Saving L.A. from becoming a third-world city
From Curbed.com blog
By Curbed.com, Wednesday, April 1, 2009.
LOS ANGELES -- Many of America's cities are in the crapper thanks to years of policy that's favored suburbs and sprawl, writes The New York Times' architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff. But with a city guy in the Oval Office, and billions being pumped into urban centers, this trend is reversible and opportunity especially lies in four cities: New Orleans, Buffalo, New York City's Bronx borough, and Los Angeles.
Ouroussoff acknowledges our city has fared better than most (our booming population has been spared from natural disasters), but our limited transit network and our lack of green space threaten the livability of L.A., and if unchecked, could turn the city into a North American Cairo. But a "citywide plan that anchored Los Angeles along two major axes -- the green river and the asphalt boulevard -- could save it from becoming a third world city," writes Ouroussoff, a former architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times. [Image via the L.A. Times]
- Specifically, Ouroussoff wants the ambitious plan to re-green the L.A. River to move forward. Returning part of the concrete bed to its natural state would grant park space to diverse communities from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach. Councilman Ed Reyes told Ouroussoff that $100 million could get the plan jump-started at least near downtown.
- Public transit needs a shot in the arm; most important is getting a train under Wilshire Boulevard that connects our cultural institutions (the Wiltern, LACMA, the Hammer, and Eli Broad's new museum at Wilshire and Santa Monica). Concentrating public transit and culture on Wilshire could give L.A. the center it's always been searching for.
- Also, in a nice shout-out, Ouroussoff acknowledges that L.A. "has the most talented cluster of architects practicing anywhere in the United States."
Copyright (c) 2009 Curbed.com LLC
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Submitted by Jodi Summers on April 1, 2009 - 7:30am.
Regreening the Los Angeles River with indigineous plants would offer huge bang for the buck as far as resident satisfaction goes.
Best….
Jodi Summers
The SoCal Investment Real Estate Group
Sotheby’s International Realty
jodi@jodisummers.com
www.SoCalGreenRealEstateBlog.com
www.SantaMonicaPropertyBlog.com
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Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.
-Robert Louis Stevenson
Submitted by John Rakoci on April 5, 2009 - 6:02am.
Big cities needs much more than money. The social problems are numerous. Pouring money in before problems are fixed is simply wasted.
1. 40% of all workers in L.A. County (L.A. County has 10.2 million people)are working for cash and not paying taxes This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card.
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal , whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L. A. are Spanish speaking.
10. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L.A. County)
(All 10 of the above are from the Los Angeles Times)