Cities: Los Angeles

Associated with sunny beachscapes and lessons in city misplanning, Los Angeles has often been left out of the conversation on urban innovation. Culture and diversity abound, but the core elements that usually define modern cities have long been missing.

Luckily, density, public transportation, and vertical housing are on their way back to the City of Angels in a big way. Thanks to the work of groups like the Central City Association, the number of residents living downtown has doubled in the past four years alone. And yes, there are subways in Los Angeles: Two more lines are set to open over the next year and several more are in the works. If the city can manage to re-secure financing for two landmark parks and multiple flagship developments awaiting construction, downtown Los Angeles will look dramatically different in 10 years.

Just as notable though is the way L.A. has gone about its recent developments. Advocates like SAJE and LAANE have successfully secured community benefits agreements and inclusionary zoning measures to link growth with local jobs and affordable housing. Those more familiar with L.A.’s smoggy reputation will also be surprised to hear what growth is not producing. Spearheaded by Mayor Villaraigosa, LA now requires LEED certification requirements for large private developments and boasts the largest municipally-owned wind farm in the U.S. and the largest solar plan in the world.

Still, Los Angeles faces challenges atypical of an American city. An inadequate local supply of water, crisscrossing hillsides, seismic building considerations and a sometimes-feuding patchwork of 88 governing bodies are issues more commonly discussed in international development. If L.A. is to succeed, it must engineer a new lesson in urban growth not taught in the gridded development of Manhattan or the neatly bounded lines of San Francisco.

Bottom Line: Long recognized only for its cinematic contributions, Los Angeles is quietly developing into a true regional metropolis that will be a model for emerging cities around the world.

—Chris Ko, reimagineLA.com

City Highlights

Freeloaders, Beware: L.A. Now Has Subway Turnstiles

Amber Hawkes and Georgia Sheridan | August 27th, 2009 | 7

Yes, Los Angeles has a subway system – now it will have turnstiles, too. (more)
An Interview: Rudy Bruner Award Winner Inner-City Arts

Jori Lewis | June 26th, 2009 | 0

Jori Lewis interviews Cynthia Harnisch, CEO of Inner-City Arts, an arts education center in Los Angeles. Inner-City Arts has just won the Rudy Bruner Awards’ Gold Medal for Urban Excellence. (more)
From ER Doctor to Air Pollution Activist: An Interview with Dr. John G. Miller

Hamida Kinge | June 25th, 2009 | 2

In a companion piece to her Issue 23 feature article, “Air Apparent,” which looks at how America’s cities are coping with the persistent problem of air pollution, Hamida Kinge interviews a doctor at the front lines of the pollution-related health crisis. (more)