Cruise Control

Councilman-elect Alex Padilla has shown he’s a fast starter. The Los Angeles City Council unanimously adopted his first ordinance last week, even though Padilla won’t be sworn into office until this week. Padilla drafted the motion--extending a barricade program to deter cruising on Laurel Canyon Boulevard--and got Council President John Ferraro to introduce it.

Now comes the bigger challenge: finding a solution that goes beyond a quick fix, one that doesn’t just push cruisers somewhere else or leave teenagers and 20-somethings with nothing to do.

A good many of Padilla’s Mission Hills constituents are grateful enough for a little instant relief. They’re tired of the congestion and noise. And they’re afraid. Although many cruisers still come out just to watch cars and each other, gang rivalries and guns have made the time-honored rite far darker. Padilla’s motion followed a weekend of violence at the popular northeast Valley cruising strip that left 10 people shot, one of them dead.

Removable plastic barriers and beefed up police patrols should help keep cruisers away, at least for now, at least from Laurel Canyon Boulevard. But where will they go and what will they do?

When Orange County cracked down on cruising three years ago, it pushed cruisers to outlying areas. It also might have led to new problems, like an upswing in a potentially more dangerous activity: street racing. That is an unintended consequence to watch for, given that the Valley already has problems with illegal street races.

Maybe the solution is a regulated racetrack or a sanctioned place to cruise or more programs like midnight basketball. Whatever the solution, it won’t be easy and it won’t come quickly. But it’s worth the extra effort. And Padilla, at 26, is the right person to be asking what young people want.