Things to read from the past week:
- Garcetti Gets A House Call From Protesters Demanding Protection For Renters: "The timing of the event — the first of August — was intentional, with some protesters pointing out it was the fifth 'rent day' since stay-at-home orders put many people out of jobs and behind on the rent." (LAist)
- L.A.-area parking spots have become dining areas during the pandemic. Will it last?: "With COVID-19 cases surging, and indoor dining banned, more than 20 cities have launched programs that allow struggling restaurants to use sidewalks, parking spaces and private lots to serve meals en plein air." (LA Times)
- Manhattan Beach was once home to Black beachgoers, but the city ran them out. Now it faces a reckoning: "In this affluent town of 35,000 — known for its manicured homes, the community fair, the Strand by the sea — few know of this racist past. Others would prefer to gloss over the uncomfortable details in a community where Black residents make up less than 1% of the population." (LA Times)
- Slow Streets in Koreatown: A critique of LA's "Slow Streets" program (Hoff the Beaten Path)
- AIDS nonprofit sues to halt L.A. real estate projects tied to Huizar and Englander: "In its lawsuit, AHF argues that the city should pause some of the building projects that were vetted under a council committee that was headed by Huizar and included Mitchell Englander, a former councilman who admitted to lying to federal investigators about cash and other gifts he had received from a businessman seeking to meet developers." (LA Times)
- County Approves Reimagine L.A., Funding Shift Measure Will Be on November Ballot: "Reimagine L.A. would shift about one billion dollars in locally-generated unrestricted county funding, though the shift would be phased in through 2024. Funding would be restricted from going to the broader law enforcement system, including the Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s Office, County Superior Courts, and the Probation Department. Funding would shift to community counseling, mental health services, youth development programs, small businesses, job creation, and affordable housing." (Streetsblog LA)
- Fishing the L.A. River is more than a quarantine hobby. For some, it’s therapy: Despite its concrete casing, installed in the late 1930s to rein in once-frequent flooding, signs of the natural river persist. Besides birds of many feathers, it’s home to beefy carp, small-mouth bass, tilapia and — once upon a time — steelhead trout. If you tilt your gaze in just the right way, away from the overpasses and concrete shores, it could be Georgia. (LA Times)
- LA's $5BN Super Stadium: The B1M scopes out SoFi Stadium in Inglewood (B1M)
- LA County approves ‘Vision Zero’ plan to eliminate traffic deaths by 2035: "Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn co-authored the motion to enhance street safety, saying traffic deaths had jumped by nearly 28% countywide from 2013-2017, with 3,400 lives lost." (San Gabriel Valley Tribune)
- We got our hands on the Inglewood's grant application for the automated people mover: "The grant application revealed, among other things, that the city actually requested twice as much as it got. But whether that second hundred million came from the state or the city or from small business fees is secondary to the fact that it will be taxpayers funding the $1 billion project." (Unstatable)
- Editorial: Caving in to car ownership: "I bought my first car this week. It smelled like defeat." (LA Times)
- This Is What Happens in Los Angeles When a Pedestrian Gets Hit By a Car (LA Taco)
- L.A. could cancel real estate projects tied to City Hall corruption: "Feuer’s proposed ordinance states that developers have no vested rights if their permits or approvals were 'procured by corruption or fraud.' Under the draft law, the council could vote to revoke approvals or terminate applications for building projects in which developers, owners or their representatives have violated corruption laws or falsified facts." (LA Times)