LOS ANGELES

UNHOUSED IN LA - The figures on homeless youth in Los Angeles County are bleak. Statistics released Thursday estimate that more than 9,100 youth in the region lack a safe place to live.

PLANNING WATCH - Distraction is widely used by magicians, card cheats, and local government officials to legalize otherwise illegal real estate projects.  

THE EASTSIDER - Last month, I wrote a couple of articles on how LA City and LA County are handling the homeless crisis.

THE VIEW FROM HERE - They say everyone has a special talent and TrickyRicky’s specialty seems to be being a calumniator par excellence. (Since Caruso has elevated falsehoods to an artful form, it is only proper that we select fancy names for his malady.)

LA TRANSPO - The City and its transit riders deserve another chance at shade and shelter. Here's how: 

ACCORDING TO LIZ - Sacramento and its Department of Education have been blamed for the failing literacy of California children, money has been poured into studies but there has been little observable improvement. 

THE VIEW FROM HERE - This rule of politics explains why most voters end up voting for the lesser of two evils.

PLANNING WATCH - The Planning Report’s 30 year old article by Richard Platkin on the Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevard Specific Plan is still mostly current and correct.   

GUEST COMMENTARY - For much of the 20th century, Los Angeles symbolized the future. Over the course of the century, the population grew 40-fold to nearly four million people.

LA TRANSPO - At first glance the Sidewalk and Transit Amenities Program (STAP) program would appear to be the answer to years-long neglect of the needs of LA’s transit riders. 

PLANNING WATCH - The new 2022 LA City and LA County homeless census is now available from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority  (LAHSA).  

THE VIEW FROM HERE - While Yoda did not say the above, he could have.  People confuse the fact that they get to vote with living in a democracy. 

RantZ and RaveZ - When is Enough Patience and Understanding by law abiding citizens Enough?

COLLEGE EDUCATION - Los Angeles has an image that everyone loves to relate to. The beaches of Malibu and Santa Monica and the lights of Hollywood make the place prestigious. Not forgetting the spectacular San Gabriel Mountains and the rich culture.

LA FOOD VENDOR - “I was shot right over there,” says Jose Luis Millán, pointing north toward Alameda Street.

GUEST COMMENTARY - Los Angeles' current homeless policies hurt everyone. The County's and the City's politicians' vision of harm reduction and their acceptance of criminal behavior have failed the people they are trying to help and the citizens of this City.

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT - As part of its “Save Our SROs” advocacy campaign, Housing Is A Human Right has found more than 4,600 housing units in the Downtown Los Angeles area that are sitting vacant or are waiting to be built or have been converted from low-income housing to other uses.

VETERAN HOUSING - The sprawling 388-acre West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (VA) Campus, deeded to veterans in 1888 as the “National Home for Disabled Soldiers,” contains 140 “Tiny Home” shelters.

PLANNING WATCH - The Sunday, September 4, 2022, Los Angeles Times had a top-of-the-fold front page article comparing the homeless proposals of the two LA mayoral candidates, Karen Bass and Rick Caruso. 

GUEST COMMENTARY - As one who understands elections from a first-hand perspective, I also understand the risk that is assumed when endorsing a candidate or cause.

PLANNING WATCH - Who has the time to keep track of the real estate scams that regularly wallow up at City Hall, always packaged with fanciful justifications that fall apart when scrutinized?