Adopt a Block: A Plan to Fix Our Town's Potholes
Westsider Molly-Ann Leikin has an idea about making our travels smoother.
By Molly-Ann Leikin | June 16, 2011
Author Molly-Ann Leikin
Mayor Villaraigosa has made it clear the city doesn’t have money to pave or repair any streets in L.A., not even his.
In Santa Barbara, I lived on a private lane of eight houses. Private meant that when the road disappeared into a sink hole every March 3rd, each homeowner had to repair his own portion of the street himself. Since all the neighbors but me seemed to be in Witness Protection, it was easy to interest somebody’s brother-in-law twice removed, in borrowing gigantic yellow machinery from Casmalia, and uncovering leftover slurry from the city yard. All cash. Two days. Done.
Our Brentwood roads can be repaired the same way. Since the coral trees on San Vicente have been adopted, now let’s adopt the streets themselves. Block by block. Sidewalks and meridians, too. With plaques. Maybe badges. The paperwork would include maintenance agreements, and spark competition to be the most beautiful.
We could also auction parking meters, each of which could be decorated by a different, commissioned, local artist, and become a world-class installation like LACMA’s lamp posts, with the revenue going into the maintenance fund.
Slurry up, Brentwood. Somebody got a steamroller?
|
No comments have been provided.
|
