The Next L.A. / Reinventing Our Future : What will it take to push us beyond business as usual?

Standing amid broken freeways and collapsed homes, the people of Los Angeles have mourned yesterday’s passing. Visions of tomorrow have come harder, especially belief that the city in future could be grander, more powerful and more downright livable than it has ever been.

Yet that may well be the case. This crossroads of Asia and the Americas could become one of the great cities in history. But nothing is guaranteed. Only if the region is capable of putting aside old assumptions and making strenuous efforts to think and act anew, will it fulfill its destiny.

The challenge goes beyond patching up the masonry and making firm resolutions about our love affair with the car. What’s needed is a new habit of thinking that always strives for the innovative, the new

In this special section, The Times presents some fresh ideas on critical issues facing our community--from transportation to education, to government. The aim is to begin a great conversation about the realities of today’s Los Angeles, and the possibilities of the next Los Angeles.