Ridazz, Wrenches, & Wonks: A Revolution on Two Wheels Rolls Into Los Angeles By Donald P. Strauss, M.F.A. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England (2015) Department of Environmental Studies Dissertation Signature Page The undersigned have examined the dissertation entitled: Ridazz, Wrenches, & Wonks: A Revolution on Two Wheels Rolls Into Los Angeles presented by _Donald Strauss_____________________________________________ candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and hereby certify that it is accepted. Committee Chair Joy Ackerman, PhD_____________________________ Committee Member Mitchell Thomashow, EdD_________________ Committee Member Jenny Price, PhD___________________________ Defense Date 11/19/2014 Date Submitted to the Registrar’s Office__________________________March 24, 2015 © Copyright by Donald Parker Strauss, 2015 All rights reserved Dedication For Morgan, Lily, Ursula, and Zac—four people who have become, before my very eyes, so much more than just my children. And for all those who ride and dream of just and vital urban ecosystems… 1 Figure 1. Roadblock, http://www.midnightridazz.com/images/gallery/large/wpP1020033_1183496342.jpg. 1 Roadblock, wpP1020033_1183496342.jpg (JPEG Image, 700 × 525 Pixels) - Scaled (0%), accessed July 21, 2012, http://www.midnightridazz.com/images/gallery/large/wpP1020033_118349634 2.jpg.Ibid. i Acknowledgements I beg for forgiveness in advance, if my memory fails me to the extent that I leave anyone out who has made a contribution, big or small, to this work. The members of my committee, Chair, Joy Ackerman, PhD, Mitchell Thomashow, EdD, and Jenny Price, PhD, have shaped this work through their insights, guidance, super-human patience, and collective, implied insistence that I not just get it done, but that I get it right. Tex Boggs, PhD, President of Antioch University Los Angeles, has been perhaps the greatest and most important mentor I have ever had. My solemn promise to him that I would complete this work and earn my degree left me with two choices: the betrayal of a friend, mentor, and colleague for whom I have only the deepest love and respect or the completion of a journey that has opened endless doors to an ever-growing sense of meaning and purpose in the work I do and the life I live. Andrea Richards, PhD, set the bar of friendship and collegiality at new heights through every leg of this journey. I could write a book-length description of her support from the first mention I made of an interest in returning to school, one last time, through a ten-and-a-half-year process that included six years of research and writing and the completion of this work. It would be a book filled with an unimaginable volume of acts of human kindness. My colleagues in the Urban Sustainability Master of Arts program at Antioch University Los Angeles, Gilda Haas, Core Faculty; Jane Paul, Teaching Faculty; and Program Coordinators, Tara Aesquivil, Sarah Brin, and Catherine M. McDonald have tended the fires admirably while I was frequently buried in this work. My friend and colleague, Rowland Russell, PhD, recruited me into the ES PhD program at Antioch University New England ii and provided me with so much more than a couch during dozens of trips to Keene, New Hampshire. We walked, we talked, we commiserated, we dined, we drank, we bore witness for each other through any number of trying life-cycle events. It was Rowland who virtually strong-armed me into writing the “Night Ridazz” section in Chapter Two. Beth Kaplin, PhD, Jim Jordan, PhD, and Tom Wessels, MA accompanied my cohort, during our first intensive, on three hikes up Gap Mountain. On those hikes and subsequently in the classroom, each, in her/his own way, forever changed the way I looked at landscape/place. In doing so, each made contributions to this work that I can only describe as sine qua non. Seth Fisher, MFA provided me with a fresh set of eyes and some brilliant insights during the endgame when my own vision had gone a bit blurry. Cheryl Purdue, PhD listened carefully, reflected back, guided, and encouraged me every step of the way—well beyond the time frame of our weekly sessions. My children, to whom this work is dedicated, and their partners provided me with unconditional love and support, without which I could not have possibly arrived at this moment. To all of the aforementioned and those I have inadvertently omitted, thank you so much for your patience and support. I truly hope the energies you have given me throughout this process will return to you many times over. iii Abstract How can we make cities more livable? Los Angeles, in particular, is a notably challenging place to live. For many, it is hard to see Los Angeles—city or county—as anything other than a huge, sprawling, and some would say placeless place. Los Angeles is known by many as the place that tore up more than 1,000 miles of streetcar lines to make way for millions of cars and hundreds of miles of freeways. Because of this, Los Angeles is also known for its poor air quality and jammed freeways. Those who live in Los Angeles know that it can be a very real challenge to get around. But Los Angeles is also a city of possibilities. It is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. It is mostly flat. It seldom rains. Surprisingly, Los Angeles has an alternative bike culture that has emerged and rapidly matured over the last nineteen years. It has gone from a rowdy and radical culture of bike messengers gathering for night rides to a substantial and growing community of riders, do-it-yourself bike mechanics, and homegrown transportation activists and advocates who have influenced the way bikes and riders are perceived and even how regional transportation policy is developed and implemented. How and why has that come to pass? In answering these questions, this dissertation seeks to describe the recent history of bike culture in Los Angeles through the eyes of its originators and ongoing participants. This is a narrative account of the recent past and the present in Los Angeles, California, in which a collection of bicycle-related phenomena appear to be transforming the land in ways that many might agree constitute a form of revitalization. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at Ohiolink ETDCenter, http://etd.ohiolink.edu and AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/. An MP4 video introduction by the author accompanies this document. iv Table of Contents Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. ii Abstract........................................................................................................................................ iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ ix List of Supplemental Media Files ......................................................................................... x Chapter One ................................................................................................................................. 1 Changes on an Urban Landscape ......................................................................................................... 1 Urban Sustainability .................................................................................................................................. 5 (Eco) Systems as Metaphor..................................................................................................................... 8 Thinking About the Land Beneath the Pavement ...................................................................... 13 Ourselves in Time and Space ................................................................................................................ 18 Getting Back to Where I Never Once Thought I Belonged ..................................................... 22 Some Notes on Memoir and Manifesto as Method ..................................................................... 26 Message in a Bottle ................................................................................................................................... 28 Chapter Two ............................................................................................................................. 30 Ridazz: An L. A. Creation Story and Other Tales From the Streets ....................... 30 Messengers ................................................................................................................................................... 35 Night Rides ................................................................................................................................................... 37 Night Ridazz ................................................................................................................................................ 40 The Freeway Rides .................................................................................................................................... 55 Cops and Ridazz ......................................................................................................................................... 63 Cyclists and Police ....................................................................................................................................