Beautification
The herd of wooden cows at Olympic and Sawtelle boulevards in West Los Angeles does not make me smile; it makes me angry (Metro, July 30). Those ingratiating props and some weeds have replaced an apartment complex where low-income families used to live. And for forcing people to move and demolishing their homes, landowner Executive Life Insurance Co. has been saluted for “Beautification of the Olympic Corridor.”
Were the families living there so unbeautifiable that the landowners had to raze the homes before they even knew what to do with the property? The lot has sat unused for months--time that surely would have eased relocation pains for the residents. But of course developers dare not allow unsightly human beings to live in an area they are “beautifying” with bad architecture and mini-malls. This city should be more wary of the insensitive blunderings of developers and not so easily suckered by their cheap PR stunts.
BLAKE BUTLER
Los Angeles
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