Have You LongBeachized Today?

For anyone that’s missed it, after month’s of planning and a week of social media fun, yesterday marked the re-launch of LongBeachize, a popular source for news and views on the Long Beach Transportation scene. LongBeachize ceased publication in March of 2012 before yesterday’s re-launch.

While Brian Addison, the Long Beach writer for Streetsblog Los Angeles (SBLA), will be doing the bulk of the writing, he will continue to work with me and the rest of the Southern California Streets Initiative (SCSI), the non-profit publication that co-publishes SBLA and publishes Santa Monica Next. Contributions will also come from an advisory board that includes Antonio Cruz, Kayte Deioma, Michelle Molina, Baktaash Sorkhabi, and Brian Ulaszewski.

Sorkhabi’s name is familiar to long-time LongBeachize readers. He and Stephanie Libanti were the original editors.

If you want to help celebrate the re-launch, give us a follow on Twitter, a like on Facebook, or consider making a donation or “subscribing” today.

In the last 24 hours, LongBeachize has published three stories:

Mayoral Candidates Chime In on Bicycling – Brian Addison

Before we go down this gopher hole that is the Long Beach mayoral race, let’s get one thing cleared: can we please, for the love of all things diplo-wheeled, not use the term “CicLBia” for the maybe-could-happen Long Beach ciclovía? I know mayoral hopefuls Doug Otto and Vice Mayor Robert Garcia are a fan of the term, but it is an all-too-close reference to female anatomy minus one letter (and despite what other vowel you insert between the L and B, the resemblance still remains).

The Man Determined to Connect Downtown to the Water: Sean Warner by Brian Addison

“Bringing more parking downtown doesn’t bring people downtown,” Warner said. “It’s people on the streets that attract more people. And people, especially in Southern California, are beginning to realize this.”

Welcome to the New LongBeachize – by Damien Newton

“But the intention is for LongBeachize to provide coverage about what makes this city unique, including but not limited to bike culture, Long Beach Transit, the Ports and Airport, skateboarding and freeway removals. With the recent adoption of the updated Mobility Element of the Long Beach General Plan and upcoming updates of the Housing, Land-use and Urban Design Elements, there should be significant changes to the city’s urban fabric.”