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Mayor Villaraigosa returned to City Hall today almost giddy from his fortnight in Asia. Flanked by twenty fellow travelers, the mayor met the media this morning and talked about the trade and tourism dollars that would be coming L.A.'s way. It wasn't on his script cards, but he also left the impression that, compared to Shanghai (shown) and Tokyo, he feels the Los Angeles skyline sort of sucks. He called on architects to do better, and observed that many of the architects building those cities live in L.A.
"We've got to start rethinking—," he began, then paused and restarted unprompted: "Los Angeles has to recommit to itself to great architecture. You go to great cities to see great architecture...We've got to reimagine what L.A. looks like. We can and should have great architecture here." He also called LAX all but a joke compared to airports in Asia and was wowed by the bullet trains and other transit modes he saw: "America has got to catch up to everybody in its commitment to infrastructure...Asia is on the move."
In his excitement at seeing transit lines that actually connect to places of interest, the mayor expounded that "we need to connect the Green Line to the airport." That position runs counter to his own airport's chief, Lydia Kennard, who just in June made clear she feels there are many more effective ways to spend money on transportation improvements at LAX. The Green Line requires such a slow, convoluted trip from downtown that she argues it would never be used much by airport passengers.
* More architecture by Villaraigosa: Speaking in June to the AIA meeting, via The Planning Report.