Universal Studios: Not In My Back Yard

Politicians and cycling advocates in Los Angeles want to extend a bike path along the Los Angeles River to provide a relatively flat, straight, low traffic bike route from the San Gabriel Valley into downtown Los Angeles. Jennifer Klausner, executive director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, said the bike path potentially offers the chance to give cyclists a way to get across the city without dealing with streets.

"The beauty of the river path is that it's basically flat and separated from the road for people who want a quieter ride and don't want to hump it over a hill," she said.

The blocker: Universal Studios, which owns property along the Los Angeles River, doesn't want a bike path there.


"We have some very important, high-profile production companies that are located along that road as well, and security is a concern," says Tom Smith, senior vice president of West Coast real estate for NBC Universal.

LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky counters, "The fact is that we have a public bike path along some of the most expensive and reclusive properties along the ocean -- from Will Rogers [beach] to Torrance. I don't think it's a mutually exclusive proposition to have a bike path and a secure studio in the same location."

Read more in the Los Angeles Times, with discussion also at LAist.