Happy Hour, then talk by Tom Vanderbilt, author of the book TRAFFIC

Dear friends and fellow plannerds,

You are invited to join me and Juan Matute MBA/MA Planning '09 for happy hour next Wednesday in Culver City at the Culver Hotel. We're making the call for happy hour in honor of the author/hipster Tom Vanderbilt, who is coming to the Actors Gang give a talk about his New York Times-best selling non-fiction book Traffic next Wednesday.

(His book, by the way, is well-written, well-researched, and does a great job of taking some very technical, nerdy ideas related to things like congestion pricing. Better yet, Tom does a great job of translating these ideas into words that non-urban planners/transportation geeks can understand and relate to. It's the kind of book I aspire to write.)

If you would like to attend the talk, it is strongly encouraged that you make a reservation (http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/lectureseries.php?event_id=329).

If we should look for you, please let us know by sending us an email: sirinya.tritipeskul at gmail.com!
--Sirinya Tritipeskul MA '09

Details
Happy Hour
Where: Culver Hotel, 9400 Culver Blvd, Culver City.
When: 9/16/2009, between 5:30 and 7:00 (we will leave at 7 in order to secure seats inside the venue)
Specials: A wine sampler trio, with 3 glasses of wine and 3 types of cheese for $9.

Talk
Where: The Actors Gang, 9070 Venice Boulevard, Culver City
When: 7:30pm
Sponsored by Zocalo Public Square, a non-profit organization that aspires to build community by hosting events which promote public discourse.

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Transit:
-- LADOT Commuter Express 437 drops off at Culver & Bagley
--Big Blue Bus 12 drops off at Venice & Bagley
--Culver City Bus 1,4, & 7 go through downtown Culver City
--Metro 33 & 333 run along Venice Blvd
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Zócalo Public Square presents Tom Vanderbilt, "Is Traffic Curable?"
Traffic can seem like a law of the universe: an ever-present, incontrovertible, inexplicable force. Back-ups simply happen, the other lanes always move faster, and nearby drivers are consistently inept. But traffic has a comprehensible logic — particular physical dynamics rule the flow of cars; psychology governs drivers’ assumptions and actions; and laws and technology underpin attempts at efficiency and safety on the road. Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do and What It Says About Us, visits Zócalo to explore how human nature, our relationship to our built urban environment, and a host of other complex physical, psychological, and social interactions create the phenomenon of traffic.