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It's a great day to subscribe to The Future Is LA to see how my writing evolves over the next few months!

Subscribe | The Future Is LALos Angeles has the best bones of any city in the world. Bad policies are holding it back. This is an exploration of how LA can become the world capital it deserves to be.futureis.la

The city's 1-year CHIP report paints a distorted picture because they count pre-applications (which they've never done). The actual number of units proposed is much lower. They also count state density bonus projects, which I think is BS. Here's my report with less misleading numbers:

Slowly CHIPping awayThe city's big housing plan turned a year old last week. It's not exactly going gangbusters.futureis.la

Note that the y-axis isn't the raw number of permits - it's what percentage fewer (or more) permits were issued in cities with IZ vs. those without.

A lot going on here, but it basically shows building permits issued in CA cities with IZ requirements. The vertical dotted lines show years when IZ was banned. Permits increased after the ban and plummeted after IZ was reinstated.

Update: 118 projects as of June

Everybody is wrong about ED 1Ignore the haters. Mayor Bass' signature housing policy is a big success.futureis.la

Great find!

Harry Potter has entered the group chat!

If you moved here as a transplant, think about your first days in this sprawling, oddly unknowable city. How long until you found your people? Wouldn't it have been great if the city gave you a leg up on day one? What would you have wanted to get in your Angeleno Box?

The Angeleno BoxWhat if every person who moved to LA got a welcome package?futureis.la

Also (from my genius and extremely offline wife): a baseball cap in a color that changes every year. See someone at the grocery store with the same color? You moved here around the same time, and you have an instant connection. "Hey, I see you moved to LA in 2027 too. What brought you here?"

In the Angeleno box: a letter from the Mayor, a library card, a TAP card, a Metro map, voter registration info, QR codes for 311. Plus hyper-local stuff based on your address: nearest parks, schools, transit stops (with schedule), your councilmember's contact info.

Our weak civic culture means City Hall gets away with ignoring the public interest because they're not held accountable. That changes when we build power - by having more connection to each other and our great city. Let's start when people are the most open - when they move here. Send them a box! 📦

How L.A. City Hall became so corrupt: A recent history of bribes, kickbacks, scandal, leaksThe Los Angeles political world is no stranger to scandal. In fact, there have been so many it can be hard to keep them straight.www.latimes.com

LA has a bias toward the private over the public. Our biggest foundation funds a private museum on a hill. Only 4 of 450 parks have been "adopted". School choice sends kids across the city instead of to their local school. There's no July 4th fireworks display that unites the city (pic: San Diego).

LA has many strengths. Civic culture is not one of them. New York united after 9/11. Boston rallied around "Boston Strong" after the marathon bombing. After the LA fires, folks in Altadena and the Palisades supported each other beautifully, but who gave us the big moments that united the whole city?

That lot has been such an eyesore. Glad people will finally get to live there. Hopefully the lot a few doors south will also get going at some point soon.

WTF is going on with those La Cienega bus lanes around the 10 freeway?

Thank you!

Hey thanks! The posts are set so you have to be a subscriber to comment. I appreciate you coming over here to tell me about the T - I'll check it out.

Are you sure? This document from May seems to walk things back. I've heard rumors CPUC has been giving Metro a headache. scag.ca.gov/sites/defaul...

New eldercare facility in LA (plus ground-floor snyagogue!), seven stories. maps.app.goo.gl/wXfkNvghYCg1... www.whereyoulivematters.org/find-a-commu...

Excellent question