A recent op-ed for Town & Country by journalist Annie Goldsmith reexamines Los Angeles’s reputation for notoriously bad traffic. Opening with the iconic freeway scene from “La La Land” she frames traffic not merely as a nuisance but as a defining characteristic of the city. She argues that unlike older cities with dense, rigid street grids, Los Angeles offers multiple routes and relatively predictable congestion, allowing drivers to plan their travel more effectively.
Goldsmith reframes traffic as a byproduct of economic vitality and personal mobility rather than dysfunction.
Luskin urban planning professor Michael Manville reinforces this perspective, stating: “Congestion is oftentimes a sign of economic prosperity.”
Ultimately, the piece portrays Los Angeles traffic as culturally embedded and even somewhat romantic—encouraging readers to reconsider it as an inevitable and even perhaps meaningful aspect of urban life.
