Cities

Residents of this unincorporated bedroom community between Seal Beach and Los Alamitos will vote Nov. 4 on whether to become a city, the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission decided Thursday. In a 6-1 vote following a three-hour public hearing, the commission approved placing three measures on the November ballot: Measure A: Whether Rossmoor should incorporate; Measure B: the imposition of a 7% utility tax on households in the community; and Measure C: the imposition of a utility tax at 9%. Measure A would be implemented only if either B or C is approved, said Carolyn Emery, a senior project manager with the commission.

It's a win-win-win situation: Bring your kids, get some exercise and see the world. Dutch company Bugaboo, best known for its tricked-out strollers (reversible seats, compact collapsible chassis, air-filled tires) now offers a series of free city "Daytrip" maps for families with kids under 5. Parents can find groovy activities and sights such as a museum where kids can make sculptures out of chocolate (Barcelona), a shop to buy Marimekko kids wear (Copenhagen) and a place for tykes to take a yoga class (Miami)

Re "Seeking a handle on blight from shopping carts," May 27 The article says, "Several California cities recently enacted, or started studying, measures that penalize retailers for not keeping a closer eye on their carts. Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas plans to propose such a law this week." If a homeless guy grabbed money from the retailer's till, police would arrest him. But stealing a $135 cart seems to be acceptable. Why not just ticket anyone in possession of a wayward shopping cart?

Re "L.A.'s carbon footprint called lighter than most," May 29 Are we starting to make ourselves feel better by being the lesser of two evils? We cannot applaud Los Angeles for being the best among the most damaging cities in the U.S. based on a study that has made nothing but exceptions to the rules. This study allows people to feel somewhat better about the energy crisis while ignoring that all of these cities are contributing to the larger problem more than ever. That smog that envelops Los Angeles is not the good kind of smog.

Nobody ever professed to like traffic. But almost two-thirds of U.S. drivers say they feel traffic has gone from bad to worse in the last three years. In a recent survey, motorists reported increased stress levels, anger and a negative effect on work or school performance because of irksome traffic. And 12% said commuting was cutting into their sleep time. In a "pain index" derived from the drivers' survey scores, Los Angeles was the worst-scoring city, followed by Atlanta and Miami.

While millions of American families struggle with falling house prices, soaring gasoline costs and tightening credit, some environmentalists, urban planners and urban real estate speculators are welcoming the bad news as signaling what they have long dreamed of -- the demise of suburbia. In a March Atlantic article, Christopher B. Leinberger, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a professor of urban planning, contended that yesterday's new suburbs will become "the slums" of tomorrow because high gas prices and the housing meltdown will force Americans back to the urban core.

Los Angeles will receive less federal money this year than last for anti-terror programs. According to an early copy of the list obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press, more money is heading to three large cities -- Houston, New York and San Francisco -- from the $782 million in the Urban Area Security Initiative to help pay for equipment and training. But Los Angeles' total will fall by about $2 million, to $70.4 million, according to both AP and local law enforcement sources contacted by The Times.

As the time neared for Barack Obama's speech to a huge crowd in Berlin, John McCain paid homage of a sort to Germany -- lunching Thursday at Schmidt's Restaurant und Sausage Haus in the historic German Village section of Columbus, Ohio. The eatery choice was the latest in a Republican effort to none-too-subtly turn up its collective nose at Obama's appearance in the city that once personified the Cold War divide. The Republican National Committee bought airtime for ads attacking Obama in three U.S. cities named Berlin, and then continued the schtick with broadcast plans for the spots in a trio of U.S. cities named Paris.

Looking for the right place to open a store or set up a company? Better look outside California, judging by Inc.com's annual ranking of the best cities for doing business. The top cities in this year's list are Midland, Texas; St. George, Utah; and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. California isn't represented until Bakersfield comes in at the No. 38 spot. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area ranks No. 274 (out of 335) -- a slight improvement over last year's 283.