CommentsKISSING THE LA WE LOVE GOOBYE--I have had the pleasure of living in Los Angeles for thirty-five years and have loved it, warts and all. I’ve been a great defender as I’ve travelled the country and world, confronting many others (especially New Yorkers) who have made LA bashing a sport. That is, until they all decided to move here.
But something huge and ominous has taken hold recently that threatens our very way of life: rampant over-building and over-development. Where are the voices speaking out against this threat and outrage?
Where is the counter-narrative to the party line coming from Mayor Garcetti and the rest of City Hall that densification is not only inevitable, but desirable? If you are a citizen of this city, do you, or any one you know, favor this onslaught?
I have yet to talk to ONE Angelino who is happy about the traffic and congestion that has gone from bad to impossible in the last few years. Try going anywhere on the west side, anytime, and not finding complete gridlock. Or the 405. Or 101. Or West Hollywood and Beverly Grove. And don’t even mention the downtown core.
And now Hollywood is on the brink of obliteration. If you haven’t been paying attention, the amount of building there is beyond the pale – ALL of which required spot zoning changes to allow these massive projects to go ahead, violating basic zoning statutes (statutes there to protect our neighborhoods and quality of life.)
And that does not even begin to count the eight or so mega-projects on the books for Hollywood, including hideously over-scale projects like the one planned for Crossroads Of The World (near Sunset and Highland) where a developer is in the process of ramming through a billion dollar project of high rises (one well over 30 stories,) massive condo and hotel units, which can only result in permanent gridlock in Hollywood as well.
Where is the outrage? Where is the voice of the people? Why do we not get a say?
Why do we allow 15 overpaid City Council members to sell out our great city to greedy developers (for pathetically small campaign contributions at that) and power hungry union bosses? Talk about a good return on investment. When you see the paltry sums contributed, the developers and unions are dropping pennies to reap millions.
We hear a constant drumbeat of “experts,” many of which have written Opinion pieces in the LA Times, LA Weekly and elsewhere, crow about the benefits of increased density. How is this beneficial and to whom?
We hear that we are all just NIMBYs if we don’t fall in line, and it’s just “wealthy homeowners” who want to stop the splendid progress. No, it is not. It is rank and file Angelenos like you and me who want to preserve some quality of life.
We are told we must allow developers to drop these monstrosities into any neighborhood, cheat on parking requirements, and get a pass on CEQA safeguards. Again, why? What are the benefits for the four million of us who have lived here happily for years? We are told we must just hand over our city and quality of life and not raise a peep?
Well, I say no. This is OUR city and it belongs to the people, not for-sale politicians, not greedy developers, not union bosses, and certainly not pointed-headed theorists. The fact is, whether it’s an airplane, Disneyland, or a city, there is a point when it has reached capacity and is FULL.
And the core areas of Los Angeles are full. Period.
We should encourage development in many other places but not in the core or what little quality of life we have left will be gone forever and our great city will just be another ghastly mega-tropolis with impossible pollution and traffic. Have you been to Mumbai or Mexico City or Bejing? Enough is enough.
Get busy and start speaking out, and fast.
Contact your City Council member and register your outrage. Support the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative. Support groups like Fix the City and Coalition to Preserve LA, or start your own. Or kiss the LA we’ve loved for decades goodbye. Forever.
(Michael Wilson is a director and producer who has lived in Los Angeles for thirty-five years.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
Los Angeles is Doomed Unless Angelenos Act to Stop Densification
