Subway to the Sea? Still Waiting | Photo by Adan Garcia via Flickr

Since billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad has funded such Los Angeles institutions as LACMA's BCAM and UCLA's Stem Cell Institute, Curbed LA asked its readers what he should spend his money on next if it were to be a civic project. The "Subway to the Sea" won with overwhelming results.

Then Curbed asked Broad what his thoughts on it were and they received a response from a spokeswoman. "The mission of The Broad Foundations is to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts," she wrote to Curbed. Among other things, she mentions Broad has chosen to focus on "the arts again by fostering art appreciation for audiences worldwide, and supporting civic initiatives in Los Angeles."

Awhile back, the LA Times had an article (wethinks by Steve Lopez, but can't find it) about Westsiders wanting to participate in culture downtown (symphony, theatre, etc.), but not willing to get stuck in traffic for the long afternoon commute. Wouldn't funding the "Subway to the Sea" directly correlate with fostering art appreciation? It's a stretch, we know, and it's not like Broad is not doing good for society in other ways, but it's just sad to see the arts lose out because of gridlock.

Related: May 9, 2008 Update on Subway to the Sea