Playa Vista
* In response to the Platform, “We Can, and Must, Create a Pride of Place,” July 29:
I disagree with Richard Weinstein’s politically correct image of the Playa Vista project, because the development will become another rich enclave like Sea Colony or Marina Del Rey on the only remaining open space along the coast. It’s just another attempt for the rich to monopolize the best air quality in the city.
Playa Vista illustrates the problem with American planning, which exploits energy and open space to solve urban problems. Developers, planners, citizens, etc., should be rebuilding and creating a multicultural image of L.A. by focusing energy and investment into the inner-city areas like Mid-Wilshire and Hollywood, which have mixed land uses, incomes and ethnic groups.
Ideally Playa Vista should become a public land like the famous Southern California beaches, which were set aside for public use long ago. As the population of Los Angeles grows, so does our demand for open space. If the Playa Vista development is the image of the new L.A., I want no part of it.
JAMES ROJAS
Los Angeles
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