DISMAL GRADES FOR SOUTHLAND TRAFFIC GARNERS `F' ON ANNUAL REPORT CARD.Byline: Lisa Mascaro and Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writers Southern California's traffic-choked freeways finally got the failing grade they deserved, while other indicators reflected a declining quality of life, an annual report card released Thursday showed. The ``State of the Region'' report by the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Association of Governments also gave D's in education and housing. The region received B's - a ``moderately good'' rating - for employment and safety and C's for income and air quality. The report was released on the same day that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈaloɪ̯s ˈʃvaɐ̯ʦənˌʔɛɡɐ] proposed a multibillion-dollar bond issue to help pay for freeway and infrastructure improvements needed to cope with the state's anticipated growth. ``This report card is not the report card that I or any one of us would want to take home,'' said Mark Pisano, executive director of SCAG scag - To destroy the data on a disk, either by corrupting the file system or by causing media damage. Compare scrog, roach. . ``The governor's message and actions of the Legislature to initiate new funding streams is paramount. Bonds and other financing ... (are) going to be absolutely critical.'' In giving traffic a failing grade - it's received D's since 2000 - SCAG officials cited the 93 hours that commuters waste in congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. each year, the lack of new roadways and the lagging use of mass transit mass transit, public transportation systems designed to move large numbers of passengers. Types and Advantages Mass transit refers to municipal or regional public shared transportation, such as buses, streetcars, and ferries, open to all on a . ``It's the pits,'' said SCAG President Toni Young, who sits on the Port Hueneme Port Hueneme (wī'nē`mē), city (1990 pop. 20,319), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; founded 1870, inc. 1948. It has an artificial deep-sea harbor and is the site of a huge naval construction-battalion (Seabee) center. City Council and endures a three-hour commute on the Ventura (101) Freeway to meetings in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . ``You just don't want to go out on the road if you don't have to. It's getting ridiculous.'' The SCAG report is based on 2004 data from Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. , Riverside and Imperial counties. Despite an economic recovery and a modest 2 percent gain in household income, the quality of life continues to deteriorate because of gridlocked grid·lock n. 1. A traffic jam in which no vehicular movement is possible, especially one caused by the blockage of key intersections within a grid of streets. 2. highways and skyrocketing housing prices, officials said. In housing, despite the biggest building boom in 15 years - local governments permitted 93,200 residential units, twice as many as in 1998 - home ownership remains out of reach for many. With the red-hot housing market, fewer than 20 percent of residents in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties could afford to buy the median-priced home of $400,000. Prices have gone up since to nearly $500,000 in Los Angeles County. Much of the new home building was in apartments and condos, which increased 33 percent over the previous year. The only bright spots were the continued decline in violent crimes and the region's first meaningful job growth since 2000. But Bruce Ackerman, president of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , said the report needs to be taken in context of the Southern California's diverse neighborhoods. While the San Fernando Valley suffers from the same housing and traffic issues as the rest of the region, there have been vast improvements from a year or even a decade ago. ``Everybody else I talk to ... has a better feeling today than they did in the past,'' he said. That said, Ackerman supports calls for a massive state bond to help build housing, transportation and other needed infrastructure. ``What was the last freeway project you've seen completed? If we want to continue to enjoy the quality of life we have, we have to take some serious looks at biting the bullet on these bond measures to improve our infrastructure. I don't want to pay more taxes any more than you do. But I'd rather do this than continue to risk the quality of life deterioration.'' Lisa Mascaro, (818) 713-3761 lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Heavy traffic, as seen here on Interstate 5 in Sylmar, contributed to the Southland's low marks on an annual regional report. John Lazar/Staff Photographer Box: THE STATE OF THE REGION SOURCE: Southern California Association of Governments Daily News |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion