103 | Considering Just Transit for a Just City

Alissa Walker aims to connect people with where they live through writing, speaking, and walking. Her insights are hallmarked by an unusual practice: exploring Los Angeles on foot. Understanding the city through the lens of a pedestrian has led to deep and broad insights into contemporary urbanism. 

While most cities privilege automobiles to some degree, the sprawl of Los Angeles combined with the lacking public transportation makes it almost necessary to have a car. As a result, the city is infamous for its bad traffic and long commute times. A cycle begins in which construction is done and improvements are made to infrastructure for the sake of cars, disallowing any other mode of transportation, including walking. 

As a result of car culture – in LA and elsewhere – many experience architecture and cities at the speed of traffic, losing important details in the process. Creating a healthy and equitable city is an ongoing process, requiring regular examination and critique.

Previously, Walker has written for numerous publications including Dwell, Fast Company, GOOD, Gizmodo, and the New York Times. She has been named a USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellow for her writing on design and urbanism and Journalist of the Year by Streets blog Los Angeles. In 2015, she received the Design Advocate award from the LA chapter of the American Institute of Architects. In 2021, she was awarded the Steven Heller Prize for Cultural Commentary for her writing on design and urbanism.

Walker was the Urbanism Editor at Curbed, which focuses on trends in development in real estate, architecture, design, and urbanism in New York and all over the world. She authored the column, “Word on the Street” and co-hosted the “LA Podcast,” a weekly news and politics podcast. In 2024 she founded Torched, a platform where she critiques the civic investments and policy decisions that Los Angeles is making in preparation for hosting the 2026 World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl, and the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games

We were fortunate to have Alissa join us on Social Design Insights, to talk about transit accessibility, inequality and making change.