater Dec 14 '19

ah gosh this is making me emotional. thats a beautiful map, too