joey nelson blog title

I used to drive by it every day, but I had no idea that the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena is known as the “Suicide bridge”. Nearly 100 people jumped from the bridge during the Depression (and presumably a few more over the past 70 years). It’s no Golden Gate, but that’s probably because people in Southern California are happy.

From the Wikipedia “Suicide bridge” article:

Bridges that are “suicide magnets” include the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, and the Duke Ellington Bridge in Washington, D.C..

To reach such locations, those with the intention to commit suicide may pass over other bridges, even taller ones. There are a number of cases of people travelling over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to reach the Golden Gate, for instance. While this may not make utilitarian sense, it is consistent with hypotheses that people considering suicide may sometimes choose a specific scenario for their suicide rather than suicide by any comparable method per se.

I feel like I have to call bullshit on this excerpt from Jim Kunstler’s latest post:

Okay, so I spent nine days on the West Coast, starting in Los Angeles, Pasadena, actually. Let’s just say that part of the United States is absolutely hopeless. It consists largely of a roadway hierarchy and whatever’s left is apportioned to valet parking. It has no future. The poor oblivious denizens of the place don’t question their predicament. The whole sordid scene is, well, tragic, and I’m sorry, but let’s pass over it for now.

What part of Pasadena was Kunstler hanging out in? I’ve worked in Pasadena for a year and a half now, and I just moved here a couple of months ago. While i guess it does “consist largely of a roadway hierarchy” (uh, like every other American city?), I’d say the denizens are a hell of a lot less oblivious than anywhere else I’ve lived. I see dozens of other cyclists on my daily commute taking advantage of the bike lanes all over the city. Everyone in my neighborhood walks to the grocery store. I live a mile away from Caltech, where people are actually working on energy problems. My company shares space with a solar energy company that’s (supposedly) making real progress on the renewable energy front.

Anyway I realize the guy hates Southern California, but Pasadena seems a lot more with it than the rest of the region.