Is L.A. pretty enough for the Olympics?

An LA 2028 sign is seen in front of a blazing Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2017.

By Paul ThorntonLetters Editor

Aug. 31, 2024 4 AM PT

Good morning. It is Saturday, Aug. 31. Here’s what we’ve been doing in Opinion.

Is Los Angeles pretty? As in, are we ready to show off our city in four years to the Olympic hordes, who aren’t just coming to see the beaches and the mountains and Disneyland, but to use the same streets, freeways, buses and trains we do to get to all the venues sprinkled throughout this expansive region? It’s a question that’s come up a lot in the L.A. Times since the 2024 Olympics in the unquestionably majestic city of Paris closed three weeks ago. How to spruce up Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 Games has been the subject of news articles, letters to the editor and newsletters.

I’d argue all this angst over getting ready for 2028 sort of answers the question: No, Los Angeles isn’t very pretty.

I expressed as much in an introduction I wrote for a package of letters with suggestions on addressing L.A.’s problems before we show ourselves off to the world in four years. That touched off a discussion among readers who begged to differ and made the case for this city’s aesthetic qualities in letters, one of which was published this morning. They said the city’s ability to capture the imagination of visitors, its natural beauty (beaches on one side, 10,000-foot mountains on the other) and the kind of diversity poignantly highlighted in the Jonathan Gold documentary “City of Gold” make our humble metropolis the perfect host for athletes and visitors from around the world.

Those are all great points, and I don’t necessarily disagree with them. But I make my argument based on some pretty solid authority: My work commute, which I make two or three times each week, takes me 23 miles each way through some of L.A.’s most historic, established communities. I cover this distance not behind a windshield in a freeway-bound car, but on the streets riding an electric bike. This allows me to experience the subtle variations between neighborhoods — things like noises, smells and topography.

And I can’t call what I experience “pretty” or “beautiful.” Fascinating, yes — even pleasant in places. The most courteous drivers I’ve found are typically in East L.A., downtown and southwest of USC (things get crazy close to LAX; Beverly Hills and Westwood, forget about it).

Generally, however, much of L.A. suffers from neglect and, well, unfairness. Trash is everywhere, the sidewalks are broken, entire neighborhoods are environmental disasters, parkland is scarce and the air in parts of the city has a metallic taste to it (especially during rush hour and where there’s a lot of industrial activity and truck traffic). Historically Black and Latino communities see the worst of this. With this kind of glaring discrepancy and neglect, I cannot bring myself to call this place beautiful.

None of this is to say Los Angeles is unworthy of the Olympics, or that I don’t love the place. To the contrary, I find everything about this area — its history, people and especially its geography — fascinating. It’s been my home since I was a toddler. Vin Scully’s voice practically raised me, and now I send my children to public school here. I want the city and the region to succeed in a way that pays dividends for the people who use its parks, streets and schools.

So I say this from a place of love: Los Angeles isn’t very pretty. Interesting, yes; beautiful, nope. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it’s been fascinating to see what readers regard as aesthetically pleasing about our home, and what needs fixing before the 2028 Games arrive. Send me your thoughts — either to me directly, or to letters@latimes.com — and let’s keep the conversation going.

Bringing back the woolly mammoth could save species that still walk the Earth. The kind of captive breeding programs that saved the California condor and other species on the brink of extinction were controversial at first. We now know they’re wildly successful and beneficial, and efforts to bring back extinct animals promise massive leaps in the science and technology behind efforts to preserve living but endangered ones, write Matt James and Barney Long.

LAPD needs a chief who can turn around the department and restore public confidence. Mayor Karen Bass is getting closer to picking the next Los Angeles police chief, the Times’ editorial board writes. “Los Angeles needs a chief who is prepared to overhaul department culture and practice, re-instill a strong sense of organizational identity and reorient officers toward living up to the LAPD’s reputation as the nation’s most innovative and responsive department.”

Why are so many California hospitals closing their labor and delivery units? Obstetrics isn’t like other areas of healthcare — babies don’t arrive on a schedule, so units must always be staffed to handle a crush of new patients at any time. This is expensive, and our healthcare system’s fee-for-service model turns it into a money-losing operation for many hospitals. To address this problem locally, USC Keck School of Medicine professor Anna Reinert says Medi-Cal needs to increase the amount it reimburses hospitals for each delivered patient.

Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times

Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber.

Attacks on diversity programs show the need to keep them going, and improve. Companies are rolling back their DEI programs. Critics say that’s because those programs don’t work, but University of South Carolina professor Henry Tran offers a different reason: The typical one-off diversity training lectures are not inclusive enough, and they’re ineffective. He suggests “using a more inclusive approach that emphasizes civility and dialogue — one aimed at finding common ground.”

What can President Biden can do to free Venezuela of Nicolás Maduro’s illegitimate regime? Researcher Kristina Foltz suggests imposing harsh U.S. sanctions against Maduro and all state-owned businesses (as opposed to private companies, which would harm average Venezuelans). She also calls on the U.S. to recognize Edmundo González Urrutia as the rightful elected leader of Venezuela, as opposed to merely saying he won the election stolen by Maduro.

Newsletter: Is L.A. pretty enough for the Olympics? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

More from opinion

More From the Los Angeles Times