Exploring a plan to remake the L.A. River
Today we’ll start with a short history lesson about one of Los Angeles’s most vital (and most forgotten) landmarks: the Los Angeles River. For centuries, the river, which begins in the San Fernando Valley and ends in the ocean in Long Beach, sustained small communities of Native peoples. In the 1800s it nurtured hundreds of vineyards and orange groves, and exporting the harvests helped expand the Southland’s reputation around the globe. … But determining exactly how to redesign the river is a tall task. There are competing demands from some environmentalists, who want the concrete removed; from community activists, who worry that any new development would lead to the displacement of poor residents; and from engineering experts, who say the risk of flooding remains too high to restore anything like the original river.