Contrary to his central premise, Stuart Waldman’s commentary in the Feb. 6 issue against Measure S (“Stop the Housing Ban in L.A.”) does not make business sense. Los Angeles has become a city of gridlock. The freeways and streets are jammed beyond capacity. Ten mile commutes take an hour or more. Parking, both commercially and residentially, is a horrible problem. General crowding of roads, retail establishments and neighborhoods has exacerbated aggression and incivility. Los Angeles should take steps like Measure S to moderate population density. Rather than constructing more residences, we should put people to work building and improving rapid transit and infrastructure. Make it easier for everyone, city dwellers and suburbanites, to access their businesses, services and residences. Consider the savings to businesses and families across the board if commute times were reduced by even 10 percent. Given the scale of our crowding and transportation problems, those savings, measured in labor hours, fuel and time flexibility, dwarf the numbers that would be generated by jobs building new structures. Can Waldman be serious that we either build new apartments, condos and houses or the streets will be flooded with jobless, homeless construction workers? Does he really think that the existing homeless are going to live in new residential buildings? Los Angeles just passed a $1.2 billion measure to build housing for the homeless; there’s plenty of work there. Another bill, very likely to pass shortly, is going to provide evaluation, care and counseling to the county’s 67,000 homeless people so they might be integrated into the world from which they fell. With the election early next month, the Business Journal has a duty to offer a point-counterpoint on Measure S. It’s a very important issue. Citizens should follow common sense and ignore the scare tactics of Waldman and the construction lobby. If the room is standing room only, adding chairs does not help the dance. Yes on Measure S, please! Bruce Gaims Van Nuys
