What Makes a City? An Interview With Stephen Box

Stephen Box's entrance is marked by a pair of bicycles coasting in unison on the sidewalk of Chandler Boulevard, across the street from the North Hollywood Metro station.

I took the Orange Line and arrived at our meeting destination, a Coffee Bean, several minutes early. Box and his wife, Enci, took the Red Line from Hollywood to meet me here. It's my first time meeting Box in person, yet I instinctively gather that Enci rarely leaves his side. They are a team; a partnership. They walk their bikes to the nearest parking meter and lock them up, handles facing opposite directions.

It's 3 p.m. on a Friday, and a couple of tables outside the coffee shop are empty. Box and I choose the one nearest the door, while his wife slips inside to order drinks. A young, curly-haired woman is soliciting pedestrians to volunteer for or donate money to Green Peace.

"I'm busy," a man says when he sees her.

"I'm busy too, saving the planet," she replies convincingly.

Box's goals are simpler. He wants to save the streets and turn District 4, the Los Angeles City Council seat he is running for in the March 8 election, into a more sustainable, livable community. The Australian-born candidate is running against incumbent Tom LaBonge for a district that includes Toluca Lake and part of North Hollywood, and stretches as far as the Miricle Mile on Wilshire Boulevard.

Box, a lively man whose only reminder of age is his graying facial hair, wears a blazer and a newsboy-style cap. He hands me a long, rectangular card: on one side is a photograph of him and Enci, with a note about his campaign; on the other side, mention of his "Four for 4" plan, and his social networking contact information. His Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts all have the same user name: Box4CC.

In order to get on the ballot, Box ran an independent grassroots campaign with a small collective of locals, which included Enci, who ran the office, organizing Box's neighborhood canvassing. Others conducted research and compiled Box's track record on issues including the environment and sustainability.

Box and his wife owned five cars when they met, but now they use only public transportation and their bicycles to commute and travel.

"It just sort of evolved, and we became car-free. It works better for us. We live by the Red Line," says Box. "We've ridden the freeways legally and illegally. One thousand miles of freeway are legal (to ride a bicycle on) in California. And people are shocked. They're shocked if you ride in the street. They're shocked if you ride in the sidewalk."

He asks me if I bike, and I talk about my experiences with Midnight Ridazz and Critical Mass in 2007. The tangible image of a bicycle marks our first meeting, so it is natural that the conversation begins with his ideas on how to change Los Angeles into a city that accommodates cycling.

Box started riding a bicycle to commute to a production job in Hollywood. When he met Enci, he got her a bike and eased her into her first ride, following her to an acting class ("Like a mama duck," he said). They began using bicycles to travel to various eccentric neighborhoods of Los Angeles. One night, heading home from an event at the Echo Park Film Center on Alvarado Street, something happened to change them from bike commuters to bike activists. As a bus tried to squeeze pass them, three times, they were forced off the road.

"I had the choice of giving up the road, literally, or getting hit, literally," says Box. "That to me was absurd, and no one cared."

They went to the Sheriff's Department, the L.A. Police Department and the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and no one defended them, says Box.

"It turns out there's no one in charge of this. Nobody responds," says Box. "I haven't given up since then. That was the beginning, and then I became an advocate, pure and simple."

We talk about traffic speed and pedestrians' ability to move across town, especially on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, where a string of accidents recently occurred. In November, two girls, ages 10 and 12, were struck by a car, one fatally, while walking in a marked crosswalk on Laurel Canyon and Archwood Street.

"Laurel Canyon is too fast for humans," B0x says. "There isn't a perfect solution for every street, but there should be a toolbox of solutions, and L.A. is a generation behind on that toolbox," says Box.

A street that is safe for cyclists will be safe for pedestrians and cars, Box says, adding that the city needs to focus on a plan that would control congested streets like Laurel Canyon.

"What's good for cyclists is traffic that's moderate. It's increased capacity. The faster you go, the more space you need between cars. ... A cyclist doing 15 mph and a motorist doing 50, that's just bad for everybody," he says.

We talk about the recent trend of fixed-gear bikes, and whether the younger crowd is hurting the image of the bicycle as an accessible transportation device. 

"The larger story is that I see it, and it gives me hope. If it's cool to ride a bicycle, there's hope for the next generation. A car doesn't symbolize freedom. In our neighborhood, when I see the kids on the bicycles that didn't cost much … mine was $112. It's such a small hurdle to freedom. That is exhilarating for them to own the city," he says.

I ask him what the first step is toward making streets in Los Angeles more bike-friendly, and he pauses.

The 45 departments in Los Angeles compete for funding instead of working together, and they need to be on the same page, he says.

"The same-page commitment would be that we're going to move people efficiently and effectively and safely," Box says. "That may mean that the department of transportation would be absorbed into LAPD, public works and planning. Responsibilities would be spread amongst other departments. That would move us forward dramatically."

The first thing Box says he would do, if elected, is make this a priority. Realistically, he admits that a solution would take time, but the planning would start on the first day. 

"This is a public safety issue, this is a public health issue, this is a public works issue. It's a public education issue. Kids can't walk to school!" says Box. "There's the cornerstones of a city. What else is a city responsible for?"

The second part of this interview will be posted Wednesday.