It's funny how Oregon, under McCall, started out to become different than Los Angeles, but in many respects has become like LA, especially the La La part. Even now Gov K marches to the same policies as the Golden State. Merging Oregon and California together is what the Oregon Democratic party is really about.

Yeah, well, when you guys come up with a better alternative than Sizemore and Mannix, give me a call.

It just shows how the Smart Growth mafia here is trying to make us into LA.

Remember, LA has the fewest freeway miles per capita of any US city, it has the highest population density of any metro area, the biggest jobs/housing balance with no more than 4% of jobs in any one center, poorly managed public transit that includes a bloated rail system, etc. etc.

The air is cleaner in LA now than it was 20 years ago--much cleaner.

With its huge and growing population California had no choice but to go green in a big way. Funny thing is, while lower per capita energy consumption for the past couple of decades, the state's economy has grown impressively.

So yeah, there are things we could learn from our southern neighbor.

...LA has the fewest freeway miles per capita of any US city

A more meaningful measure would be freeway lane-miles per capita. Under that measure, it may not look too favorable.

LA's warm climate means that almost no energy needs to be used for heating and cooling most of the year. While the valleys get uncomfortably hot in the summer, the coastal plane doesn't get much hotter than Portland. When I lived there, I never turned on the heater. When I lived in Portland, I dreaded my winter natural gas bills.

"So yeah, there are things we could learn from our southern neighbor."

Yeah, like gasoline that gives you fewer miles per gallon. Cars that cost more because of all the pollution controls. And taxes, higher taxes ... oh wait, we are already doing all that - never mind. Gee, maybe we could protest the Marines.