Los Angeles River and Mass Transit

Like Assemblyman Katz, I too have long cherished a dream for the Los Angeles River. It goes something like this:

We begin by ripping up the river’s concrete lining, at least the bottom and the side away from the freeways. Many of our city’s homeless find hope and productive work in this project. Homes and businesses are gradually removed from the river’s edge. We return the original flow to the river and let the earth serve as our reservoir. Nature immediately responds as willows, live oaks and cottonwoods once again find a hospitable environment. Insects, fish, birds, including the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo, and mammals soon follow. The river and its flood plain become a new city park, with bike paths, hiking and horseback riding trails, picnic grounds.

The river’s occasional floods do little damage to such facilities. School field trips bring thousands of children to learn from the rebirth of nature. Frustrated commuters begin to use the park’s bike paths to commute to work at an average speed exceeding that of today’s freeways. Congestion on the freeways begins to ease for those who continue to drive. Air quality improves, aided by the growing trees along the river which remove carbon dioxide from our air and replace it with oxygen. The possibilities and benefits boggle the mind.

How do we pay for all this? We start with a fund begun by developers who are greedily gobbling up the last open space in Los Angeles County and who are willing to pay big money for off-site mitigation measures.

Just a dream? Perhaps. But if we are going to dream, let us dream visionary dreams. Let’s release the Los Angeles River from its tomb so we all may benefit. Now that’s exciting!

SUZANNE GOODE

Los Angeles