Burbank: This Is Your Lever. Pull It.
The City Council meets Wednesday. Show up. Save the BRT.
There’s a special Burbank City Council meeting on Wednesday, May 20th at 3pm in the Council Chamber at 275 East Olive Avenue. It’s about the Metro Bus Rapid Transit project and Senate Bill 79, what they mean for Burbank, and where the city is going to land on both. And I want you to show up, in person or by phone, because this is actually one of those moments where you can change the outcome. Even if you don’t live in Burbank. Take action if you visit, know of it, know me... This isn’t restricted to just residents of Burbank.
Super easy, follow this link.
I’ll be honest… the BRT is not a great project. It’s a weak solution to a significant problem. Personally, I’d like to see a couple rail lines supplement the regional rail we already have. But I’m not going to let the perfect be the enemy of good, so I want to talk about why I’m still supporting it.
I look at this and I feel like I’m fighting for crumbs. We should have multiple rail lines running through Burbank. We should have grade-separated transit, higher Metrolink frequencies, a real local bus system. Instead, we’re debating whether to let a bus have its own lane.
And here’s the thing: what we have now is already a compromise. Metro has been working on this since 2016. Environmental review started in 2018. Burbank’s own city staff reviewed the project and recommended supporting it, noting it advances several of the city’s own goals. Over years of back and forth, Metro accommodated request after request from the city: relocating stations, adjusting lane configurations, modifying the route. What’s left is a watered-down version of a watered-down project.
And there’s this boogeyman that keeps getting raised: the idea that transit is going to bring the wrong kind of people into Burbank. That it’s going to ruin views from people’s homes. That it will destroy neighborhood character.
SB-79 is a state law, signed last October, taking effect July 1st, that requires cities to allow higher-density housing within a half mile of qualifying transit stops. The BRT line could qualify Burbank stops for those requirements. I say “could” because it’s genuinely not settled yet, Metro is still seeking clarification on whether BRT stops on this route qualify. But that uncertainty is exactly why this meeting matters. The council is deciding how Burbank positions itself heading into a major state housing mandate that may be coming whether they want it or not. It’s imperative to our future, to our children’s future, that the zoning is not restricted.
I’m asking the City Council to do two specific things:
Withdraw the letter requesting mixed-flow operations on Olive Avenue and support dedicated bus lanes as designed.
Withdraw the letter requesting CEQA review for denser housing near transit. That letter is a delay tactic. It’s using environmental review as a weapon against the environment. Stop it.
I’m a renter. And by fighting to restrict dense housing, by keeping supply artificially low, homeowners are keeping my rent high. That’s just supply and demand. A Pew analysis found that every 10% increase in a market’s housing supply correlated with rents growing 5% less. The NYU Furman Center reviewed the latest research and found the same thing: more housing supply leads to lower rents, and takes the most pressure off older, less expensive units. The people most loudly opposing this are directly benefiting from my situation. More options for me means lower rent for me.
A hundred years ago, there were probably farmers who didn’t want houses built on their land. Progress is inevitable. Growth is inevitable. This idea that Burbank is some separate fiefdom, sealed off from the rest of Los Angeles that surrounds it? It’s just not true. People don’t only stay in Burbank. What happens around us affects us. We are not an island.
For folks who know how much I love transit, I’m gonna tell you something shocking: I drive everywhere. I don’t take the bus. I don’t use the trains in LA. I drive because it’s easier, because I feel safe in my car, because the transit system isn’t adequate enough for me to do otherwise. Sure, I bike, but that’s a whole separate issue…
I don’t want driving to be the only option. I’m rooting against my own convenience here. I genuinely want it to be harder to just jump in a car, because I want to live somewhere where you don’t have to. Where you’re not thinking about parking, about where to leave a car, about all the friction that comes with it. “Just move to Europe or Tokyo!” No. This is my home. I want to make my home better.
This bus line probably won’t change my habits. I’ll probably still drive. But it improves people’s lives, even a little. It helps more people than it hurts, including people outside Burbank. And that’s what I’m advocating for.
I know how it feels right now. It feels like every lever has been pulled out of your hands. Like the things that are happening at a national level, you have no say in as fascism escalates at a haunting rate. And that feeling is real. A lot of the time, it’s true.
This is different.
The meeting is Wednesday, May 20th at 3pm. If you can make it in person, do it, and plan to arrive by 2pm to make sure you’re heard. Can’t be there? You can dial in and give public comment by phone. And if neither of those works, send an email to the City Council. I’ve put a template below to make it easy.
These are five people who represent you, and right now they are weighing whether this community gives a damn about its future. Your voice: one email, one phone call, one comment at a mic, actually moves that needle.
I’m not asking you to fix everything. I’m asking you to pull one lever that you still have. This is it. Pull it.