Leap on Factors Fueling Spike in Violent Crime in L.A.

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap spoke to KPCC’s AirTalk about factors fueling a rise in violent crime in Los Angeles. In the wake of COVID-19, the killing of George Floyd and economic uncertainty that has put food and shelter at risk for many, “the bottom line is people feel out of control,” Leap said. “And some people who feel out of control act out of control.” A sense of hopelessness, combined with the proliferation of lethal weapons in the United States, has led to a high death count that has had a devastating impact on women and children in particular, with trauma reverberating through years, if not decades, she said. Leap said she hopes the upcoming Los Angeles mayor’s race puts pressure on leaders to come up with innovative approaches to public safety, such as expanding gang intervention and community outreach. “This is really an all-hands-on-deck problem,” she said. 

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Manville on Showdown Over California Housing Laws

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An NBC News report on a looming showdown over new California laws aimed at building more housing included insights from Associate Professor of Urban Planning Michael Manville. The laws going into effect on Jan. 1 include Senate Bill 9, which will allow property owners to construct more than one unit on lots previously reserved for single-family homes. Opponents say the laws will strip cities and counties of control over zoning and will not ensure that new units will be affordable. A proposed constitutional amendment that would undo several of the laws may appear on the November 2022 ballot. The debate illustrates how difficult it is to address the state’s affordable housing crisis. “It took a long time for us to get into this hole, and it’s going to take a long time to get out,” Manville said. “It’s going to take some time to see so much construction that rents are going to fall.”

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Astor on Parents’ Role in Preventing School Shootings

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A Christian Science Monitor article on parent accountability in school shootings cited Social Welfare Professor Ron Avi Astor, an authority on the prevention of school violence. Astor recommended that parents be educated in how to recognize warning signs that mass shooters often show — such as visiting a website that glorifies past school shooters, an obsession with firearms or suicidal tendencies — as well as where they can turn for help if they have concerns. In 2018, Astor and other scholars published a holistic public health plan to prevent gun violence at schools. The plan includes building healthier school communities and families through things like bullying prevention and threat assessments. “What I like about that approach is it doesn’t get us stuck in this Second Amendment rights issue that everybody seems to gravitate to almost automatically, of ‘there’s nothing you can do’ or ‘eliminate all guns,’” Astor said. “There’s a lot you can do in between.”

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Roy on ‘Impoverishment and Abandonment’ on L.A. Streets

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The Guardian, CalMatters and other media outlets spotlighted a study from the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy that gauged the death toll among Los Angeles County’s unhoused population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between March 2020 and July 2021, nearly 1,500 people died on the streets or in outdoor spaces including freeway underpasses, parks, sidewalks, dumpsters, abandoned buildings, bus stops, tents, riverbeds, railroads and encampments, the study found. The number does not include those who died in hospitals, shelters or cars. The CalMatters piece focused on the most common cause of death: accidental overdose. The Guardian noted that the average age of unhoused residents who died was 47, a finding that II&D Director Ananya Roy found particularly disturbing. “We’ve got to get serious about using that metric to understand the levels of impoverishment and abandonment here in the U.S.,” she said. The Independent, Planetizen and Insider were among other media covering the study.

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Anheier on Germany’s Modern Angst

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Helmut Anheier wrote a Project Syndicate book review examining Germany’s undercurrent of anxiety as a new coalition government takes power. “German political life so far has been spared from the ravages of Brexit-style magical thinking or American-style polarization,” Anheier wrote. But as the 16-year tenure of Chancellor Angela Merkl comes to an end, “there is an abiding sense of unease in German society — a suspicion that things are changing, and not for the better.” Anheier summarized four recent books that address the crises of collective and individual identity that are part of the contemporary German experience; each book offers a starkly different conclusion. Anheier noted that, like many wealthy Western countries, Germany seems to be caught in a constant state of disquietude, despite all it has going for it. He concluded, “The post-Merkel era is as likely to bring disruption as it is to preserve continuity with the recent past.”

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Manville on Shifting Dynamics of City Life and Work

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Associate Professor of Urban Planning Michael Manville spoke to CNET about recent changes in living and commuting patterns. The shift to remote work for many during the pandemic accelerated an existing trend of people moving outward to areas surrounding their former homes in big urban centers. “Once you were deprived of the opportunities that a fully open Los Angeles or, for that matter, a fully open San Francisco offered you, it was very hard to justify the cost of housing here,” Manville said. The pandemic has also had a large impact on traffic patterns and use of public transit. At the beginning of the pandemic, “traffic just plummeted to levels we have probably not seen in 100 years,” but congestion and traffic have almost returned to pre-pandemic levels as the economy has reopened, Manville said. The article also cited UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies Director Brian Taylor regarding the variables that lead to traffic congestion.

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Taylor on Political Economy of Transit Projects

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Brian Taylor, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UCLA Luskin, joined St. Louis on the Air to discuss the political motivations behind transportation projects. The passage of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill has prompted discussion about the potential expansion of the MetroLink light-rail line in St. Louis. While light rail is popular among politicians and residents who use it as an occasional alternative to driving, most essential workers would benefit more from improved frequency and reliability of bus services. According to Taylor, “Opportunities to cut ribbons in front of things is much better [for elected officials] than making broad improvements.” He explained that while transit users benefit from improved service, politicians prefer dramatic, concrete improvements that will garner more political support from all voters. “The issue with a light-rail line is that most people don’t ride transit, but almost everyone can see the light-rail line,” Taylor said.

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Yaroslavsky on Risks, Rewards of 2028 Olympics

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Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, spoke to KPCC’s AirTalk about the risks and rewards Los Angeles faces as it prepares to host the 2028 Olympic Games. Yaroslavsky noted that L.A. already has the infrastructure to support the Games, including sports arenas such as SoFi Stadium, which can host opening and closing ceremonies, and new dorms at USC and UCLA that can serve as an Olympic Village. Commenting on the prospect that Los Angeles might still be battling crisis levels of homelessness, Yaroslavsky said, “We can’t wait until 2028 to solve this problem. We’ve got to solve it now.” The primary challenge for local Olympic organizers is to remained disciplined to avoid running a deficit, he said. “Barring any pandemic kind of event, or a worldwide recession which would influence ticket sales and travel, … these Games should make a profit,” which would be reinvested in youth sports and other initiatives that benefit the community, he said.

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Anheier on Germany’s New Ruling Coalition

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Helmut Anheier authored an article in Project Syndicate about Germany’s new ruling coalition. After eight weeks of negotiations, a national-level three-party alliance has been established for the first time since the 1950s, with Social Democrat Olaf Scholz succeeding Angela Merkel as chancellor. Leaders of the center-left Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats collaborated to produce the coalition agreement “Dare to Make More Progress,” which outlines lofty goals for Germany, including modernization of the social security system and strengthening support for social welfare programs. Scholz’s government will also aim to increase renewable energy, invest in public transportation, expand public housing and overhaul Germany’s immigration framework. “Germany’s new ruling coalition has advanced a much-needed vision for the country, but whether it can realize it will depend largely on the coalition committee’s political skill,” Anheier wrote. “If the coalition fails, Germany will risk reverting to its old habit of doing too little too late.”

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Blumenberg on Supporting Transit Rider Mobility

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Urban Planning Professor Evelyn Blumenberg spoke to the Fresno Bee about the impact that car access has on socioeconomic mobility. “There’s a very robust connection between having a car and having a job,” Blumenberg said. In Fresno, the commute times for bus riders are nearly double the commute times for car owners, and this makes it difficult to plan a sequence of trips to be on time for class or work. Blumenberg said the challenge is compounded for women, and especially mothers, who often carry the burden of taking their children to child care, school or the doctor. Fresno is working to increase the frequency of transit services to decrease commute times, but these improvements in service can have a limited impact in sprawling regions like Fresno. Blumenberg suggested building a denser network of housing and jobs, close to existing transit lines. This can help shorten travel distances, making transit more efficient and comparable to driving.

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