The Planning Report is pleased to present the opinions of some of its readers on the critical land-use and planning challenges facing Southern California and the state in the coming year.
Parks provide an essential service to people living in highly dense urban areas like South Los Angeles. In 2003, this demonstrable need should drive us to improve and create new parks throughout Southern California and increase the amount and quality of open, green public space for everyone to enjoy.
-Councilwoman Jan Perry
Los Angeles City Council, Ninth District
The need for new housing is clashing with citizens' concerns about traffic congestion, and the fiscal crisis in Sacramento means that traffic improvements will necessarily be deferred. Thus, the housing crisis will continue.
-Bill Bogaard
Mayor, City of Pasadena
Happy New Year! LADBS looks forward to working with all parties to balance the development issues and neighborhood needs in Los Angeles in 2003!
-Andrew Adelman, P.E.
General Manager, Department of Building and Safety, City of Los Angeles
The nexus of demand for new public education facilities with affordable housing and the relationship between these land uses and their attendant accessibility requirements constitute the overwhelming physical planning challenge for all of us in Southern California.
-Bob Hale, AIA
RIOSassociatesINC
The biggest challenge will be our ability to market and implement the new RAS zones along commercial and transportation corridors in the Metro area. This new zone offers hope for the development of desperately needed new multi-family housing units.
-Benjamin Reznik, Esq.
Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP
The critical land-use and planning challenges facing LA and California for 2003 are basically the same things we currently face. But with an even more diminished State budget capacity, previously approved state and local infrasructure and transportation projects are going to fall victim to the cutback ax. This will further exacerbate the current housing, jobs, trasnportation and infrastructure imbalance we now face.
-Bruce Ackerman
President and CEO, Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley
We have three key challenges to address in 2003: (1) Balance, (2) moderation, and (3) effective and constant communication with the neighborhoods / decision makers in the area.
-Steve Soboroff
President, Playa Vista Corporation
The biggest challenge is to popularize the use of joint-use deals among schools, cities, parks, libraries, and other public facilities. The extreme demand for new urban schools throughout California, coupled with the scarcity of developable land, is the major driving force in this trend. Business-as-usual must yield to creative and imaginative solutions that benefit the entire community.
-Dave Wald
President, Wald Realty Advisors, Inc.
The greatest challenge our region faces is to find the balance between human need and environmental security. Currently, the debate about development is splintered between significant pressures for new homes and new transportation systems which run in the face of concerns about environmental degradation. There is no other conversation piece that enters this debate so we are forced to endure lopsided perspectives without any middle ground and no real solutions to our regional challenges.
-Katherine Perez
Executive Director, Southern California Transportation & Land Coalition
Planning joint-use and shared-use projects frame the critical path land-use decisions must take throughout the Los Angeles region. Dealing with the lack of readily buildable land in some of the country's densest communities necessitates collaborative planning to revitalize our urban neighborhoods and provide vital community services.
-Susan Cline
Executive Director, New Schools/Better Neighborhoods
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