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LOOKING FORWARD - As we begin the New Year in 2026, I am reminded of a remarkable series of birthdays, anniversaries, and good feelings about so many remarkable events.
Earlier in 2025 in CityWatch, I wrote about my experiences with the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and reflected on the upcoming 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The 1932 Olympics was also held here in Los Angeles – third time’s a charm!
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum celebrated its 100th birthday in 2023. On May 31, 1964, the Coliseum hosted the Religious Witness for Human Dignity event featuring Dr. Martin Luther King. The audience featured members of the Hollywood community – including Dick Van Dyke. Only weeks later, The Civil Rights Act was signed into law on July 2, 1964.
Perhaps you have recently seen on PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, part of the American Masters series, a celebration of the 100th birthday of Dick Van Dyke in December 2025. Speaking of The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran for five years in the early 1960s, comedian, actor and banjo player Steve Martin said: “I think there was a decency in the show, a kindness, and kind of a happiness about life.” That’s such a simple statement. It says something profound and meaningful to me about the aspirations we all have in our own lives.
Perhaps some of you that are familiar with my work and service to our community recognize there are moments that have not always been kind, and sometimes not so happy. But it is clear to me that over the course of a hundred years, and counting, there are many aspects of city life that make and remake both our physical environment and our social experience both transformative and remarkable. That’s true of American cities and other cities such as Athens around the world that have endured over thousands of years.
Perhaps also this relatively short and simple statement will mark the beginning of a New Year that will give us all hope for kindness and happiness about our city and our future.
(Nick Patsaouras is a Los Angeles-based electrical engineer and civic leader whose firm has shaped projects across commercial, medical, and entertainment sectors. A longtime public advocate, he ran for Mayor in 1993 with a focus on rebuilding L.A. through transportation. He has served on major public boards, including the Department of Water and Power, Metro, and the Board of Zoning Appeals, helping guide infrastructure and planning policy in Los Angeles. Nick is the author of the book "The Making of Modern Los Angeles")
