Sahra Sulaiman
Sahra is Communities Editor for Streetsblog L.A., covering the intersection of mobility with race, class, history, representation, policing, housing, health, culture, community, and access to the public space in Boyle Heights and South Central Los Angeles.
Recent Posts
The Rail-to-(Almost)-River Project Gets Boost with $15mil TIGER Grant
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“[Let’s give] a big round of applause for Victor Mendez. He brought money,” quipped County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Mark Ridley-Thomas. Turning to Deputy Secretary of Transportation Mendez, he continued, “Come back soon and come back often!” Preferably with another $15 million grant in hand, he joked. He might have been referring to the […]
Exhausted by Bus Commute, LA Mobility Advocate Decides to Buy Car
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What was I writing about, a woman wanted to know. She had heard me explain to a gentleman passenger on the bus that, just because I had a camera with me, I was not also a model. Nor was I a stripper. I was a journalist. That news seemed to have disappointed him. He had […]
South L.A. Town Hall Ends in Protests but Residents Hope Dialogue with Mayor Is Just Beginning
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Really? A helicopter?? I sighed as I heard the aircraft swoop in low and fast outside Holman United Methodist Church Monday night as Mayor Eric Garcetti’s first ever South L.A. Town Hall came to a rather unceremonious close. It was a little after 8 p.m., and pleas from an exasperated Reverend Kelvin Sauls that those […]
Anniversaries of Hit-and-Run Deaths Mark Time but Not Healing
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Anniversaries can be a b*tch. They can be positive reminders of how communities can come together and rally around victims and their families in the face of tremendous loss. But they also mark the years that have passed since those families’ lives were forever changed. And time, particularly in the cases of hit-and-runs, seems only […]
South L.A. Cyclists Call for Central Ave. Bike Lane
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“What do we want? Safe streets! When do we want them? NOW!” So went the chants as approximately 40 members of the South Central community headed north toward City Councilmember Curren Price’s constituent center on Central Avenue yesterday evening. They were headed there to speak with the group of stakeholders that recently got the green […]
LA Bike Count Underscores Need for Better Infrastructure and Investment
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While some might not relish the opportunity to stand out on a street corner and count passersby for two hours, I can honestly say I really enjoy the experience. Not the act of counting of people, per se. But the chance to absorb the rhythm of a street. I actually spend a good deal of […]
Equity, LA’s Mobility Plan, and the Myth of Luxury-Loving Lane Stealers
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It’s hard to take some of the hysteria surrounding the City Council’s approval of Mobility Plan 2035 this past August very seriously. And by “hysteria,” I mean the most recent claims by Fix the City president James O’Sullivan, who told MyNewsLA that the city “want[s] to make driving our cars unbearable by stealing traffic lanes […]
Vision Zero 101: Bike Lanes Are Not Parking Spaces
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Tap tap tap. The parking enforcement officer looked up from his phone. When he rolled down his window, I smiled and asked politely about his having parked in the bike lane on Los Angeles Street. There was a long pause. “And?” he raised his eyebrows. Having only expected some, not total, disdain, I stuttered my […]
Exide: Can’t Put Together Proper Closure Plan but Absolves Itself of Blame for Massive Public Health Disaster
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“I want you to take a good look at me,” the fragile-looking young man with a curved spine, hunched shoulders, and gangly arms addressed members of the Exide Community Advisory Committee (CAC), representatives of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and Department of Public Health (DPH), and […]
Filed Under: O Valley Bike Lane, Thou Art but a Vehicular Temptress
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When the driver pulled in behind me in the new buffered bike lane along Vineland, I thought, OK, it’s a little weird, but he’s probably going to turn right or park. A block and a half later I turned around again. Nope, he’s still there and now he is waving at me like this is […]
The Importance of Proper Bike Rack Placement and Design
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When the butterflies, flowers, and decorative benches first started popping up along 1st Street in Boyle Heights last year, reviews were mixed. Okay… That’s not really true — the reviews I heard were largely not that great. Particularly from business owners that had been given some advance notice — but no choice and no recourse […]
At-Grade Crossings along LA Metro Blue Line to See $30 Mil in Pedestrian Safety Improvements
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“In the interest of time,” Greg Kildare, Executive Director of Metro’s Enterprise Risk, Safety, and Asset Management team began his address to the Board on July 23, “I will just say that staff believes that the [Metro Blue Line] pedestrian gating project is an extremely important safety improvement to our oldest rail line and consistent […]