Posted on 02/04/2005 2:47:02 PM PST by television is just wrong
SoCal's report card not golden
By Kerry Cavanaugh, Staff Writer
With soaring housing costs, bad schools, horrendous traffic jams and a dearth of well-paying jobs, Southern California's once-golden lifestyle continues to dim, a scorecard released Thursday by the regional planning agency shows.
The seventh annual State of the Region report by the Southern California Association of Governments ranks the quality of life in the region as a D-plus --potentially failing.
Housing and air quality worsened in 2003, while the grades for traffic, education, household income and public safety remained static. And while the number of jobs in the six-county region rose by 14,000, personal income for its 17.7 million residents stayed flat.
"The fundamental issue this region faces ... is the income issue. Without an increase in wages and per capita income we're not going to have the resources to deal with these issues," said Mark Pisano, executive director of SCAG.
The report details a slate of interconnected problems plaguing Southern California.
Students perform below the national median on reading and math test scores, while 76 percent of residents do not have a college degree -- elements that limit their ability to get high-paying jobs.
Meanwhile, an exodus of well-paying manufacturing jobs to less-expensive areas have been replaced by lower-paying service jobs. With less wealth, residents have to travel to far-flung suburbs to be able to afford a home, which then worsens congestion and pollution.
"How do you get out of this Catch-22?" asked Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke. "We need better schools (in urban areas) so people won't have to move so far away and housing people can afford so they don't have to move so far away."
Southern California's housing earned a D: the worst score since the SCAG report card was launched.
The value of construction permits hit $15.5 billion in 2003, but still didn't keep up with growth and demand. From 2000-03, the region issued 200,000 building permits, but the population grew by 1 million.
That led to dramatic increases in the cost of housing, with prices jumping up to 30 percent in 2003. The median price at the end of that year was $417,500, according to the California Association of Realtors, and had soared to $474,480 by December 2004.
Only 26 percent of households in Los Angeles and 20 percent of households in Orange County could afford a median-priced home in 2003. Even the Inland Empire became more pricey, with only 38 percent of households able to buy a median-priced home compared with 43 percent in 2002.
"The issue of housing affordability, availability and accessibility goes to the core of our long-term economic health and quality of life," said Toni Young, who sits on the Port Hueneme City Council and is SCAG's first vice president.
"Virtually nothing is more sacred than the home, which in Southern California, is becoming more and more difficult to attain each year."
SCAG officials said they are trying to tackle housing and related issues of traffic and air quality with the "2 percent strategy" -- a planning vision adopted last year that calls for more condominiums, townhouses and denser development close to transit lines.
analyzing development opportunity along major bus and train corridors, SCAG officials estimate they could build 400,000 more units.
Their goal is to move jobs closer to homes and homes closer to jobs. So far the cities of Ontario, South Pasadena and communities along the Gold Line have expressed interest in adopting that plan, Pisano said.
-- Kerry Cavanaugh can be reached at (818) 713-3746 or by e-mail at kerry.cavanaugh@dailynews.com
I know what you mean and I too don't like the left turn but in most parts and where I live, it trancends politics for the most part....you would never know anyone's politics for the most part and it is just a wonderful community
Yes, that the one.
My grown children live in Texas and when they visit home in Memphis the first meal they want is BBQ. They claim BBQ can't be found in Texas.
It's the same factor that is bankrupting California government, driving a wedge into the Republican Party and will be one of the litmus issues in the 2008 elections.
The Bush administration has reversed federal interpretation of immigration laws and now says that state and local police can enforce immigration laws.
The CBP will even train your local police to enforce immigration law.
Instead of bitching about Bush why don't y'all do something constructive and demand that your local mayors and police chiefs bust your own local employers of illegals?
Uh, because an invasion of foreign nationals is a Federal issue, and because the President has Executive power that includes Federal law enforcement.
Article. II.
Section. 1.
Clause 1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected…
Clause 8: Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Article. IV.
Section. 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
If you really think the illegal immigrants are a serious problem you would let your local police close the demand by busting employers.
However if your agenda is only attacking President Bush you will throw up every excuse you can to justify them not doing it.
I would, but I am too busy trying to eradicate my house's termite infestation with a magnifying glass and a set of tweezers.
i am afraid that it's going to have to increase density.
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