The decisions city leaders make over the next few years can determine whether LA becomes a thriving metropolis influenced by its suburban roots or just another overcrowded city that can’t meet its residents’ needs. Daily Bruin Opinion examines how the city can establish a new civic identity over the coming years.
Category Archives: Opinion Columns
Chris Campbell: Modern Angeleno identity has to resolve fault lines of uneven growth
Introduction Imagine stepping into a time machine and traveling 100 years into the future. You find out that the city of Fargo, North Dakota, once barely a speck on the map, has become the country’s second-largest metropolis and the place to be for cosmopolitans and immigrants of every stripe – an internationally renowned commercial and […]
William Zou: The solution to crime lies in communication, not incarceration
Henry Olivera grew up in a labyrinth of violence, gangs and incarceration. Olivera was raised in Compton, a region in Los Angeles notorious for its gang-related crimes. He contended with a legion of negative influences, including pressure to join gangs, distrust of law enforcement and negligently underfunded high schools. Yet despite having overcome these obstacles, […]
Pravin Visakan: City mayor’s push for after-school programs could revitalize LAUSD
The Los Angeles Unified School District has seen better days. Over the last decade, LAUSD’s enrollment has dropped by approximately 200,000, and the system faces a projected $1.46 billion cumulative deficit by 2019. Betsy DeVos, our current national secretary of education, has threatened to make matters even worse by voicing support for a school voucher […]
Jasmine Aquino: City leaders must pursue sexual education reform
I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley – also known as the porn capital of the world. The “San Pornando Valley,” just 10 miles north of Hollywood glamour, offers a different kind of setting for actors to try their skills. That is, until 2012. That’s when Measure B, better known as the […]
Chris Busco: City infrastructure could turn Los Angeles into a pedestrian paradise
With 300 days of sunshine a year, star-studded boulevards and a plethora of major cultural institutions, the City of Angels seems to have all the makings of a pedestrian-friendly city. However, LA infrastructure still prioritizes drivers over the safety of pedestrians. As overall traffic fatalities continue to rise, it’s clear that LA has a safety […]
Keshav Tadimeti: LA’s Silicon Beach must complement Silicon Valley, not replace it
The California technology industry has a bright future – a bright and sandy one, that is. For several decades, California’s Silicon Valley has been the global face of technological advancement. Everything from the genesis of startup culture to the creation of game-changing social media applications took place within the Northern California valley, and the technological […]