As part of the Mayor’s Back to Basics approach to simplifying city government and enhancing city services, the City Administrative Office has released a report on quality of life and livability in Los Angeles. The report, prepared by Senior Advisor for Livability and Fuse Corps Executive Fellow Mark Thomas, outlines goals, policies, and recommendations for the Clean Streets LA program.
The Administrative Office worked with multiple city agencies, departments, council offices, and neighborhood groups to collect data for the report, which also includes best practices and policies for livability being implemented in other cities.
Although difficult to measure objectively, “quality of life” and “livability” are inescapable urbanism buzzwords and crucial components to a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable city. The CAO report’s recommendations call for the creation of measurable metrics for street conditions such as a cleanliness rating index, improvements in bulky trash pick-up to curb illegal dumping, and an effective system of coordinated enforcement, among other things.
Adoption and execution of this report’s recommendations will improve reporting and transactional and performance data gathering, strengthen existing tools, and work toward long-term solutions to deliver desired outcomes. Accountability and coordination among agencies and oversight will ensure the delivery of the outcome goals, align processes and programs, improve effective enforcement and compliance, and enhance communication and cooperation with the public, helping to implement systems and programs that improve quality of life in Los Angeles.
As local leaders and the primary avenue for engaging with the City, Neighborhood Councils can play an important role in improving livability by driving their communities to implement the report’s recommendations and galvanizing their neighbors to engage on issues they are already passionate about, such as blight, cleanliness, and safety. By increasing oversight, coordination, planning, responsiveness, and accountability across departments and at various geographic scales, we can use targeted programs and initiatives to tackle LA’s livability issues one block at a time.
The full report can be viewed here.
