“I READ THE ECONOMIC AND HOUSING chapters of the LUCE proposal and listened to the comments by residents at the City Council hearings and I am appalled that the plan is totally opposite of what most people want. It’s a reflection of what city officials want to place on the public-something they call ‘social equity.’ Mostly it means more and denser housing and traffic jams, even though population growth from 2030 is negligible, LUCE quotes the spending from $10 to $12 million dollars a year, plus a $75 million dollar letter of credit to build even more low income housing. These projects will be able to go higher than present zoning allows, creating six and seven story concrete canyons and traffic gridlock zones along the boulevard. The question is why? Where does LUCE back up with survey statistics of just how many affordable work-force housing the city actually needs? Or are we going to house all of L.A.? If the City Council proves this faulty proposal, we can blame them for replacing Santa Monica’s beach town ambiance with Manhattan Avenue’s. Every tax payer should read the LUCE proposal at www.shapethefutue2025.net, before the November election.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 2, 2008. Read the original PDF.