Many residents of LA feel that the city is in danger of falling into a downward spiral.
asserted
city → feel → spiral
But there are bright spots, too, in neighborhoods that are enjoying a boom in economic opportunity, public services, and quality of life.
asserted
that → be → life
It’s worth learning from their example, and applying the lessons elsewhere.
asserted
It → ’ → lessons
LA is really a sprawling metropolis of neighborhoods, with as many as 88 cities in LA County alone.
asserted
LA → sprawl → County
The city of Los Angeles itself consists of distinct neighborhoods as diverse as San Pedro and Granada Hills.
asserted
city → consist → Pedro
Sign up for the California Morning Report newsletter
The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.
Thanks for signing up!
asserted
Sign → sign → California
Over time, LA City Hall, the state Legislature in Sacramento, and an armada of nonprofits have tried to expand their control over what cities and neighborhoods do.
asserted
cities → try → what
Their effect is seen in neighborhoods like Fairfax, Hollywood and South LA, which are in a state of decline.
asserted
which → see → decline
Melrose, a hot spot I used to show off to visitors from out of town, seems a shadow of its former self.
asserted
I → use → self
The proof: Look at neighborhoods and cities that are flourishing.
asserted
that → look → neighborhoods
These include a host of smaller cities south of LA — places like Downey, Cerritos, Lakewood, South Gate and Paramount — which have recovered from earlier bad times.
asserted
which → include → times
Indeed, most of these cities remain overwhelmingly Hispanic or Asian.
asserted
most → remain → cities
Yet by paying attention to the basics, as I discovered in a study with my Chapman colleague, economist Bheki Mahlobo, these cities have achieved lower crime rates, higher retail occupancy, and more jobs than adjacent parts of the city of LA.
asserted
cities → pay → LA
“People come here because they feel safe,” said Mario Trujillo, a prominent Democrat who is Downey’s former mayor and serves on the current City Council.
asserted
who → come → Council
“People migrated from East LA, Boyle Heights, and Chavez Ravine.
asserted
People → migrate → LA
It’s a ‘move up’ place that we have made for ourselves.”
asserted
we → ’ → ourselves
Rather than depend on Washington or Sacramento, the new urban reformers follow the old gospel of self-reliance: They “cure themselves.”
asserted
They → depend → themselves
Downey, a city that is sometimes jokingly called “the Latino Beverly Hills,” recovered in part because Republicans and Democrats set aside partisan labels and focused on what local residents want.
asserted
residents → call → what
“We had to reinvent ourselves,” Mario Guerra, a veteran of the City Council, told me in his office in Downey’s lively downtown.
asserted
Guerra → have → downtown
“But we don’t let partisan politics get in the way.
asserted
politics → let → way
People here back each other up.
asserted
People → back → other
We all want the streets clean, and the graffiti gone.”
asserted
graffiti → want → ?
Downey residents, he adds, share a common pride in being the home of the world’s oldest McDonald’s, and a place that manufactured key parts of the Space Shuttle.
asserted
that → add → Shuttle
Focusing on basics, and on developing a sense of community, is far more effective than emphasizing partisan politics.
asserted
Focusing → focus → politics
And officials respond.
asserted
officials → respond → ?
You can report graffiti in LA, too, but you will wait weeks or an eternity for it to be addressed.
asserted
it → report → LA
It’s harder to shirk public duties when local politicians live among the people who elect them.
asserted
who → ’ → them
As one local council member explained: “We’d better do it, or I won’t be able to get a peaceful cup of coffee.
asserted
I → explain → coffee
Responding to the needs of citizens means paying attention to little things that locals care about – like parks, urban space, and landscaping, even subsidizing flower beds and white picket fences.
asserted
locals → respond → beds
Cities like LA, of course, used to tend urban gardens, but today they lack the focus, will and resources.
asserted
they → use → focus
“In places like Paramount, people get things done because that’s where they live,” says former Paramount city manager Pat West, a mentor to a generation of younger city managers.
asserted
West → get → managers
“In LA they have meetings.”
asserted
they → have → meetings
This shorter distance between leaders and residents changes the very nature of government.
asserted
distance → change → government
People generally look out for the well-being of their own families, children and neighbors.
asserted
People → look → families
They are less concerned about the abstract “people” or “community” often cited by activists from NGOs, whose rich, progressive funders usually live far away.
asserted
funders → cite → NGOs
It is largely in the big, bureaucratic, and “progressive” cities that abominations like LA’s 50-square-block “Skid Row” are nurtured with soft-headed policies.
asserted
abominations → nurture → policies
That kind of poverty may be a perverse draw for visitors who want to experience dystopia firsthand.
uncertain
who → want → dystopia
Bring that kind of governance to Downey, and you’d better brush up on your Spanish curse words.
asserted
you → bring → words
Residents of the city of LA are like the black sheriff in the Mel Brooks comedy “Blazing Saddles”: Each knows “you are on your own.”
asserted
you → know → own
I saw this firsthand when my family lived in Valley Village, and could not find any help from our city council member when, for example, people were illegally cutting the lovely big trees that kept the neighborhood cool.
uncertain
that → see → neighborhood
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
