Blogs

Los Angeles’ Mayor’s Sustainable City pLAn

By Melissa McNeily posted 08-15-2017 08:19 AM

  

August 10, 2017 5:30 PMCategory: Health Equity

Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti has an ambitious plan to make LA a sustainable city.

A four-part series article has featured the plan, which is split into 3 larger categories:

  • environment
  • economy
  • equity

The first series article focuses on a general overview of the pLAn being proposed by Mayor Garcetti. The second series article focuses on the environment, specifically focusing on LA’s challenges. However, the third series article moves into the economy, which includes topics of:

  • housing and development
  • mobility and transit
  • prosperity and green jobs
  • prosperity and resiliency

In terms of planning and public health, housing and development and mobility and transit have the most impact on health and are of special interest to those working in the area of healthy community design.

Los Angeles has very unique challenges, which are similar to those found in other large cities of the United States. The median household income of LA is approximately 55,000. This income would afford a family a house costing $275,000. The current median price of a home is double that amount, ringing in at $550,000.

LA has the worst traffic congestion in the entire world. in 2016, traffic congestion cashed out at $300 billion dollars in wasted fuel and time. Therefore, affordable housing and transportation planning are well in need of some adjusting.

The pLAn hopes to solve LA’s housing crisis by developing and increasing urban density near public transit. The goal is 275k units located within 1,500 feet of a transit stop by 2035. Which does not keep pace with the expected influx of 500k new residents. Paart of the current plan is Recode:LA, which is an overhaul of the city’s zoning codes.

The writer also discusses the current pLAn does not provide funding or enforcement mechanisms. By treating the plan as a serious policy agenda, the article provides a critical policy lens to discuss the plan and an interesting perspective on a city that is in desperate need of the PSE strategies that made Plan4Health a success for the 35 coalitions that worked on creating healthy communities.

Read the first three parts of the series on Medium.

Read the Los Angeles Sustainable City pLAn.

0 comments
14 views

Permalink