NFL Comes to Inglewood, but would Carson be Better for Cycling

When you envision the future of Metropolitan Los Angeles, you imagine being able to ride your bike everywhere. Never did I think it would be able to bike to a pro football stadium again, but if some rich guys want to throw in their own money, why should I stop them?

Not that I really care about pro football coming to LA. We’ve gone years without a team and the NFL has done very well without Los Angeles thank you very much. Football’s only coming here for the same reason other stadiums got built, you play one city against another. It just so happened this time that the two combatants were both in LA.

Plus, I’m a Minnesota Vikings fan and they probably wouldn’t be the same, lovable, playoff choking team if they ever moved here. In other words, I’ve got no horse in this race, unless somehow we could bring back our city’s on true football franchise, the LA Express.

ColiseumFox

Football will be played in the Coliseum. Photo by Jeff Fox(@fox_photo)

Still, if someone were to give me a luxury box ticket, I would be inclined to say yes, since it’s hard to turn down those moments when you live in the lap of luxury.

Already proving that cycling to Dodger Stadium is more efficient than driving, I look forward to do the same when the NFL returns.

The NFL decision was centered on money, but would you have chosen Carson or Inglewood if it came down to which was more bikeable? Here are some pros and cons of each site from a CiclaValley point of view:

Inglewood:

  • Inglewood grew in the early part of the 20th century when rails guided its development.  The layout suggests the neighborhood could become both walkable and bikeable easily.
  • The Hollywood Park site sits only one and a half miles from the Green Line and about a mile away from the future Crenshaw line’s downtown Inglewood station.
  • There are currently no bike lanes in the city, so that’s a big negative.
  • Century Blvd. moves at near freeway speeds and Manchester needs to be friendlier to cyclists, especially with the potential link to Westchester and the beach.
  • There’s no bike chapter there, but there is an Operation Firefly Thursday night.

Carson:

  • Many of the streets have bike lanes on the east side.
  • The Dominguez Channel Bikeway empties out very close to the site. It has great potential for expansion, but currently is difficult to enter or exit.

    The Dominguez Bikeway would have taken you close to the Carson site
    The Dominguez Bikeway would have taken you close to the Carson sitecurrently is difficult to enter or exit on the south end.
  • The Silver Line is one and a half miles away from the site, but carries few bikes.
  • Even with bike lanes, cars drive adjacent to cyclists at near highway speeds.
  • The site is adjacent to two freeways, meaning less cars on the streets, right? Well, probably not.
  • Most of the area is built at a car centric, suburban scale. Plus, there’s a huge shopping mall on the other side of the freeway.
  • Carson does have the Carson Bicycle Coalition and the Velo Sports Center, one of only two velodromes in the region.

Despite my longing for the demolished Hollywood Park, I would have to pick the Inglewood site over Carson. Having to visit my dentist a few different ways near the Stub Hub center has led me through a lot of industrial and residential zones where it’s very rare to see a person on a sidewalk, let alone a bike.

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The Crenshaw line has a lot of potential that should bring growth more targeted to mobility in Inglewood. Plus, some of the nearby neighborhoods are semi-bikeable and are on a path to improve.

Will Angeleno’s take to this new team? I don’t know, there’s a lot to do here in this city and as the previous teams have learned, people can get bored fast. One thing’s for certain, cycling will outlast this stadium.