Shoup’s Solution to Parking Congestion in Manhattan

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Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, wrote a commentary for Bloomberg CityLab about how to reduce the overwhelming amount of congestion in Manhattan. A pay-to-park model that changes price depending on demand — which many motorists might find undesirable at first — would ensure that most of the curb space is well used while also leaving room for a few vacant spots, Shoup explained. “Revenue generated by the meters can be used to pay for public services, such as repairing sidewalks, planting street trees or providing other improvements,” he said. “Few will pay for curb parking, but all will benefit from public services.” The meter revenues could also be used to pay for transit passes for workers, allowing commuters who use buses to benefit as well. Shoup calculated that employing this model would allow the Upper West Side to raise $237 million every year.

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Making Strides Toward Climate Justice

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LAist highlighted the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation‘s work with the Transformative Climate Communities program, which funds neighborhood-level action to reduce the pollution driving the climate crisis. The program is active in low-income and historically underserved communities that have been severely impacted by pollution and environmental racism. A recent evaluation by the Center for Innovation found that the program has made an impact in providing local green jobs, creating avenues for implementing community-driven climate solutions, and building trust between communities and government entities that haven’t always been partners. “There’s definitely a demand for this type of program, one that allows communities to pursue their priorities to advance their vision for change,” said Colleen Callahan, co-executive director of the Center for Innovation.

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‘Taking the Raw Edges Off Capitalism’

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Dan Mitchell, UCLA Luskin professor emeritus of public policy, wrote an essay for Zocalo Public Square about efforts in 1930s California to build a social safety net for older Americans, with lessons for today’s debates on aging and “entitlements.” The campaigns, which predated the launch of Social Security, included the Townsend Plan, which called for the federal government to give $200 a month to every American over 60, and the Ham and Eggs initiative, which called on the state of California to give $30 to adults over 50 every Thursday. While these efforts failed, their larger ideas would triumph. “Social Security was not inspired by the Townsend Plan, but it was part of the New Deal’s larger idea of taking the raw edges off capitalism through government intervention,” Mitchell wrote. Advocates for the aging population remained a force in California politics for years, fighting battles that foreshadowed today’s struggle over how to divide the economic pie between younger and older generations.

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Lens on the Population Exodus in Northern California

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Michael Lens, associate professor of urban planning and public policy, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about a stark population decline in California, specifically in cities in Northern California. Factors such as the Bay Area’s tech-rich economy have led to an increase in remote work, resulting in an exodus of employees to less expensive locales. “Hundreds of thousands more people would desire to live in the Bay Area — if not millions — and Southern California if we made it easier to accommodate those people through more housing units and presumably more affordable housing,” Lens said. Many remote areas saw an influx of people, but Lens noted that an increase in housing is mostly needed in major cities. Urban centers can grow more efficiently, he said, adding that moving to places with lower population densities could also lead to longer commutes.

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An L.A. Story of Power, Influence and Big Personalities

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The Los Angeles Times put a spotlight on the newly released autobiography of Zev Yaroslavsky, a fixture in L.A. civic life for decades and now the director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin. “Zev’s Los Angeles: From Boyle Heights to the Halls of Power” revisits “the period in which Los Angeles became what we know today: big and complex, multiracial, exciting, divided and far deeper than what meets the eye,” writes UCLA Blueprint editor Jim Newton in his review of the book. “Zev’s Los Angeles” recounts Yaroslavsky’s family history, his UCLA student activism and forceful defense of Soviet Jews, and his election to the L.A. City Council at age 26, which spawned a long and consequential career in politics. Newton calls the memoir “a solid history, an insightful analysis of power and a sincere reflection on a life of service,” with fresh insights and behind-the-scenes details about key turning points in the region’s polity.

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Manville on Road Tolls: ‘There Is No Other Way to Reduce Congestion’

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Michael Manville, associate professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, spoke to the Los Angeles Times and KTLA and KNBC about an expected pilot program that would charge a toll on some Los Angeles roads. The program aims to ease traffic congestion, reduce carbon emissions and raise funds at a time when gas taxes are down due to the surge in electric vehicles. Manville said that revenues can and should be used to ensure that low-income drivers are not disproportionately burdened by the tolls. Some businesses are concerned that drivers who want to avoid paying freeway tolls will clog local roads; others argue that safety and convenience issues continue to surround many public transit options. Manville said charging a premium toll during peak hours would reduce traffic as well as the risk of crashes. “There is no other way to reduce congestion,” he said. “So you can do something like this or basically you can just live with congestion.”

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Watch the KTLA report
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A Bungled Return of Treasured Artifacts

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Helmut Anheier, adjunct professor of public policy and social welfare at UCLA Luskin, wrote a Project Syndicate commentary about the legal, political and moral questions surrounding a bungled attempt to repatriate the Benin Bronzes, plundered 125 years ago by colonial powers, to Nigeria. After Germany returned some of the elaborately decorated castings and carvings in December 2022, conflicting declarations about who their rightful owner is stoked confusion and raised fears that the cultural artifacts could wind up on the black market. “While there are lingering doubts about Europe’s and America’s willingness to return treasures that were looted or illicitly obtained during the colonial era, there are also questions about some countries’ readiness to honor the commitments governing such transfers,” Anheier wrote. To prevent narrow national interests from undermining the process of returning stolen national treasures, he urged that UNESCO be designated as the body overseeing such transfers, citing the body’s role as the custodian of world heritage sites.

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Lens on California’s Housing Boom, Population Decline

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Michael Lens, associate professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA Luskin, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about an increase in housing construction during the pandemic along with a decline in population in California. “When it takes a decade of really massive economic growth in this state for housing production to catch up to the pre-recession levels, that says as much about the depths of our production crisis as it does about some kind of recent victory,” Lens said. He went on to explain that housing unaffordability and the pandemic played significant roles in reducing population growth in recent years, but the state has a long way to go to meet its housing needs. “We expect more equitable and more productive housing construction over the next decade,” he said, “but it’s going to take some time and take some diligence on the part of the state.”

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Younger Angelenos Hit Particularly Hard by Inflation, Pandemic Stresses

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Spectrum News 1’s “Inside the Issues” spoke with Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, about this year’s Quality of Life Index, a countywide survey that captures Angelenos’ feelings about inflation, housing affordability, health care, race relations, education and more. “For the last three years, dissatisfaction has definitely been on the rise,” said Yaroslavsky, who has directed the survey since its launch in 2016. “Where it hits the hardest is among younger people,” particularly those in their 30s whose families may have been turned upside down by pandemic stresses followed by spiking inflation. The index also polls residents on the favorability of public officials, and Yaroslavsky spoke about the broad popularity of Mayor Karen Bass in the city she leads as well as countywide. “She’s off to a strong start, and she’s using her political capital to try to do big things,” he said. The interview begins at minute 30.

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Yin on Alarming Methods for Repaying Medical Debt

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Wesley Yin, associate professor of public policy and management at UCLA Luskin, spoke to the New York Times about new options for paying off medical debt that can ultimately be more costly than using regular credit cards. Medical debt is a burden that has plagued many Americans throughout the years, with about 23 million adults owing more than $250 in health care debt. Yin said some financing plans for repaying this debt have alarming consequences. Some lenders provide small loans at a zero-percent interest rate if it is paid over the course of a few weeks. If the debt cannot be repaid by the deadline, however, high interest will be charged retroactively from the start of the loan. Other financing plans charge extremely high interest rates, with the annual percentage rate of a typical medical credit card being 27%. 

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