Revisiting "The Blue Line Blues": Transit-Oriented Development in Inner-City Areas of Los Angeles County, 2000-2016

Abstract

In the year 2000, Loukaitou-Sideris and Banerjee conducted a study on the Blue Line light rail system in Los Angeles. The study examined eight station areas between Long Beach and Los Angeles that were in some of the more neglected, inner-city areas. The study concluded the presence of light rail alone would not be sufficient enough to stimulate the economic development necessary to attract successful transit oriented development in those areas because of 11 antecedents identified by the authors. However, it can be argued that since only 10 years of rail service had passed when the original study was done, it was not enough time for the Blue Line to attract transit oriented development to the area.

The existing literature on TOD and inner cities argues that it can take up to 25 years for the benefits of light rail to fully establish. Using this argument to revisit the area studied by Loukaitou-Sideris and Banerjee, this study seeks to find out if and how conditions of the Blue Line have changed and if the 11 antecedents remain. By mirroring the methods used in the original study, this study investigates the same eight stations analyzed in the original study to determine if light rail can spark development and if areas are still hindered by the same antecedents.