CHILDREN SUGGEST METHODS TO BUILD A BETTER LOS ANGELES.

I feel that Los Angeles would be a better city if people could stop tagging. Los Angeles would be better by painting over what people have tagged on. . . . This city could be a great city if people just cared. The city is a mess. Trying to help clean up the city may be hard to some people, but I don't mind cleaning up the city.

- Denise Alvarado 

I think there are a lot of drugs in the world. Here's my suggestion: If you know or find out that one of your friends is using drugs, kindly tell him what harm drugs can be. Remind them again that drugs can kill you and hurt the people that love you.

- Walter Chen

I think what will make Los Angeles better is to put more activities at school or at the park. What would be better is to have after-school jobs for kids so they can learn to be responsible. Graffiti will be stopped by the community's kids and violence will stop, and people will be happier.

- George Garcia

You could make Los Angeles a better place by cleaning the streets, getting rid of the pollution. What I really would do is try to get the homeless people to a home to live and try to find their family. Also, we should recycle and paint the walls that have graffiti on them.

- Claudia Menjivar

I believe we should decrease the taxes. For example, if you go to the store and on a sign it says 99 cents for something and then when you buy it they tell you $1.07. You say, ``I don't have 7 cents,'' then they say, ``we can't sell it to you.'' Then you say, ``Come on, give me a break. You're dying for 7 cents.''

Another problem is too much racism is going on. If you are Latino like me, some white people may call me or other Latino students names. They even say go back to Mexico, and you're not even from there. Even some people don't get jobs because they might be Latino, Asian, black, etc.

- Danny Leon

I think you should fix the transportation, traffic and road construction. With transportation, your company could encourage car pooling, riding a bike and walking to work because it would help traffic. The traffic is horrible coming off the Golden State Freeway.

- Cindy Requa

I believe Los Angeles would be a better city if the crime and traffic would decrease. If you could it would be nice to cut down on the pollution. Maybe you could build subways or underground streets. Downtown is a dangerous place for pedestrians. Maybe you could build walkways underground so they could walk without fear. I know these are hard requests, but my class and I believe it would make Los Angeles a better place to live.

- Kenny Delgodo

Stop violence by having more counselors to talk about problems. Have cool programs, clubs or places that help people and are good places to be most of the time. Recycle paper and other things so we won't have to cut too many trees. Have better food in schools and sometimes have healthy food.

- Marycela Pina

I have noticed problems in Los Angeles that could be improved. I have seen cracks and bumps on the streets from earthquakes and other causes that are repaired too slowly. There is a lot of air pollution caused by cars. There are traffic jams all over the roads. There are also hundreds of homeless people who want to get jobs but can't because they have no address.

- Shelley Suy

I live here in L.A. and quite frankly this place seems to get worse every year, like more gangs with guns, traffic and the road gets more cracked up and bumpy every time. Some places I see already have better roads, but there is still more cracked roads to be fixed. I think that only the cops should have guns because kids always use them for bad things, and it's mostly to get what they want and to hurt people. . . . If you could get the mayor or people who care to agree and if it gets done, Los Angeles will truly be a better place.

- Richard Gonzales