Densification

The headline "City's Planners See More Crowding as Cure for L.A." (front page, Aug. 25) aptly describes the contradiction in Mayor Tom Bradley's approach to our city's problem. To prescribe "densification" as a solution to our already congested life is like prescribing a shot of malaria to a cancer patient. Traffic, smog and crime problems are getting worse and worse as the city grows. We need to stop growth for growth's sake and concentrate on making Los Angeles a better place to live for its current residents.

Despite strong opposition from nearby residents, the City Council has voted to allow developer Paul Kraemer to build up to 10 houses per acre on what are now strawberry fields. The council unanimously approved a zone change from commercial to medium-density residential for two parcels totaling 22 acres next to City Hall. Medium density means the developer can build up to 10 units per acre, many of which would be townhomes or condominiums.

In the nation's foremost suburban city, where the American dream is embodied in back yard swimming pools, ranch-style houses and plenty of elbow room, the administration of Mayor Tom Bradley is trying to fashion a new look for Los Angeles, one with a distinctly cozier feel. In sartorial terms, it is a bit like stuffing an overweight, middle-aged cowboy into an Armani suit. To the city that epitomizes sprawl, Bradley and his team of urban planners is saying, "Tighten up, pull in your gut."

I was quite amazed at the poor sight of our city fathers as they make plans to encourage higher-density housing in the few open spaces left in Los Angeles. At a time when our infrastructure (schools, freeways, water, etc.) is decaying and strained to the limit, our city planners feel that the solution is to cram a few hundred thousand more people into the environs of Los Angeles. More is better? Quantity over quality? I hope not! Let's take those 7,000 parcels of undeveloped land and use them for the benefit of existing residents.

Despite strong opposition from nearby residents, the City Council has voted to allow developer Paul Kraemer to build up to 10 houses per acre on what are now strawberry fields. The council unanimously approved a zone change from commercial to medium-density residential for two parcels totaling 22 acres next to City Hall. Medium density means the developer can build up to 10 units per acre, many of which would be townhomes or condominiums.

The Los Angeles Planning Commission rejected guidelines for controlling future growth Thursday, saying more study is needed to determine if the plan would permit too much residential development. The commission asked Planning Director Con Howe to study several concerns, including whether the plan might allow too much low-income rental housing, said Commissioner Bob Scott.

Gerald and Myrna Silver's condemnation of planned densification in the Valley (Commentary, May 9) unabashedly reflects the narrow world view of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard). Deferring to the planning practice of a Swiss town they visited, the Silvers suggest a solution: "They have made it impossible for an outsider to buy a piece of land in the village and develop it, it is simply not allowed." If development is barred in existing communities, it follows that it must occur on the city's peripheries.

The Sunland-Tujunga Assn. of Residents' board of directors supports City Councilman Joel Wachs' efforts to keep our mountainsides from residential overdevelopment. All of us love our semi-rural life style--that's why we bought here--and we know if our open lands and hillsides don't receive the minimum density safeguards already embraced by 14 other community plans in the city, these mountains will be developed beyond rescue. Councilman Wachs does not aim to deprive homeowners of the right to improve their dwellings, and we know the final ordinance won't take away that freedom.

Gary Squier (Letters, Dec. 11) attempts to defend his department by accusing me of misrepresenting the city's Earthquake Emergency Loan Program in my Valley Commentary article of Nov. 27. Because of his position as general manager of the L.A. Housing Department, I would urge Mr. Squier to become more familiar with his own Earthquake Emergency Program. Under the guise of "affordable housing," this city department has been promoting a densification that will destroy the infrastructure of Los Angeles.

Surrounded by a freeway, strip malls and a real estate office advertising million-dollar-plus homes, the 135-year-old Ramon Peralta Adobe couldn't be more out of place in the bustling suburbia of Anaheim Hills. But that's exactly why people like Diana Robles fought so hard to preserve the area's only surviving adobe from the era of the Spanish and Mexican land grants and turn it into her neighborhood's first museum, which opened to the public last week.

In the nation's foremost suburban city, where the American dream is embodied in back yard swimming pools, ranch-style houses and plenty of elbow room, the administration of Mayor Tom Bradley is trying to fashion a new look for Los Angeles, one with a distinctly cozier feel. In sartorial terms, it is a bit like stuffing an overweight, middle-aged cowboy into an Armani suit. To the city that epitomizes sprawl, Bradley and his team of urban planners is saying, "Tighten up, pull in your gut."