Letters to the Editor: Don’t forget this culprit for California’s polluted air

To the editor: I don’t get how there is an article talking about California air pollution and it doesn’t mention the main cause, our land-use pattern. In 1986, Los Angeles passed Proposition U. Along with other slow-growth measures in other cities, it significantly decreased the amount of housing that could be built in Los Angeles. Our zoning capacity dropped, possibly by millions of people.

Those people didn’t just disappear. Instead they were forced to build homes further away from Los Angeles and drive in and out to their jobs daily. This increase in traffic is one of the main reasons we have bad air here.

If Los Angeles really wanted to improve the air quality, it would allow a significant amount of homes to be built next to transit lines like state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) proposed in Senate Bill 50.

Josh Albrektson, South Pasadena