Editor:
The giveaway statement in the story about converting the Marina Freeway into park space is “this project would provide nearly 4,000 units of new housing – including potentially 100% affordable housing.” The conversion is not a movement to create parkland. It’s an effort by developers to grab more space to build.
If the current multi-family housing construction activity is any indication, only city-owned property is being used for “100% affordable housing.” Every other project is providing only 10-15% of the total number of units for lower income households.
Plus, freeway land is State land, and Sacramento would have to deed it to Los Angeles before the City could do anything. That’s unlikely to happen. Too many earlier projects along Jefferson Blvd. and in Marina del Rey rely on the Marina Freeway, and those vested interests would vie with the new ones to ensure the viability of their existing housing and its value to residents. Politicians’ campaign coffers might shrink in such a battle.
A conversion might also require the participation of the Army Corps of Engineers, since Centinela Creek could need to be reworked to avoid the potential for flooding, however sporadic heavy rain might be; meteorologists can’t agree on whether climate change will make it wetter in LA or return it to drought.
More parks in LA are sure to be welcome, but they shouldn’t depend — in a city that the State predicts will lose 7% of it population in the next ten years — on adding housing, as well.
Peter Altschuler, Santa Monica
