A Flash Point for Revival?

Bill Clinton is finally back in Los Angeles, a city that has become a metaphor for the nation’s urban ills. During his visit today, the President is expected to see firsthand the unemployment and business shutdowns caused by a stalled economy and defense cutbacks. He will also see the devastation caused by last year’s riots.

American cities are no longer the lifeblood of this nation. Industries fled, and the white middle class was not far behind. The exodus has left behind minimum-wage jobs and a population dominated by very poor families. But if this nation is to prosper, cities must prosper.

If Clinton can make good on his campaign promises to fix the economy and create jobs, he can help reverse the urban decline.

The President is expected to detail his Administration’s urban agenda in his L.A. visit. Despite the recent failure of Congress to pass his economic stimulus plan, which would have created 50,000 jobs in the Los Angeles area, he must convey a sense of hope.

Los Angeles is certainly a good test case for a new urban agenda. It has all the requisite problems. But it also has great promise and unusual advantages, like proximity to foreign markets, the entertainment business and innovative high technology. Also, for decades the area has been a magnet for tourists, who seem now to be overcoming fears prompted by the riots.

But there is still much to be done. If the President drives by the intersection of Florence and Normandie, the infamous flash point of the unrest, he will see little economic activity. At a job training program in Van Nuys, Clinton will meet with students. Can he guarantee jobs to young people in those two disparate parts of our city?

Perhaps. Clinton’s new, scaled-down jobs program offers renewed hope. But Congress--especially the Republican minority--must vote approval to translate the promise into paychecks. Clinton, with the help of Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown, must also put pressure on the private sector to start making deals, and loans, in the inner cities.

Clinton has acknowledged that the nation’s economic recovery will not be complete without a recovery in California, which is home to one in 10 Americans. That’s a good start. But he should also remember that California cannot fully come back without a revival in Los Angeles.