In a big sprawling city like Los Angeles, the condition of the streets is forever a hot topic, for walkers, bikers, and drivers. The City Council has been attempting to pass some kind of bond measure to make widespread repairs, but meanwhile the streets are pretty universally in terrible shape. The LA Times crunched the data in LA's 114 neighborhoods and found that "The differences are not driven by wealth or political power. In fact, some of the poorest parts of the city have some of the best roads." (Rich Holmby Hills is so fed up they want to annex themselves to Beverly Hills.) LA has 6,500 miles of paved roadways (making it the largest municipal system in the US) and there's a 60-year backlog on repairs. The average grade of the streets is a C, meaning "minimal cracking, zero to 5% of structural failure," but more than one-third "have a score of D or worse, meaning they must be resurfaced or totally reconstructed." So which neighborhoods are doing ok and which neighborhoods are stuck in total pothole hell?
THE BEST
Playa Vista: The neighborhood is doing best out of any in the city; its streets scored an average of B, meaning "minimal cracking, no oxidation and no structural failure." Only 2 percent of streets earned an F. PV is a new area, having just been developed over the last decade.
Reseda: Reseda is another one of the top neighborhoods--it earned an average B.
South Park: Streets in the other South Park (the one in South LA, not Downtown) scored an average B, with only 7 percent earning Fs.
THE WORST
Silver Lake: One of the worst neighborhoods in the city, with streets averaging D-minus and 53 percent scoring an F.
Hollywood Hills: The old narrow streets in the Hills are in some of the worst shape. Hollywood Hills and Hollywood Hills West both averaged D grades, with 55 percent and 45 percent of streets, respectively, receiving Fs.
Hancock Park: Another wealthy neighborhood with crappy streets--the area averages a D-minus with 56 percent of streets pulling Fs.
The city wants to bring everything up to a B average, which will take about $2.6 billion in new money. Meanwhile their approach is to tackle the salvageable streets first, since its less expensive than trying to totally overhaul the worst cases.
· L.A. full of roads to ruin for cars [LAT]
Loading comments...