In the News
What is Really Behind Those Vacant Stores at Westfield Topanga?
I have been reading business reports about how brick and mortar stores are having a difficult time remaining in business due to many factors. Among them are the ever-expanding internet sales options, the increase in the minimum wage, incre…
And, the Big Buck Beat Goes On: Developer Lobbyists Paying Off LA’s Politicians
ARE YOU GOOD WITH THIS?--A new city Ethics Commission report reveals that developers continue to shell out eye-popping cash for lobbyists t…
Bocanegra Rides Again: Running LA Schools from Sacramento
EASTSIDER-I have no idea why Assembly member Raul Bocanegra (photo above) (D-AD39) continues to want to run Los Angeles from his Sacrament…
‘Downtown’ to Constituents: ‘Shut Up’!
ALPERN AT LARGE--It bears repeating--as stated in a previous CityWatch article, the problems facing Angelenos and other Californians are ma…
LA Could Learn Some Planning Lessons from the Emerald City
PLATKIN ON PLANNING-My roots as a city planner go back to Seattle, where I studied city planning at the University of Washington and worked…
Let Me Count the Ways … of Counting Transit Riders
GAMING GRIDLOCK-Usually they work individually, but in the August 27, 2017 edition of The Daily Breeze, Joel Koktin and Wendell Cox formed…
The Great Mass Transit Disaster Waiting in the Wings
MIS-DIRECTION MISERY-This famous experiment helps explain why Angelenos cannot see the mass transit disaster that already is afflicting the…
Time to Get Off the Train
BELL VIEW-When I was just a kid, I liked Ronald Reagan. He seemed upbeat, competent, presidential. He had a sense of humor. Then, during th…
Fake News: My Very Own Focus Group
MY TURN-Continuing my quest to identify and combat fake news has become almost an obsession. I have spent hours tracking down a ton of fake…
Garcetti Keeping the Lid on LA’s $1.2 Billion Homeless-Reduction Bond Measure
THE PREVEN REPORT--In a July 17 CityWatch piece, we cited the following response given by Mayor Eric Garcetti to a question about how he ma…
If LA is ‘No Kill,’ What’s with the Dead and Disappearing Dogs and Cats?
@THE GUSS REPORT-My neighbors took in four tiny foster kittens last week because the LA Animal Services shelter nearest us said that they w…
It Will Take More than Promises to Repair the PUC’s Tarnished Image
CAL MATTERS--The California Public Utilities Commission must, by its nature, straddle the fine line between providing consumers with depend…
Preservation Playbook – Could ‘Hollywood Heritage’ Become an Oxymoron?
DEEGAN ON LA-What do we remember…and why? That’s an intriguing question. How important are concepts like legacy and heritage? Why is #TBT (…
Subsidized Granny Flats: LA Testing New Approach to Fighting Homelessness
California's budding YIMBY movement is up for a real test. Under a new pilot program approved last week, Los Angeles County homeowners are…
The Cost of Silence: How a Wealthy LA Democratic Donor Muted an Entire Political Party
REVEALED--The silence from LA’s Democratic community on the recent death of a 26-year-old Black gay male escort in the West Hollywood apart…
The Usual Anti-Transit Suspects: Still Wrong ... But Not ALL Wrong
GETTING THERE FROM HERE--As outlined in my last CityWatch article, the problems facing Angelenos and other Californians are mainly local/st…
Trump Screwed Up Democracy, Silicon Valley Will Finish the Job
NEW GEOGRAPHY--When Democrats made their post-election populist “Better Deal” pitch, they took a strong stance against pharmaceutical and f…
All Thoughts Not Golden … There is LA Angst Over the Olympics
CAPITAL & MAIN REPORT--For Mayor Eric Garcetti and the rest of the bid committee working to bring the Summer Olympics back to Southern…
Congress of Neighborhoods Needs to Tackle the BIG Issues
JUST ASKIN’-Once a year, volunteers from LA’s neighborhood council system get together and orchestrate an NC "Congress."
Could the Uptick in California Crime Make It a Political Football Again?
CAL MATTERS-In the main, issues that dominate any session of the California Legislature reflect what the public and news media consider at…
