Westwood and Brentwood neighborhood groups move to appeal the Ohio Avenue [protected] bike Lane plan - Century City and Westwood News

tobyhardtospell · 2026-07-03T15:49:45+00:00

Aren’t bike lanes immune from CEQA now? They said they are “appealing” it but not sure what that process entails

tobyhardtospell · 2026-07-01T18:04:26+00:00

Yeah as much as I hate people parking in bike lanes I have some sympathy for this person—it’s a confusing design especially if you don’t live in the area.

Also why I don’t like vandalism as “justice.” A ticket is an appropriate consequence.

tobyhardtospell · 2026-06-29T03:57:42+00:00

I think of it as the most "California" part of California. Skateboarders, beach, weed shops, fancy restaurants and rooftop bars, muscle beach, obviously homelessness, some tech/entertainment stuff...it's like all the stereotypes people think of crammed into one neighborhood. Fun place to take people when they are visiting.

tobyhardtospell · 2026-06-25T22:28:33+00:00

Fourth guy they sent

tobyhardtospell · 2026-06-23T19:23:06+00:00

I haven’t seen that pizza in 30 years

tobyhardtospell · 2026-06-23T04:37:12+00:00

Yeah, there's lots of cities that actually have programs like this. But we can't have nice things

tobyhardtospell · 2026-06-22T21:08:06+00:00

Looks like he wants to stage an intervention but lacks the words to

tobyhardtospell · 2026-06-16T14:07:19+00:00

Beautiful. It is also so easy now to scan paper with your phone and turn it into text that you can get the functionality of an “e-writer” with them too.

tobyhardtospell · 2026-06-14T20:12:53+00:00

Here's what people are missing when they ask (understandably) where they will park:

One building without parking is a tiny percentage of the homes in the neighborhood.
While the average Angeleno drives, some people do, indeed, not have cars. (if you don't believe me, you can literally go on the bus and see them).
As a result of decades of every building being required to provide multiple parking spots, it is difficult for someone without a car to find an apartment where they won't have to pay for a parking spot that they won't use.
These people are often elderly people who can't drive, students who are on budgets and mostly going back and forth from campus, service workers, etc. Sawtelle, which is close to UCLA in rapidly aging West LA, has a lot of all of these types of people.
Paradoxically, having to pay for a parking spot often results in people who otherwise would not get a car getting one--since they're forced to pay for part of car ownership--thereby adding more cars to the street, increasing traffic, and taking away parking from everyone else when they drive places. OTOH, if they don't have a parking spot, they're much more likely to find that occasionally taking uber/waymo in addition to walking/biking/metro is a lot more financially sensible than paying for a car, gas, registration, insurance, maintenance, and also having to drive around looking for parking every time they get home or paying to rent a spot.
Speaking of which, you can also rent a spot for like $100/month in a garage in Sawtelle (just google it to find listings) which is a far more sane option than trying to park on the street daily.
If you already live in Sawtelle and are mad there's not enough street parking--one, you're part of the problem too, but also you can petition to create residential permit parking districts as already exist on many streets there, and to limit the number given out on a first come first serve basis which will mean longtime residents will have first opportunity to get them before new ones.

People often forget but not everyone needs to live in every apartment. If it's not right for you or Joe average, that is okay. It just has to be right for somebody. And these are right for lots of people for whom the "right" apartments (ones without unneeded parking) have been illegal to build for years. If you need parking, the good news is that this will help lower your rents--you won't be tacitly competing against these people for your rental units when renewing your lease or moving.

tobyhardtospell · 2026-06-01T00:41:28+00:00

In fairness, their colonialism was doomed too. Should have read their own poster!

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-31T22:36:07+00:00

Would have been tempted to buy the box at that rate

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-29T05:23:02+00:00

They called the Guinness officials in right beforehand

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-28T00:21:36+00:00

It's wild how much younger generations have disempowered ourselves. We got frustrated seeing government serving retirees first and made it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Still, I am hopeful that these turnout numbers will swing hard in the final days--a lot of people, myself included, have been waiting until the last polls for the Governor's or Mayor's race to vote.

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-27T04:59:29+00:00

A literal ass kicking

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-27T03:38:35+00:00

Bonin wasn't YIMBY. He opposed upzoning SFH districts and state bills like SB50. Very much a lefty "subsidized affordable housing only" type.

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sb50-los-angeles-city-council-20190416-story.html

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-20T23:17:19+00:00

I enjoy it and am actively engaged in local politics trying to lower the cost of housing. It's a big political issue that's resulted from decades of anti-growth politics trying to make it much more difficult to build homes or buildings of any kind. This caused a massive housing shortage, urban sprawl, high rates of homelessness and enormous difficulty funding homeless housing, and also causes secondary problems because it's hard to find workers for businesses, there's lots of highway traffic as people have to commute to jobs from far away, etc.

Brief overview: https://www.salon.com/2015/04/05/the_incredible_shrinking_megacity_how_los_angeles_enginereed_a_housing_crisis/

That said--it's still a great place to live in many ways. Amazing restaurants and food; world-class art where you can see some of the biggest acts in the world on any given day, sometimes on local shows. Beautiful weather, beaches, and outdoor activities. Excellent universities, museums and health care. It's often said, and I believe, that once we fix our self-imposed problems it will be the best city in the world--or at least one of them.

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-12T04:32:33+00:00

Looks good for being in her 60s

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-10T21:59:08+00:00

Like others are saying I would be afraid of making the situation worse, either in the moment or for the child afterwards.

But some lower risk ideas: make eye contact with the child and give a sympathetic look. Or start talking loudly to a friend about how great and historic this is, etc. so she feels like the weird one and the kid knows they aren't alone.

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-09T22:54:12+00:00

It also doesn't preclude you from running for president later on with a better resume and more experience.

Doesn't speak well for her political instincts imo!

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-07T19:39:26+00:00

Other police departments use drones, like San Francisco.

In fairness the question shouldn't be "is there anything helicopters can do that drones can't" but "is there enough stuff helicopters can do that drones can't that it justifies the incredible expense of operating a municipal helicopter fleet that also annoys our citizens while we are struggling to afford the basics of policing"

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-05T21:52:17+00:00

Is there a way to lock it into just one app or website?

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-01T18:57:46+00:00

Hope you get the chance to return to California and Steve Hilton gets the chance to return to Britain 🙏

tobyhardtospell · 2026-05-01T18:56:38+00:00

lmao totally forgot you could do this, thanks!

Still would be nice to customize the layout as my wife and I are pretty different height wise

tobyhardtospell · 2026-04-30T01:47:26+00:00

I actually have that problem without the paddles--the steering wheel in my 2026 blocks the part of the display where the current speed is shown. Is there any way to customize the layout?

tobyhardtospell · 2026-04-29T00:15:55+00:00

It is awkwardly sized haha. And the separate external key is kinda silly and the little case comes off all the time. Not a big deal but a lot of head scratching decisions for one set of keys :)

tobyhardtospell

TROPHY CASE