There is growing opposition to the NBC West Coast Headquarters ^[1] project planned for the lot above Metro’s Universal Station. Some say it will be too big and create a traffic nightmare. That is why NBC needs to push for expanding rail transit in the Valley. Rail that goes in more directions, to more places.

That is why NBC needs to push for a Ventura Boulevard subway.

Just last year, both Tom LaBonge and Zev Yaroslavsky started to complain ^[2] that this project was too big for Universal/Studio City/North Hollywood or whatever city your post office calls the area. They claim that this quaint little neighborhood of amusement parks, freeway interchanges and car dealerships cannot withstand such a massive development. It will be traffic hell.

Maybe they’re right. Or, maybe they would just like for you to acknowledge how important and all-knowing they really are. Either way, NBC is faced with the task of convincing everyone why the whole thing is a good idea.

NBC’s West Coast Headquarters is a good idea, and it needs to be built. It will give the local economy an enormous boost by creating jobs. It will create a ripple effect of revitalization from North Hollywood to Van Nuys. It will bring droves of people to live, work, and play in the region.

Think how this city will look 30 years from now. Think about the 101 and the 134. Think about traffic on Valley streets.

It’s time to start talking about extending the Red Line from Universal, West to the 405 corridor. It’s time to start thinking East, to connect the SFV to the SGV and the Gold Line.

NBC needs to call for a subway along Ventura Boulevard. It needs to support the idea of a streetcar for the NoHo Arts District, as mentioned by LAist ^[3]. It needs to join the movement for the Red Line to Bob Hope, which is supported by ^[4] the Valley Industry & Commerce Association. It needs to back the Pink Line from Hollywood to connect with the future Purple Line to Santa Monica.

If NBC wants to quiet its critics, it needs a plan that considers the future of a city and not just a neighborhood. It needs to send a message that it wants to be part of the solution. It needs to become one of Metro’s Top 8.

One way to do that, is to call for a Ventura Boulevard subway.

Related posts:

1. Metro’s Runaway Gold Line ^[5]
2. Metro Explains Why Subway Will Take Forever ^[6]
3. Irate woman maces kid on Los Angeles subway, caught on video ^[7]
4. By the Time L.A.’s Subway Reaches the Sea, You Could be Dead ^[8]
5. Metro Has Voted to Vote to Study Downtown Subway Connector ^[9]