latimes--2020-05-29--How should L.A. be redesigned for coronavirus? Are doorknobs out? We asked the experts

In another time , not long ago , an elevator was a conveyance to reach a higher floor , an open office was a spot to clock eight hours while hoping your boss didn ’ t catch you checking Facebook and a doorknob was one of those banalities of architecture that seemed to warrant attention only when it needed replacing .
To live through the COVID-19 pandemic is to see the surfaces of our cities rewritten by invisible narratives of contagion .
Elevators now seem like intolerably small spaces to share with a stranger .
The open-plan office , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , feels like a flu buffet .
And that humble doorknob ?
It could play a starring role as a protagonist named Critical Vector in an over-the-top summer movie about an outbreak .
The pandemic has changed everything about the way we live .
It is bound to change architecture too .
“ If you take the great architectural inventions of the 20th century : the airport , the high-rise , the freeway — those are the things that are challenged the most right now , ” says Brett Steele , dean of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Architecture .
“ They have great density or they promise movement at high speeds .
Those are exactly the things that sit at the crux of the crisis we are going through.
” “ It ’ s a reset button for the entire world , ” says Mark Lee , co-founder of the Los Angeles firm Johnston Marklee and chair of the architecture department at Harvard ’ s Graduate School of Design .
“ Do we need so many new buildings ?
Do we need such specific programs ?
It raises questions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic has had architects and architecture schools ( which spent their spring semester improvising classes and project reviews over the internet ) considering the nature of buildings at a time in which one of architecture ’ s core purposes — creating containers that bring people together — seems almost inconceivable .
“ I ’ m working on a synagogue , and that is a crazy problem , ” says Barbara Bestor , founder of Bestor Architecture , a 25-person firm based in Silver Lake .
“ How do you do High Holidays after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” The solution may involve segmenting larger spaces and segregating the most vulnerable in a separately ventilated environment — the virus version of the glassed-in “ cry rooms ” contained within some churches and movie theaters .
Or it may involve designing a physical space that , Bestor says , features “ a robust video component so that people can watch remotely.
” Gatherings via videoconference could become a way of life .
Architects could find themselves designing spaces just for that purpose .
In the early 20th century , concerns about tuberculosis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Richard Neutra ’ s influential design for the Lovell “ Health House , ” filled with windows and sleeping porches tailored to promote air circulation in California ’ s dry , sunny climate .
Similarly , COVID-19 is likely to reshape the ways in which today ’ s architects design houses and offices , transit hubs and medical facilities .
It will have architects reaching for new technologies and reintroducing old ones — say , a little less air conditioning and a lot more cross ventilation .
But first , architecture firms , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic .
Design studios have atomized , with staffs working remotely from home .
And though construction on existing projects remains underway in many locations , including California , where it has been deemed essential , the design of new buildings has largely halted , threatening the economic stability of many firms .
Every month , the American Institute of Architects ( AIA ) reports on architectural billings for an estimated 700 U.S. firms — an index that can generally be used to project construction spending over the following nine to 12 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ billings tumbled “ dramatically ” according to the April report .
( An embedded graph looks like a literal cliff . )
The most recent index , published in May , showed a continued plunge — “ the steepest decline on record.
” Of the 12 Los Angeles firms contacted for this story — including a small seven-person shop , studios that employ dozens and the L.A. outpost of a global design office with more than 1,200 employees — 11 reported having projects suspended .
For now , they are holding onto most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported laying off employees and two reported furloughs .
The majority of architects interviewed , however , expressed anxiety about what is to come .
“ We might not , ” said one architect , “ have any new starts in the fall.
” Kermit Baker , who serves as the AIA ’ s chief economist and helps produce the organization ’ s various economic reports , says he has seen a couple of major downturns in his 25 years at the AIA but never anything like the pandemic .
“ The first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other was the recession of 2008 and 2009 , ” he says .
“ There is little meaningful comparison.
” The economics are dire .
And yet there is a determination to not waste the moment .
“ Every crisis is an opportunity , ” says Hernán Díaz Alonso , director of the Southern California Institute of Architecture ( SCI-Arc ) .
“ The optimist in me believes that this will force us to reevaluate everything that we do.
” This is a time , he says , to ask “ the big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purpose .
It ’ s also about considering the nuts and bolts .
“ If we don ’ t get a vaccine , what does that mean ?
What does that mean in terms of physical space ?
What do you do with a doorknob ?
” Do we keep the open office ?
Some of those immediate questions revolve around the office .
In 2015 , almost a quarter of the U.S. workforce was already doing some or all of its work from home , according to data published by the Bureau @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Twitter announced it would make remote working a permanent option for its employees .
Later in the month , Facebook announced a similar move .
If others start doing the same , it will have a tectonic effect on commercial real estate markets .
It also means that the office as we know it is about to be transformed .
Bob Hale is partner and creative director at L.A.-based RCH Studios , a 160-person architectural firm that has worked on office projects around the U.S .
He says that some of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that were twice what it was 20 years ago.
” COVID-19 is likely to put the brakes on that trend .
“ Densities of offices will change , ” he says .
This raises questions about one of the most popular — and widely reviled — workplace designs : the open-plan office , in which rows of workers are jammed around long bench desks .
These are settings that have a poor track record when it comes to producing actual work .
They also , according to a Danish study from 2011 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leave — a phenomenon that played out in a study published by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in April , which showed the ways coronavirus hopscotched around an open-plan call center in Seoul .
( Also , is it too much to want to sit at your desk and eat a sandwich without feeling like you ’ re on display ? )
For years , design writers have penned obituaries for the open office .
And some are certain coronavirus will put another nail in the open-plan coffin .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ + Scarpa , a 22-person firm with offices in L.A. and Fort Lauderdale , says “ the open office is not going away.
” For one , real estate in cities like L.A. is too valuable .
Moreover , office culture is increasingly casual , and therefore architecture is unlikely to go back to the formal , private dens of “ Mad Men.
” “ It satisfies a younger generation who wants a spatial equality in the office space , ” says Bestor .
“ People do not want the executive holed up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Bestor does not see a triumphant return for the cubicle , which at least gave the illusion of privacy .
“ Cubicles are nasty , ” she declares .
Instead , many of the architects I spoke with visualize once-cavernous spaces segmented into more intimately scaled settings with small clusters of desks .
“ We work in teams , so it ’ s easy to think of people in groups , ” says Paul Danna , a design partner in the L.A. office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill , a global firm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pasadena .
“ It ’ s a matter of putting barriers between groups as opposed to every individual.
” Ultimately , most architects said the office of the future will likely be less focused on desks and more on meeting and gathering spaces .
It ’ s a future that some designers are already envisioning for their own firms .
“ I ’ m meeting with my associates and we are planning a radical shift in how we work , ” says Thom Mayne , the Pritzker Prize-winning architect who founded Morphosis , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ District 7 headquarters in downtown L.A .
He says the pandemic has been a great test of remote working for his office , one that has offered a bevy upsides : more flexible work schedules , hours gained by not sitting in soul-crushing traffic and the improved air quality that comes with less car commuting .
“ I am moving two-thirds of the desks out of the office and it will be more of a meeting place , ” he says of his Culver City office .
“ We need couches and tables @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It redefines the idea of everybody has a desk.
” In fact , the office of the future may look like the office of the 1990s : Scarpa says that once fears of transmission have passed , we may see a return to “ hot desking ” — a “ flexible , ” “ more space-efficient ” environment in which “ people no longer have their own desks but a shared rotating desk ” — and plenty of sanitized wipes , we assume .
Home and the air that we breathe Change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Certainly , the coronavirus has made glaringly evident L.A. 's shortcomings in the areas of housing construction and design .
Single families in single-family homes have been waiting out the governor ’ s safer-at-home orders in relative comfort ; others , not so much .
The pandemic , says Mayne , “ makes extremely clear the importance of urban housing at multiple economic types .
That is the biggest urban problem in Los Angeles.
” Nearly 60,000 people in L.A. County are without permanent shelter — a figure that is unconscionable on an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a public health tinder box .
Countless other Angelenos have been crowded into small apartments with little access to fresh air .
“ I have one employee who lives in an apartment without any outdoor space , ” says Rachel Allen , founder of RADAR , a 10-person firm with offices in Chinatown .
“ She ’ s the one going the most crazy .
She hangs out in her parking lot.
” For starters , L.A. needs to build more housing , faster and more efficiently .
The design solutions for that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ construction , in which a building ’ s key components are manufactured in a factory and then assembled on site , is already going mainstream in places like Japan , Germany and Sweden .
In Los Angeles , Michael Maltzan Architecture used prefab techniques in its design of the Star Apartments for the Skid Row Housing Trust in 2014 .
Now Lorcan O ’ Herlihy Architects ( LOHA ) , is doing the same for a 54-unit project for Clifford Beers Housing that is under construction in South L.A. Isla Intersections , designed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is being crafted from custom-built shipping containers .
If it had been constructed as a regular apartment complex , the development would have taken four years to complete .
By employing prefab , it will take two .
Says the firm ’ s founder , Lorcan O ’ Herlihy : “ Speed is the essential issue.
” It ’ s a method that can be applied to other housing types as well .
LOHA is also at work on a pair of modular homes crafted from wood .
“ We think , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really be of interest.
” But to use these time-saving methods with more regularity , the city ’ s Department of Building and Safety will need to be more open-minded about permitting prefab designs .
“ It ’ s still challenging , ” says O ’ Herlihy , of contending with the red-tape .
“ The city is better at it now , but they are still apprehensive about it.
” The pandemic , likewise , has put a spotlight on the need for residential design that is more humane — especially when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buildings .
“ Balconies should be a human right , ” says Bestor .
“ Shade and balconies.
” Cross-ventilation , roof decks , balconies , courtyards , gardens and other outdoor spaces have been considered luxury amenities .
O ’ Herlihy , who has long applied these principles to his work , even in his affordable housing designs , says the pandemic could make them essentials .
“ There is an opportunity to give more gravitas to our clients about passive design , about greening up buildings , ” he says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ those aspects will now be taken far more seriously.
” With all of this , the shape of the home as we know it is also liable to change .
For one , the average middle-class home will likely include a home office as a standard feature .
It will mean adjusting homes in other ways too .
Already , over the last decade , the so-called Boomerang Generation — adults in their late 20s and early 30s — have increasingly returned home to live with their parents .
For architects , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that serve children when they are small but also as adults .
Now the pandemic has added work-from-home to the mix , creating a scenario in which multiple adults may be working in a home at one time .
Home design may , as a result , shift to incorporate larger bedroom spaces that children can inhabit over time and also use as a remote workspace .
“ Something like a loft within a family home , ” says Allen .
And every home may need a corner or two that functions as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having your decor deconstructed on Twitter ) .
“ There is this intersection with built and virtual space , ” says Díaz Alonso .
“ That will be a factor moving forward.
” In late April , urbanist Joel Kotkin wrote an op-ed for The Times in which he noted that L.A. 's “ dispersed urban pattern has proven a major asset ” in the midst of the pandemic , noting that infection rates were below that of denser cities like New York .
It ’ s probably wildly premature to be doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , given that the pandemic has yet to fully play out .
And , as Scarpa notes , sprawl , with its traffic and attendant accidents and pollution , “ is killing us — slowly.
” In fact , almost every architect I interviewed for this story says that it remains essential for L.A. to move forward on increasing density .
But , says Milton Curry , dean of the school of architecture at USC .
“ We need to do it smartly.
” Currently , the model for density in L.A. consists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concrete parking structure , topped by several stories of apartments .
Or as Bestor likes to describe it : “ Parking , followed by three stories of crap.
” Outdoor space may consist of a few decorative hedges at the perimeters .
Only the most high-end ones feature courtyards or roof decks .
Bestor says the pandemic has revealed the urgency for better models .
In a development that occupies a whole block , for example , parking could be relegated to one corner , apart from the residential structures , she says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one corner and then you walk to your apartment through an open space.
” From there , you have groupings of three- and five-story buildings with their own entrances .
“ That ’ s a good form of density for L.A. ” she says , “ and it ’ s easier to manage COVID situations because it ’ s not one lobby for a million people.
” Ideally , urban planners would then find ways to incentivize the connection of green spaces so that these outdoor areas aren ’ t happy accidents but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the moment to push for pocket parks and other things that allow us to exist together in a dense environment , ” says Sharon Johnston , cofounder of Johnston Marklee .
( It ’ s a strategy her firm deployed in its renovation and expansion of UCLA ’ s graduate art studios , which has a courtyard and open-air work areas . )
In the interim , the efficient use and reuse of our existing infrastructure will be critical .
If fewer buildings are used as commercial office space ( which looks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way for those buildings to be turned into housing .
“ We are already seeing some office-to-housing conversions in Koreatown , ” says Allen .
And in January , California relaxed rules for constructing ADUs — accessory dwelling units , or granny flats — which continue to bring smart density to the city .
“ Nursing homes are going to be very unpopular for a long time , ” adds Allen , whose firm has worked on many of these .
“ More folks than ever are going to want Grandma in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her.
” But many of these shifts will depend not just on architects but on city planning .
Michael Maltzan , whose 25-person firm has worked on a range of civic-minded projects , including various supportive housing projects and the design of the Sixth Street Bridge ( which has remained under construction during the pandemic ) , says now is the time for the city ’ s various design and planning branches to convene working groups .
“ They need to get feedback from a wide group of people who are involved in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in architecture , to talk through these issues and begin to set out guidelines and ambitions for buildings , ” he says .
“ One of the things I ’ m focused on is how we can continue to maintain the increase in density , especially in housing , to help with the affordability problem — which is not going to get better.
” The critical piece of this puzzle will be for government to include architects in the planning process rather than bringing them in after the fact .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the financial community , ” says Curry .
“ There needs to be more pressure on government to do things that are in the interest of the city.
” One challenge facing architects and engineers in the coming months will be to figure out how we might safely co-exist in buildings that bring a wide spectrum of people together : community centers , medical buildings , office towers , classrooms , airports and train stations ... the list is long .
Initially , it will likely be the more mundane technologies that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ventilation systems .
Danna at SOM , at work on a design proposal for a trio of high-rise towers in downtown L.A. , says that in the short-term , concerns over COVID-19 will mean more frequent filter changes and a greater proportion of fresh versus recirculated air in ventilation systems .
But the pandemic could bring a literal top-to-bottom change to how ventilation systems are designed .
Typically , air is brought through ceiling ducts and blown down into a room , then extracted back into the ceiling — creating a circular pattern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air systems that bring in air from below at a lower velocity .
As the air warms it rises naturally to the ceiling , where it is extracted .
“ It ’ s more efficient , ” Danna explains .
“ You don ’ t have to have equipment that is working so hard ... you have to expend a lot of energy to blow it down.
” It also means that potential contaminants aren ’ t so easily circulated around a sealed room .
The pandemic will likely hasten the deployment of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ automatic doors and cellphone payment systems .
“ One of the projects we are working on right now is e-gates for the Tom Bradley Terminal , ” says Paul Murdoch , of Paul Murdoch Architects , a seven-person firm that has designed highly trafficked public spaces such as libraries , as well as administrative and other facilities for LAX .
“ It ’ s an electronic gate .
It uses facial recognition .
There are no boarding passes to exchange .
There is nothing physical.
” He also envisions spaces such as airports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forms of architecture that can adapt to conditions .
“ There may be certain thresholds that are created physically ” — say , a set of sliding glass doors — “ and at those thresholds you get your temperature scanned , ” he says .
“ Those could be modulated depending on the level of danger .
If there is a high threat level , you set up that threshold as an airlock or a set of doors .
If the threat level is low , it can be left open.
” Kulapat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the L.A.-based firm wHY , has been working on putting together a working group of arts leaders , architects and engineers to produce a white paper on how museums might safely reopen .
( Among various other cultural projects , Yantrasast ’ s firm is working on interior design for the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures . )
“ Before capacity was calculated by fire safety , ” he says .
“ Now capacity will be recalculated with distance in mind.
” He says he ’ s been looking into rising technologies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could be placed on high-traffic surfaces — such as banisters and doorknobs — to prevent the accumulation of contaminants .
Currently , these are used in anti-graffiti coating , which prevent paint from adhering to a surface .
But their medical use is still in development .
He and other architects interviewed are also studying the use of other technologies : UV light for disinfecting highly trafficked environments , smartphone apps that can trace transmission and infrared monitoring systems that can visually distinguish people with fevers .
But , says Murdoch , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health benefits will have to be weighed against privacy issues.
” Lee , of Johnston Marklee , cautions against getting too caught up in all the new tech .
As the pandemic ravages the economy , it may be the simple solutions that are the most functional .
“ It ’ s a good time to look at ancient ways of dealing with passive solar and air , ” he says .
“ We don ’ t always need the latest technology to help us.
” The key , says Johnston , will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ easily adapted to unforeseen uses .
“ We think of architecture as a frame , ” she says .
“ We think of it as a place where there can be multiple uses over time — so , straddling the line between creating a specific type of environment and allowing other things to take place in it.
” In other words , a home that can function as an office .
An office that feels a bit like a lounge .
An airport that can screen for health .
A convention center that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Cities have evolved in relationship to past crises and pandemics , ” Maltzan says .
“ I expect that the form of our cities will continue to do so .
”

In another time, not long ago, an elevator was a conveyance to reach a higher floor, an open office was a spot to clock eight hours while hoping your boss didn’t catch you checking Facebook and a doorknob was one of those banalities of architecture that seemed to warrant attention only when it needed replacing.
What a difference a virus makes.
To live through the COVID-19 pandemic is to see the surfaces of our cities rewritten by invisible narratives of contagion. Elevators now seem like intolerably small spaces to share with a stranger. The open-plan office, with its recirculated air and countless shared surfaces, feels like a flu buffet. And that humble doorknob? It could play a starring role as a protagonist named Critical Vector in an over-the-top summer movie about an outbreak.
The pandemic has changed everything about the way we live. It is bound to change architecture too.
“If you take the great architectural inventions of the 20th century: the airport, the high-rise, the freeway — those are the things that are challenged the most right now,” says Brett Steele, dean of UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture. “They have great density or they promise movement at high speeds. Those are exactly the things that sit at the crux of the crisis we are going through.”
Architects say new ways of traveling through airports will be part of the coronavirus reset. Above, a masked traveler at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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“It’s a reset button for the entire world,” says Mark Lee, co-founder of the Los Angeles firm Johnston Marklee and chair of the architecture department at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. “Do we need so many new buildings? Do we need such specific programs? It raises questions that are really helpful.”
Already the pandemic has had architects and architecture schools (which spent their spring semester improvising classes and project reviews over the internet) considering the nature of buildings at a time in which one of architecture’s core purposes — creating containers that bring people together — seems almost inconceivable.
“I’m working on a synagogue, and that is a crazy problem,” says Barbara Bestor, founder of Bestor Architecture, a 25-person firm based in Silver Lake. “How do you do High Holidays after COVID with 2,000 or 3,000 people?”
The solution may involve segmenting larger spaces and segregating the most vulnerable in a separately ventilated environment — the virus version of the glassed-in “cry rooms” contained within some churches and movie theaters. Or it may involve designing a physical space that, Bestor says, features “a robust video component so that people can watch remotely.”
The virus version of old-fashioned “cry rooms” --- coming to your neighborhood cineplex? (Jiaqi Wang / For The Times)
It’s a reset button for the entire world. Do we need so many new buildings? — Mark Lee, co-founder of Johnston Marklee, chair of the architecture department at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design
Gatherings via videoconference could become a way of life. Architects could find themselves designing spaces just for that purpose.
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In the early 20th century, concerns about tuberculosis and sanitation helped shape Modernism — consider Richard Neutra’s influential design for the Lovell “Health House,” filled with windows and sleeping porches tailored to promote air circulation in California’s dry, sunny climate. Similarly, COVID-19 is likely to reshape the ways in which today’s architects design houses and offices, transit hubs and medical facilities. It will have architects reaching for new technologies and reintroducing old ones — say, a little less air conditioning and a lot more cross ventilation.
Barbara Bestor in May at her Bestor Architecture office in Silver Lake. She says smart density is more than just designing a single building. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
People do not want the executive holed up in the corner office. And cubicles are nasty. — Barbara Bestor, founder Bestor Architecture
Weathering the storm
But first, architecture firms, like all other businesses, must weather the pandemic. Design studios have atomized, with staffs working remotely from home. And though construction on existing projects remains underway in many locations, including California, where it has been deemed essential, the design of new buildings has largely halted, threatening the economic stability of many firms.
A rendering of the Sixth Street Bridge by Michael Maltzan Architecture. Construction on the bridge, which connects downtown L.A. with Boyle Heights, has continued through the pandemic. (Bureau of Engineering, City of L.A. / Michael Maltzan Architecture / HNTB Corporation)
Every month, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) reports on architectural billings for an estimated 700 U.S. firms — an index that can generally be used to project construction spending over the following nine to 12 months. From February to March, billings tumbled “dramatically” according to the April report. (An embedded graph looks like a literal cliff.) The most recent index, published in May, showed a continued plunge — “the steepest decline on record.”
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Of the 12 Los Angeles firms contacted for this story — including a small seven-person shop, studios that employ dozens and the L.A. outpost of a global design office with more than 1,200 employees — 11 reported having projects suspended. For now, they are holding onto most of their employees. Only two studios reported laying off employees and two reported furloughs.
The majority of architects interviewed, however, expressed anxiety about what is to come. “We might not,” said one architect, “have any new starts in the fall.”
An interior rendering of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, designed by wHY. Founder Kulapat Yantrasast is looking into how museums might safely reopen when the lockdown orders lift. (wHY / Academy Museum Foundation)
Kermit Baker, who serves as the AIA’s chief economist and helps produce the organization’s various economic reports, says he has seen a couple of major downturns in his 25 years at the AIA but never anything like the pandemic. “The first was the 9/11-dot-com bubble, and the other was the recession of 2008 and 2009,” he says. “There is little meaningful comparison.”
The economics are dire. And yet there is a determination to not waste the moment.
“Every crisis is an opportunity,” says Hernán Díaz Alonso, director of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). “The optimist in me believes that this will force us to reevaluate everything that we do.”
This is a time, he says, to ask “the big metaphysical questions” about architecture and its purpose. It’s also about considering the nuts and bolts. “If we don’t get a vaccine, what does that mean? What does that mean in terms of physical space? What do you do with a doorknob?”
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Do we keep the open office?
Fewer people, more lounge space? Architects say office layouts need to adjust for the coronavirus era of design. (Jiaqi Wang / For The Times)
We work in teams. ... It’s a matter of putting barriers between groups as opposed to every individual. — Paul Danna, design partner for Skidmore Owings & Merrill
Some of those immediate questions revolve around the office.
In 2015, almost a quarter of the U.S. workforce was already doing some or all of its work from home, according to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In early May, Twitter announced it would make remote working a permanent option for its employees. Later in the month, Facebook announced a similar move. If others start doing the same, it will have a tectonic effect on commercial real estate markets. It also means that the office as we know it is about to be transformed.
Bob Hale is partner and creative director at L.A.-based RCH Studios, a 160-person architectural firm that has worked on office projects around the U.S. He says that some of his recent office designs called for “densities that were twice what it was 20 years ago.” COVID-19 is likely to put the brakes on that trend. “Densities of offices will change,” he says.
“Densities of offices will change,” says Bob Hale of RCH Studios, seen here at the Music Center in 2019. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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This raises questions about one of the most popular — and widely reviled — workplace designs: the open-plan office, in which rows of workers are jammed around long bench desks.
These are settings that have a poor track record when it comes to producing actual work. They also, according to a Danish study from 2011, account for significantly higher rates of sick leave — a phenomenon that played out in a study published by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in April, which showed the ways coronavirus hopscotched around an open-plan call center in Seoul. (Also, is it too much to want to sit at your desk and eat a sandwich without feeling like you’re on display?)
For years, design writers have penned obituaries for the open office. And some are certain coronavirus will put another nail in the open-plan coffin. But Lawrence Scarpa, a founder of Brooks + Scarpa, a 22-person firm with offices in L.A. and Fort Lauderdale, says “the open office is not going away.”
Headquarters for a 60,000-square-foot tech company designed by RADAR, an architectural office founded by Rachel Allen. The office was completed just weeks before the governor’s safer-at-home order shut down most offices. (Jim Simmons Photography)
For one, real estate in cities like L.A. is too valuable. Moreover, office culture is increasingly casual, and therefore architecture is unlikely to go back to the formal, private dens of “Mad Men.”
“It satisfies a younger generation who wants a spatial equality in the office space,” says Bestor. “People do not want the executive holed up in the corner office.”
That said, Bestor does not see a triumphant return for the cubicle, which at least gave the illusion of privacy. “Cubicles are nasty,” she declares.
Instead, many of the architects I spoke with visualize once-cavernous spaces segmented into more intimately scaled settings with small clusters of desks. “We work in teams, so it’s easy to think of people in groups,” says Paul Danna, a design partner in the L.A. office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill, a global firm at work on an office development in Pasadena. “It’s a matter of putting barriers between groups as opposed to every individual.”
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A rendering of the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine at USC, with interior design by RCH Studios. (Kilograph)
Ultimately, most architects said the office of the future will likely be less focused on desks and more on meeting and gathering spaces.
It’s a future that some designers are already envisioning for their own firms. “I’m meeting with my associates and we are planning a radical shift in how we work,” says Thom Mayne, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect who founded Morphosis, the 90-person studio that designed the CalTrans District 7 headquarters in downtown L.A.
He says the pandemic has been a great test of remote working for his office, one that has offered a bevy upsides: more flexible work schedules, hours gained by not sitting in soul-crushing traffic and the improved air quality that comes with less car commuting.
“I am moving two-thirds of the desks out of the office and it will be more of a meeting place,” he says of his Culver City office. “We need couches and tables and comfortable chairs instead of just desks. It redefines the idea of everybody has a desk.”
Architect Thom Mayne at a panel discussion at MOCA in 2013. (John Sciulli / WireImage)
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I’m meeting with my associates and we are planning a radical shift in how we work. — Thom Mayne, architect
In fact, the office of the future may look like the office of the 1990s: Scarpa says that once fears of transmission have passed, we may see a return to “hot desking” — a “flexible,” “more space-efficient” environment in which “people no longer have their own desks but a shared rotating desk” — and plenty of sanitized wipes, we assume.
Home and the air that we breathe
Access to fresh air is no longer a luxury in a time of coronavirus quarantines. (Jiaqi Wang / For The Times)
Balconies should be a human right. Shade and balconies. — Barbara Bestor, founder Bestor Architecture
Change is also coming to the home. Certainly, the coronavirus has made glaringly evident L.A.’s shortcomings in the areas of housing construction and design. Single families in single-family homes have been waiting out the governor’s safer-at-home orders in relative comfort; others, not so much. The pandemic, says Mayne, “makes extremely clear the importance of urban housing at multiple economic types. That is the biggest urban problem in Los Angeles.”
Nearly 60,000 people in L.A. County are without permanent shelter — a figure that is unconscionable on an ordinary day but at the moment represents a public health tinder box. Countless other Angelenos have been crowded into small apartments with little access to fresh air.
“I have one employee who lives in an apartment without any outdoor space,” says Rachel Allen, founder of RADAR, a 10-person firm with offices in Chinatown. “She’s the one going the most crazy. She hangs out in her parking lot.”
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Architect Rachel Allen, outside her Chinatown office in May, says the design of housing is likely to evolve as a result of the pandemic. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
Nursing homes are going to be very unpopular for a long time. More folks than ever are going to want Grandma in the backyard where they can keep eye on her. — Rachel Allen, founder RADAR
For starters, L.A. needs to build more housing, faster and more efficiently. The design solutions for that may already be at hand.
Prefab construction, in which a building’s key components are manufactured in a factory and then assembled on site, is already going mainstream in places like Japan, Germany and Sweden. In Los Angeles, Michael Maltzan Architecture used prefab techniques in its design of the Star Apartments for the Skid Row Housing Trust in 2014. Now Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA), is doing the same for a 54-unit project for Clifford Beers Housing that is under construction in South L.A.
Isla Intersections, designed to serve formerly homeless individuals and families, is being crafted from custom-built shipping containers. If it had been constructed as a regular apartment complex, the development would have taken four years to complete. By employing prefab, it will take two. Says the firm’s founder, Lorcan O’Herlihy: “Speed is the essential issue.”
It’s a method that can be applied to other housing types as well. LOHA is also at work on a pair of modular homes crafted from wood. “We think,” he says, “this will really be of interest.”
But to use these time-saving methods with more regularity, the city’s Department of Building and Safety will need to be more open-minded about permitting prefab designs.
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“It’s still challenging,” says O’Herlihy, of contending with the red-tape. “The city is better at it now, but they are still apprehensive about it.”
A photographic illustration shows Isla Intersections highlighted to the right of the freeway. The prefab housing complex for formerly homeless people was designed by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects. (LOHA)
The pandemic, likewise, has put a spotlight on the need for residential design that is more humane — especially when it comes to multifamily units and apartment buildings. “Balconies should be a human right,” says Bestor. “Shade and balconies.”
Cross-ventilation, roof decks, balconies, courtyards, gardens and other outdoor spaces have been considered luxury amenities. O’Herlihy, who has long applied these principles to his work, even in his affordable housing designs, says the pandemic could make them essentials.
“There is an opportunity to give more gravitas to our clients about passive design, about greening up buildings,” he says. “One can imagine that all of those aspects will now be taken far more seriously.”
With all of this, the shape of the home as we know it is also liable to change.
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Lorcan O’Herlihy, in 2018, at an L.A. housing complex designed by his firm. The architect is a big proponent of passive design techniques that bring air and light into buildings. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)
Speed is the essential issue. — Lorcan O’Herlihy, founder Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects
For one, the average middle-class home will likely include a home office as a standard feature. It will mean adjusting homes in other ways too.
Already, over the last decade, the so-called Boomerang Generation — adults in their late 20s and early 30s — have increasingly returned home to live with their parents. For architects, this has meant thinking about designing multigenerational homes that serve children when they are small but also as adults. Now the pandemic has added work-from-home to the mix, creating a scenario in which multiple adults may be working in a home at one time.
Home design may, as a result, shift to incorporate larger bedroom spaces that children can inhabit over time and also use as a remote workspace. “Something like a loft within a family home,” says Allen.
And every home may need a corner or two that functions as a ready-made Zoom backdrop (or risk having your decor deconstructed on Twitter). “There is this intersection with built and virtual space,” says Díaz Alonso. “That will be a factor moving forward.”
Smart density
In late April, urbanist Joel Kotkin wrote an op-ed for The Times in which he noted that L.A.’s “dispersed urban pattern has proven a major asset” in the midst of the pandemic, noting that infection rates were below that of denser cities like New York. It’s probably wildly premature to be doing any end-zone dances in favor of sprawl, given that the pandemic has yet to fully play out. And, as Scarpa notes, sprawl, with its traffic and attendant accidents and pollution, “is killing us — slowly.”
In fact, almost every architect I interviewed for this story says that it remains essential for L.A. to move forward on increasing density. But, says Milton Curry, dean of the school of architecture at USC. “We need to do it smartly.”
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Currently, the model for density in L.A. consists of podium apartments: two stories of concrete parking structure, topped by several stories of apartments. Or as Bestor likes to describe it: “Parking, followed by three stories of crap.” Outdoor space may consist of a few decorative hedges at the perimeters. Only the most high-end ones feature courtyards or roof decks.
Bestor says the pandemic has revealed the urgency for better models.
Barbara Bestor’s firm has undertaken a research project that looks at how L.A. might bring density, outdoor spaces and walkability to a neighborhood near San Fernando Road along the L.A. River. (Bestor Architecture)
In a development that occupies a whole block, for example, parking could be relegated to one corner, apart from the residential structures, she says. “You put the parking in one corner and then you walk to your apartment through an open space.” From there, you have groupings of three- and five-story buildings with their own entrances. “That’s a good form of density for L.A.” she says, “and it’s easier to manage COVID situations because it’s not one lobby for a million people.”
Ideally, urban planners would then find ways to incentivize the connection of green spaces so that these outdoor areas aren’t happy accidents but a continuous green lung.
“This is the moment to push for pocket parks and other things that allow us to exist together in a dense environment,” says Sharon Johnston, cofounder of Johnston Marklee. (It’s a strategy her firm deployed in its renovation and expansion of UCLA’s graduate art studios, which has a courtyard and open-air work areas.)
“Is there anyone out there who does not like fresh air and cross-ventilation or views?” asks Lawrence Scarpa. A housing development for disabled vets by Brooks + Scarpa maximizes light and air. (Tara Wujcik)
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In the interim, the efficient use and reuse of our existing infrastructure will be critical. If fewer buildings are used as commercial office space (which looks highly likely), that could make way for those buildings to be turned into housing. “We are already seeing some office-to-housing conversions in Koreatown,” says Allen.
And in January, California relaxed rules for constructing ADUs — accessory dwelling units, or granny flats — which continue to bring smart density to the city. “Nursing homes are going to be very unpopular for a long time,” adds Allen, whose firm has worked on many of these. “More folks than ever are going to want Grandma in the backyard where they can keep eye on her.”
But many of these shifts will depend not just on architects but on city planning.
Michael Maltzan, whose 25-person firm has worked on a range of civic-minded projects, including various supportive housing projects and the design of the Sixth Street Bridge (which has remained under construction during the pandemic), says now is the time for the city’s various design and planning branches to convene working groups.
“They need to get feedback from a wide group of people who are involved in medicine, in resources, in mobility, in architecture, to talk through these issues and begin to set out guidelines and ambitions for buildings,” he says. “One of the things I’m focused on is how we can continue to maintain the increase in density, especially in housing, to help with the affordability problem — which is not going to get better.”
Architect Michael Maltzan, outside his office in May, says density and housing will remain critical issues post-pandemic. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Cities have evolved in relationship to past crises and pandemics. — Michael Maltzan, founder Michael Maltzan Architecture
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The critical piece of this puzzle will be for government to include architects in the planning process rather than bringing them in after the fact.
“We have too long ceded decisions of development to the financial community,” says Curry. “There needs to be more pressure on government to do things that are in the interest of the city.”
The role of technology
The pandemic will highlight the need for technologies new and old — from cross-ventilation to automatic doors. (Jiaqi Wang / For The Times
)
Health benefits will have to be weighed against privacy issues. — Paul Murdoch, founder Paul Murdoch Architects
One challenge facing architects and engineers in the coming months will be to figure out how we might safely co-exist in buildings that bring a wide spectrum of people together: community centers, medical buildings, office towers, classrooms, airports and train stations ... the list is long.
Initially, it will likely be the more mundane technologies that receive scrutiny, such as heating and ventilation systems. Danna at SOM, at work on a design proposal for a trio of high-rise towers in downtown L.A., says that in the short-term, concerns over COVID-19 will mean more frequent filter changes and a greater proportion of fresh versus recirculated air in ventilation systems.
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But the pandemic could bring a literal top-to-bottom change to how ventilation systems are designed.
Typically, air is brought through ceiling ducts and blown down into a room, then extracted back into the ceiling — creating a circular pattern. But some buildings now feature underfloor air systems that bring in air from below at a lower velocity. As the air warms it rises naturally to the ceiling, where it is extracted.
“It’s more efficient,” Danna explains. “You don’t have to have equipment that is working so hard ... you have to expend a lot of energy to blow it down.” It also means that potential contaminants aren’t so easily circulated around a sealed room.
A rendering of a multitower complex designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for downtown Los Angeles. Concerns over COVID-19 may affect how tower ventilation systems are designed. (SOM)
The pandemic will likely hasten the deployment of existing technology: hands-free systems such as automatic doors and cellphone payment systems.
“One of the projects we are working on right now is e-gates for the Tom Bradley Terminal,” says Paul Murdoch, of Paul Murdoch Architects, a seven-person firm that has designed highly trafficked public spaces such as libraries, as well as administrative and other facilities for LAX. “It’s an electronic gate. It uses facial recognition. There are no boarding passes to exchange. There is nothing physical.”
He also envisions spaces such as airports developing health screening protocols that require flexible forms of architecture that can adapt to conditions.
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“There may be certain thresholds that are created physically” — say, a set of sliding glass doors — “and at those thresholds you get your temperature scanned,” he says. “Those could be modulated depending on the level of danger. If there is a high threat level, you set up that threshold as an airlock or a set of doors. If the threat level is low, it can be left open.”
A rendering of the Earvin Magic Johnson Park and Event Center in Willowbrook by Paul Murdoch Architects. A challenge for architecture as cities reopen will be how to keep public spaces from becoming sites of transmission. (Paul Murdoch Architects and bioLinia)
Kulapat Yantrasast, founder and creative director of the L.A.-based firm wHY, has been working on putting together a working group of arts leaders, architects and engineers to produce a white paper on how museums might safely reopen. (Among various other cultural projects, Yantrasast’s firm is working on interior design for the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.) “Before capacity was calculated by fire safety,” he says. “Now capacity will be recalculated with distance in mind.”
He says he’s been looking into rising technologies such as nanocoatings, molecular sealants that could be placed on high-traffic surfaces — such as banisters and doorknobs — to prevent the accumulation of contaminants. Currently, these are used in anti-graffiti coating, which prevent paint from adhering to a surface. But their medical use is still in development.
Kulapat Yantrasast in his Culver City studio in 2017. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Before capacity was calculated by fire safety. Now capacity will be recalculated with distance in mind. — Kulapat Yantrasast, founder and creative director of wHY
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He and other architects interviewed are also studying the use of other technologies: UV light for disinfecting highly trafficked environments, smartphone apps that can trace transmission and infrared monitoring systems that can visually distinguish people with fevers.
But, says Murdoch, in some of those latter cases, “Health benefits will have to be weighed against privacy issues.”
Old technologies too
Lee, of Johnston Marklee, cautions against getting too caught up in all the new tech. As the pandemic ravages the economy, it may be the simple solutions that are the most functional.
“It’s a good time to look at ancient ways of dealing with passive solar and air,” he says. “We don’t always need the latest technology to help us.”
The key, says Johnston, will be to design buildings that can be easily adapted to unforeseen uses. “We think of architecture as a frame,” she says. “We think of it as a place where there can be multiple uses over time — so, straddling the line between creating a specific type of environment and allowing other things to take place in it.”
Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee in their studio’s library in 2019. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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This is the moment to push for pocket parks and other things that allow us to exist together in a dense environment. — Sharon Johnston, co-founder Johnston Marklee
In other words, a home that can function as an office. An office that feels a bit like a lounge. An airport that can screen for health. A convention center that can be turned into field hospital.
“Cities have evolved in relationship to past crises and pandemics,” Maltzan says. “I expect that the form of our cities will continue to do so.”


latimes--2020-05-29--California police unions condemn actions of Minnesota officer in George Floyd's death

Police unions generally warn against quick judgments in cases of law enforcement violence , but in California , several representing rank-and-file police Thursday condemned the death of George Floyd and the actions of a Minnesota officer who knelt on his neck as he pleaded for air .
Floyd died at the scene and the officer , Derek Chauvin , was arrested Friday , prosecutors said .
The death has sparked violence and rioting in Minneapolis , where the National Guard has been called in , and protests in other cities , including Los Angeles .
“ What we saw on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything we have been taught , not just as an academy recruit or a police officer , but as human beings .
Reverence for life in every incident a police officer encounters must be the floor and not the ceiling , ” the Los Angeles Police Protective League , which represents nearly 10,000 L.A. sworn personnel , said in a statement late Thursday .
Police unions in San Francisco , San Jose , and Oakland , as well as the statewide law enforcement lobbying group , the Peace Officers Research Assn .
of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ calling Chauvin ’ s actions outside of police training and castigating three other officers at the scene for failing to intervene .
All four officers involved in the death have been fired .
The condemnations come as police chiefs , politicians and others across the United States weigh in with similar censure .
But the statements from the police unions are notable because the organizations , charged with defending their members in cases of misconduct , are usually circumspect when it comes to commenting on in-custody deaths .
This week ’ s statements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California law enforcement unions that have faced years of scrutiny as communities of color have accused police of unequal treatment , sometimes resulting in shootings that have regularly made national headlines .
“ It ’ s a recognition that not speaking out on incidents such as this was and is a mistake , ” Tom Saggau , spokesman for police unions in San Jose and San Francisco , said Friday .
For years , rank-and-file organizations have largely taken the position that a rush to judgment in fatal police encounters is unfair and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ misleading .
Last year , unions and activists squared off at the state Capitol over legislation to update California ’ s use-of-force law , fueled by video of the death of Stephon Clark , an unarmed black man shot by Sacramento police who mistook his cellphone for a gun .
Police in that incident were cleared of wrongdoing , but the resulting protests and anger from activists and legislators helped push law enforcement , a powerful lobbying force in the state , to compromise on a new standard for when officers can use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is “ reasonable ” to when it is “ necessary.
” Melina Abdullah , a leader of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles and a professor of Pan-African studies at Cal State , said she believed the statements were “ disingenuous , ” and questioned why the unions were commenting on an out-of-state incident .
She pointed out that Los Angeles has seen controversial deaths and police actions in recent months in which the officers union has defended officers , including a scandal involving LAPD Metro officers who may have been unfairly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tracking database .
“ It ’ s absolutely PR , ” she said of the union statements .
John Burris , an Oakland-based civil rights attorney who has represented dozens of families affected by police violence , said he thought the acknowledgement by everyday officers was positive .
“ There is the code of silence , the brotherhood of blue , that is ritually entrenched in police history and tradition , so this is unusual , ” said Burris .
“ This is a good message for the county at large … to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acknowledge misconduct when they see it.
” Saggau said that he and some “ seasoned veterans ” of law enforcement had watched video of the Minneapolis incident filmed by a bystander , and they had expected some action on the part of Floyd or Chauvin that could provide context for the death .
Instead , he said , they were struck by “ the look on that officer ’ s face , the complete indifference , ” he said .
The union leadership was also troubled that three other officers at the scene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Saggau recalled thinking that , “ Certainly somebody is going to tap someone on the shoulder , someone is going to jump in , ” but “ they did nothing.
” Saggau said that despite the unprecedented nature of the statements , union leadership was in consensus about the desire to comment on Floyd ’ s death .
“ There can ’ t be reconciliation , their can ’ t be healing unless each side recognizes the wrong , and it ’ s been far too long that law enforcement has not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Crowds mill about in the smoke-filled streets of Minneapolis on the third night of protests over the death of George Floyd.
Police unions generally warn against quick judgments in cases of law enforcement violence, but in California, several representing rank-and-file police Thursday condemned the death of George Floyd and the actions of a Minnesota officer who knelt on his neck as he pleaded for air.
Floyd died at the scene and the officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested Friday, prosecutors said. The death has sparked violence and rioting in Minneapolis, where the National Guard has been called in, and protests in other cities, including Los Angeles.
“What we saw on that video was inconsistent and contrary to everything we have been taught, not just as an academy recruit or a police officer, but as human beings. Reverence for life in every incident a police officer encounters must be the floor and not the ceiling,” the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents nearly 10,000 L.A. sworn personnel, said in a statement late Thursday.
Police unions in San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, as well as the statewide law enforcement lobbying group, the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California, put out similar statements, calling Chauvin’s actions outside of police training and castigating three other officers at the scene for failing to intervene. All four officers involved in the death have been fired.
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The condemnations come as police chiefs, politicians and others across the United States weigh in with similar censure. But the statements from the police unions are notable because the organizations, charged with defending their members in cases of misconduct, are usually circumspect when it comes to commenting on in-custody deaths.
This week’s statements may reflect a shift in attitude for California law enforcement unions that have faced years of scrutiny as communities of color have accused police of unequal treatment, sometimes resulting in shootings that have regularly made national headlines.
“It’s a recognition that not speaking out on incidents such as this was and is a mistake,” Tom Saggau, spokesman for police unions in San Jose and San Francisco, said Friday.
For years, rank-and-file organizations have largely taken the position that a rush to judgment in fatal police encounters is unfair and that video evidence can be incomplete or misleading.
Last year, unions and activists squared off at the state Capitol over legislation to update California’s use-of-force law, fueled by video of the death of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man shot by Sacramento police who mistook his cellphone for a gun.
Police in that incident were cleared of wrongdoing, but the resulting protests and anger from activists and legislators helped push law enforcement, a powerful lobbying force in the state, to compromise on a new standard for when officers can use deadly force, changing it from when it is “reasonable” to when it is “necessary.”
Melina Abdullah, a leader of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles and a professor of Pan-African studies at Cal State, said she believed the statements were “disingenuous,” and questioned why the unions were commenting on an out-of-state incident.
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She pointed out that Los Angeles has seen controversial deaths and police actions in recent months in which the officers union has defended officers, including a scandal involving LAPD Metro officers who may have been unfairly entering black men into a state gang tracking database.
“It’s absolutely PR,” she said of the union statements.
World & Nation Police chiefs’ condemnation of George Floyd killing highlights impact of criminal justice reform movements Police leaders in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and other major cities have condemned the actions of the Minneapolis police officer at the center of an arrest that led to the death of George Floyd. But some activists say their outcry is toothless.
John Burris, an Oakland-based civil rights attorney who has represented dozens of families affected by police violence, said he thought the acknowledgement by everyday officers was positive.
“There is the code of silence, the brotherhood of blue, that is ritually entrenched in police history and tradition, so this is unusual,” said Burris. “This is a good message for the county at large … to appreciate that police officers will in fact acknowledge misconduct when they see it.”
Saggau said that he and some “seasoned veterans” of law enforcement had watched video of the Minneapolis incident filmed by a bystander, and they had expected some action on the part of Floyd or Chauvin that could provide context for the death.
Instead, he said, they were struck by “the look on that officer’s face, the complete indifference,” he said.
The union leadership was also troubled that three other officers at the scene did not stop Chauvin, he said.
Saggau recalled thinking that, “Certainly somebody is going to tap someone on the shoulder, someone is going to jump in,” but “they did nothing.”
Saggau said that despite the unprecedented nature of the statements, union leadership was in consensus about the desire to comment on Floyd’s death.
“There can’t be reconciliation, their can’t be healing unless each side recognizes the wrong, and it’s been far too long that law enforcement has not recognized the wrong,” he said.


latimes--2020-05-29--Bullet train would nick jobs, homes and parks on 14-mile route from L.A. to Burbank

The future California bullet train ’ s passage from Burbank to Los Angeles would follow an existing 14-mile rail corridor , cross 22 roads , traverse the Los Angeles River , run through dozens of businesses and hit people across economic and racial segments , a draft environmental study found .
The Los Angeles segment would create two electrified high-speed rail tracks and two conventional tracks for diesel trains from an underground platform in Burbank to Los Angeles ’ historic Union Station at an estimated cost of $ 3.6 billion , according to the report , which was released late @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Authority .
Exactly when the future route might be built is unknown because the state lacks the funds to build most of the system from San Francisco to Los Angeles .
But under a federal grant , the state must complete all of the environmental impact statements and reports for various segments by 2022 , disclosing the exact routes , economic effects and social jolts that would occur at some future date .
The state is currently pursuing a plan to build a 171-mile bullet train starter system from Bakersfield to Merced in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 20.4 billion , which will consume all of its funds through 2030 .
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon ( D-Lakewood ) , joined by other Southern California legislators , has proposed to reduce bullet train spending in the Central Valley by delaying a $ 5-billion electrical system and invest the money in the bullet train corridors in Southern California , including the Burbank to Los Angeles segment , and the Bay Area .
It would bring greater passenger ridership and reductions in emissions sooner , Rendon said .
But Gov .
Gavin Newsom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the current plan .
What began as a vision to build a $ 33-billion train that would rocket through the state at 220 miles per hour from Los Angeles to San Francisco has bogged down to a plan , costing $ 80 billion or more , with an uncertain end date .
At an Assembly Transportation Committee hearing on Wednesday , Chairman Jim Frazier ( D-Discovery Bay ) was clearly frustrated with the performance of the top bullet train executives , saying that their reports are “ misleading or downright not true @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ pause button ” to reevaluate its future .
The environmental reports , however , reiterate the need for the rail .
“ The capacity of California ’ s intercity transportation system , including in the cities of Burbank , Glendale , and Los Angeles , is insufficient to meet existing and future travel demand , ” the document summary says , adding that the project could help ease projected future congestion , air pollution and increased travel times .
The Burbank to Los Angeles section is among only several locations where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ existing railroad right of way .
The path was once part of the empire of Southern Pacific , the railroad that shaped the Los Angeles region from the late 1800s , but was turned over to local government and is now used by Metrolink and Amtrak , as well as freight railroads .
The plan includes a major renovation of Union Station , replacing the stub tracks that force trains to back in and out of the station with 10 new run-through tracks — cutting significant amounts of time off the schedule .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ tracks served by an 870-foot passenger platform .
The trains ’ route as they exit the station would be part of the Los Angeles to Anaheim environmental report .
The alignment would be an engineering feat , requiring the tracks to leap over the 101 Freeway , take a sharp left turn near Little Tokyo for about 1,000 feet and then take a sharp right along the Los Angeles River .
The Burbank station , meanwhile , would be located east of the Hollywood Burbank Airport on 70 acres , parallel to Hollywood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ documents indicate the tracks would travel through a tunnel under an airport runway , avoiding an above-ground protection zone set by the Federal Aviation Administration .
The tracks would return to the surface south of the airport .
The environmental document ’ s 74-page summary says the construction will affect five residential buildings .
Another chapter of the lengthy impact statement indicates that 19 residents in Burbank and 15 in Los Angeles will be displaced , apparently people who live in the five buildings .
The route would also take out 84 commercial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1,747 people .
The draft environmental study outlines impacts that are significantly less problematic than the route from Bakersfield to Palmdale , which the rail authority described in February .
The Bakersfield to Palmdale section would take out the R. Rex Parris High School in Palmdale , the Lancaster Community Homeless Shelter , the Solid Rock Bible Church , eight motels , 253 residential housing units , 311 businesses and 175 farm fields .
The new 14-mile route would cut through Burbank , Atwater Village , Glassell Park , Greater Cypress Park , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report finds that construction would cause “ significant and unavoidable ” impacts from emissions that would exceed thresholds for sensitive individuals and children .
Noise impacts from high-speed train operations could require sound walls , it notes .
It would also cause serious impacts on a proposed San Fernando Railroad Bike Path project .
It would affect bus lines and traffic .
The impacts would be borne by minority and low-income residents , but not disproportionately , it found .
The route would take about a half acre in the Rio de Los @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Albion Riverside Park .
But it would create 3,600 new construction jobs , a small increase over what would occur if the rail were not built at all , according to the study .
Public comment on the environmental reports is open until July 16 .

A Southwest airplane takes off over the tower at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank on March 24. Future construction of California’s bullet train could mean boring a tunnel under one of the airport’s runways.
The future California bullet train’s passage from Burbank to Los Angeles would follow an existing 14-mile rail corridor, cross 22 roads, traverse the Los Angeles River, run through dozens of businesses and hit people across economic and racial segments, a draft environmental study found.
The Los Angeles segment would create two electrified high-speed rail tracks and two conventional tracks for diesel trains from an underground platform in Burbank to Los Angeles’ historic Union Station at an estimated cost of $3.6 billion, according to the report, which was released late Thursday afternoon by the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
Exactly when the future route might be built is unknown because the state lacks the funds to build most of the system from San Francisco to Los Angeles. But under a federal grant, the state must complete all of the environmental impact statements and reports for various segments by 2022, disclosing the exact routes, economic effects and social jolts that would occur at some future date.
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The state is currently pursuing a plan to build a 171-mile bullet train starter system from Bakersfield to Merced in the Central Valley at a cost of $20.4 billion, which will consume all of its funds through 2030.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), joined by other Southern California legislators, has proposed to reduce bullet train spending in the Central Valley by delaying a $5-billion electrical system and invest the money in the bullet train corridors in Southern California, including the Burbank to Los Angeles segment, and the Bay Area.
It would bring greater passenger ridership and reductions in emissions sooner, Rendon said. But Gov. Gavin Newsom and high-speed rail executives are holding firm on the current plan.
What began as a vision to build a $33-billion train that would rocket through the state at 220 miles per hour from Los Angeles to San Francisco has bogged down to a plan, costing $80 billion or more, with an uncertain end date.
California Bullet train plan for Tehachapi passage would cost $18.1 billion over 82 miles Costs keep climbing for a challenging section of the California high-speed rail route — one that currently lacks a funding source but is crucial for getting trains to Los Angeles.
At an Assembly Transportation Committee hearing on Wednesday, Chairman Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay) was clearly frustrated with the performance of the top bullet train executives, saying that their reports are “misleading or downright not true” and that the project should hit the “pause button” to reevaluate its future.
The environmental reports, however, reiterate the need for the rail.
“The capacity of California’s intercity transportation system, including in the cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Los Angeles, is insufficient to meet existing and future travel demand,” the document summary says, adding that the project could help ease projected future congestion, air pollution and increased travel times.
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The Burbank to Los Angeles section is among only several locations where the future train would travel on an existing railroad right of way. The path was once part of the empire of Southern Pacific, the railroad that shaped the Los Angeles region from the late 1800s, but was turned over to local government and is now used by Metrolink and Amtrak, as well as freight railroads.
The plan includes a major renovation of Union Station, replacing the stub tracks that force trains to back in and out of the station with 10 new run-through tracks — cutting significant amounts of time off the schedule. The station would have two electrified high-speed tracks served by an 870-foot passenger platform.
The trains’ route as they exit the station would be part of the Los Angeles to Anaheim environmental report. The alignment would be an engineering feat, requiring the tracks to leap over the 101 Freeway, take a sharp left turn near Little Tokyo for about 1,000 feet and then take a sharp right along the Los Angeles River.
The Burbank station, meanwhile, would be located east of the Hollywood Burbank Airport on 70 acres, parallel to Hollywood Way. A technical appendix of the documents indicate the tracks would travel through a tunnel under an airport runway, avoiding an above-ground protection zone set by the Federal Aviation Administration. The tracks would return to the surface south of the airport.
The environmental documents indicate the construction will displace 19 individuals in Burbank and 15 in Los Angeles, involving 12 residential buildings in the two cities.
The route would also take out 84 commercial, retail and industrial businesses that employ 1,747 people.
The draft environmental study outlines impacts that are significantly less problematic than the route from Bakersfield to Palmdale, which the rail authority described in February.
The Bakersfield to Palmdale section would take out the R. Rex Parris High School in Palmdale, the Lancaster Community Homeless Shelter, the Solid Rock Bible Church, eight motels, 253 residential housing units, 311 businesses and 175 farm fields.
California California bullet train could end up needing subsidies, despite promises to voters Opponents of the state’s high-speed rail project say California is preparing to violate a 2008 ballot measure promise not to use state subsidies for operation of the bullet train. Proponents disagree.
The new 14-mile route would cut through Burbank, Atwater Village, Glassell Park, Greater Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights and Arroyo Seco. The report finds that construction would cause “significant and unavoidable” impacts from emissions that would exceed thresholds for sensitive individuals and children. Noise impacts from high-speed train operations could require sound walls, it notes.
It would also cause serious impacts on a proposed San Fernando Railroad Bike Path project. It would affect bus lines and traffic. The impacts would be borne by minority and low-income residents, but not disproportionately, it found.
The route would take about a half acre in the Rio de Los Angeles State Park and somewhat less in the Albion Riverside Park.
But it would create 3,600 new construction jobs, a small increase over what would occur if the rail were not built at all, according to the study.
Public comment on the environmental reports is open until July 16.


latimes--2020-05-29--San Diego to allow sunbathing, other passive beach activities

Passive recreation can resume at San Diego County beaches on Tuesday , officials announced .
Previously , had been open only for active physical use , such as jogging , swimming , surfing or walking — with no lounging allowed .
The new regulations allow people in the same household to sit and sunbathe on the sand .
Activities like football and volleyball are still banned , and parking lots and piers remain closed .
The decision follows a similar measure in Ventura County , which allowed sunbathing to resume at all county beaches beginning Friday .
San Diego County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ five new deaths on Thursday .
The new cases represent about 3 % of the 3,699 tests most recently conducted .
The county is aiming to be able to test 5,200 residents a day .
San Diego County first reopened its beaches in late April , but like most areas in the state , access was restricted to active-use only , such as swimming or running .
Even after Gov .
Gavin Newsom moved to shut down other Southern California beaches after crowds flocked the area , Sand Diego County was permitted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will decide for themselves whether to implement the loosened regulations .

Visitors at Ocean Beach were violating orders by lounging on the sand on Memorial Day. But beginning Tuesday, San Diego County will allow passive use of all beaches.
Passive recreation can resume at San Diego County beaches on Tuesday, officials announced.
Previously, many beaches and parks had been open only for active physical use, such as jogging, swimming, surfing or walking — with no lounging allowed.
The new regulations allow people in the same household to sit and sunbathe on the sand. Activities like football and volleyball are still banned, and parking lots and piers remain closed.
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California San Diego County shuts down Pacific Beach restaurant after images of crowds emerge San Diego County shut down a Pacific Beach restaurant and bar Friday after video emerged of crowds flouting the county’s public heath orders, which require patrons to practice social distancing.
The decision follows a similar measure in Ventura County, which allowed sunbathing to resume at all county beaches beginning Friday.
San Diego County officials reported 117 new COVID-19 cases and five new deaths on Thursday. The new cases represent about 3% of the 3,699 tests most recently conducted.
The county is aiming to be able to test 5,200 residents a day.
San Diego County first reopened its beaches in late April, but like most areas in the state, access was restricted to active-use only, such as swimming or running.
Even after Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to shut down other Southern California beaches after crowds flocked the area, Sand Diego County was permitted to keep its shorelines open.
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Individual jurisdictions will decide for themselves whether to implement the loosened regulations.


latimes--2020-05-29--Ventura County to extend stay-at-home order while continuing to ease restrictions

Health officials in Ventura County are expected to extend the area ’ s stay-at-home order , which was put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus and is scheduled to expire Sunday .
The updated directive will continue to ease restrictions prompted by the pandemic while extending the need for social distancing , health officials said .
Ventura County was the first in Southern California to receive approval from the state to begin lifting restrictions on businesses and outdoor spaces that had been shuttered .
Health officer Dr. Robert Levin said that such progress is key to residents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the continued need to quarantine and avoid gatherings .
“ We need to continue — in between the times that we are enjoying some of these other steps we ’ ve taken — to quarantine and we need to constantly be social distancing , ” Levin said at a Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday .
“ We can not afford a setback.
” Ventura County has the 17th highest number of coronavirus cases among the state ’ s 58 counties .
To date , officials have confirmed more than 1,060 cases and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declined over the past several weeks .
Levin credits residents ’ adherence to social distancing practices with that number .
“ This county ’ s behavior has been amazing , ” he said .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom previously gave the county the green light to reopen hair salons and barbershops as well as allow for in-store shopping and in-person dining .
Levin said the county ’ s revised order will also permit places of worship to reopen with gatherings of up 100 , a change that will also allow for funeral services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homeowners associations , where individuals and families can make appointments to use , will be allowed to reopen .
The revised health orders do not include pools at athletic clubs , hotels or motels .
Golf courses , which were reopened last month , will now allow single individuals to use motorized carts .
Putting greens also will be allowed to reopen .
In-person graduation ceremonies are still not allowed under the state ’ s order .
Levin said that the county allows for car ceremonies where graduates can leave a vehicle to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photo at a staged area before returning to their car .
Car occupants are limited to the same household .
It ’ s unclear how long the revised health order will be extended , but Supervisor Kelly Long said it will not run indefinitely .
“ It ’ s not a blanket order going on until July , ” she said .

From left, Henry Estrada, Mario Leon Valencia, Kevin Leon Valencia and James Wheeler, all of Palmdale, play Spike Ball at the beach in Ventura. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
Ezekiel Orellana, four, puts sand on his father, Ralph Orellana, while vacationing from Oregon, at the beach in Ventura. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
Beachgoers practice social distancing along the Ventura Promenade at the beach in Ventura, CA. While many parks and beaches in Ventura County have been open for active use for weeks, Ventura city officials have begun to further ease restrictions at their outdoor spaces. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
Mary Jasso-Brooks, of Ventura, with James, left, and Paige, walk along the surf at the beach in Ventura. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
Health officials in Ventura County are expected to extend the area’s stay-at-home order, which was put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus and is scheduled to expire Sunday.
The updated directive will continue to ease restrictions prompted by the pandemic while extending the need for social distancing, health officials said.
Ventura County was the first in Southern California to receive approval from the state to begin lifting restrictions on businesses and outdoor spaces that had been shuttered. Health officer Dr. Robert Levin said that such progress is key to residents’ mental and physical health, as is the continued need to quarantine and avoid gatherings.
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“We need to continue — in between the times that we are enjoying some of these other steps we’ve taken — to quarantine and we need to constantly be social distancing,” Levin said at a Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday. “We cannot afford a setback.”
California Sunbathing, lounging now allowed at Ventura County beaches The county’s decision to permit passive use follows similar action in the coastal cities of Ventura, Oxnard and Port Hueneme.
Ventura County has the 17th highest number of coronavirus cases among the state’s 58 counties. To date, officials have confirmed more than 1,060 cases and 32 deaths. Those numbers have steadily declined over the past several weeks. Levin credits residents’ adherence to social distancing practices with that number.
“This county’s behavior has been amazing,” he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom previously gave the county the green light to reopen hair salons and barbershops as well as allow for in-store shopping and in-person dining. Levin said the county’s revised order will also permit places of worship to reopen with gatherings of up 100, a change that will also allow for funeral services.
Pools run by apartment complexes and homeowners associations, where individuals and families can make appointments to use, will be allowed to reopen. The revised health orders do not include pools at athletic clubs, hotels or motels.
Golf courses, which were reopened last month, will now allow single individuals to use motorized carts. Putting greens also will be allowed to reopen.
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In-person graduation ceremonies are still not allowed under the state’s order. Levin said that the county allows for car ceremonies where graduates can leave a vehicle to pick up a diploma and take a photo at a staged area before returning to their car. Car occupants are limited to the same household.
It’s unclear how long the revised health order will be extended, but Supervisor Kelly Long said it will not run indefinitely.
“It’s not a blanket order going on until July,” she said.


latimes--2020-05-29--Column: The words of Lincoln, Truman and Reagan got us through crises. Trump's words makes everythin

Column: The words of Lincoln, Truman and Reagan got us through crises. Trump's words makes everything worse

On Wednesday , the COVID-19 death toll topped 100,000 in the United States , nearly four times the count in any other country .
On Thursday , the unemployment rate was at its highest since the Great Depression .
And by week ’ s end , violence raged and racial tensions flared across the country over the controversial killings of black people , by white police officers in two cases and a white former cop in a third .
As we move ever closer to the next presidential election , I got to thinking about how , since the birth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tried to shine a light in trying times .
Like poets and prophets , they reassured , urged resolve and compassion , and appealed to unity .
That was then , and this is now .
President Woodrow Wilson as the world looked for leadership coming out of World War I : “ We can not be separated in interest or divided in purpose .
We stand together until the end.
” President Donald J. Trump as the country longed for leadership on the coronavirus crisis : “ I ’ m not running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not even a factor…I ’ m running against the Radical Left , Do Nothing Democrats & their partner , the real opposition party , the Lamestream Fake News Media !
They are vicious & crazy , but we will WIN !
” President Abraham Lincoln on overcoming differences with another person : “ I don ’ t like that man .
I must get to know him better.
” President Trump on his differences with a news broadcaster who has questioned his policies : “ When will they open a Cold Case on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Did he get away with murder ?
Some people think so .
Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly ?
Isn ’ t it obvious ?
What ’ s happening now ?
A total nut job !
” President John F. Kennedy on the importance of science : “ The question in all our minds today is how science can best continue its service to the Nation , to the people , to the world , in the years to come… ” President Trump on the importance of pseudo-science : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it out in a minute , one minute .
And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning ?
As you see , it gets in the lungs , it does a tremendous number on the lungs , so it would be interesting to check that.
” President Thomas Jefferson on the Fourth Estate : “ Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers , or newspapers without a government , I should not hesitate a moment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on same : “ When will all of the ‘ reporters ’ who have received Noble ?
?
?
Prizes for their work on Russia , Russia , Russia , only to have been proven totally wrong…be turning back their cherished ‘ Nobles ’ …The reporters and Lamestream Media knew the truth all along…Lawsuits should be brought against all , including the Fake News Organizations… ” President George Washington offering advice to his niece : “ It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.
” President Trump , who clearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ When I took this over , it was an empty box .
We didn ’ t have testing .
We didn ’ t have anything .
We had a broken system there…We had a lot of broke systems .
And I ’ m not just blaming President Obama .
You go long before that.
” Barack Obama speaking about the 2004 election : “ In the end , this is what this election ’ s about — do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Mail in voting will lead to massive fraud and abuse .
It will also lead to the end of our great Republican Party .
We can never let this tragedy befall our nation.
” President Harry S. Truman on self-improvement : “ In reading the lives of great men , I found that the first victory they won was over themselves…self-discipline with all of them came first.
” President Trump on having no need for self-improvement : “ I ’ ve had great ‘ ratings ’ my whole life , there ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The White House News Conference ratings are ‘ through the roof ’ ( Monday Night Football , Bachelor Finale… ) but I don ’ t care about that .
I care about going around the Fake News to the PEOPLE !
” President Ronald Reagan on selflessness : “ There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don ’ t care who gets the credit.
” President Trump claiming credit and blaming others : “ I love Michigan , one of the reasons we are doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this horrible Pandemic .
Yet your Governor , Gretchen ‘ Half ’ Whitmer is way in over her head , she doesn ’ t have a clue .
Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude !
” President Lincoln on the need for government transparency : “ I am a firm believer in the people .
If given the truth , they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis .
The great point is to bring them the real facts.
” President Trump providing government disinformation : “ When the professionals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests for people , they can get the test .
It ’ s gone really well.
” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on lying : “ Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.
” President Trump lying : “ I ’ ve always known this is a real—this is a pandemic .
I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic … I ’ ve always viewed it as very serious.
” President Kennedy urging unity and leadership : “ But I think the American people expect more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attack .
The times are too grave , the challenge too urgent , and the stakes too high to permit the customary passions of political debate .
We are not here to curse the darkness , but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.
” President Trump embracing discord and partisanship : “ A total lack of leadership .
Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor , Jacob Frey , get his act together and bring the City under control or I will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the job done right…when the looting starts , the shooting starts.
” President Theodore Roosevelt on letting experts do their jobs : “ The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done , and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
” President Trump on meddling : “ Anthony [ Fauci ] is a good person , a very good person , I ’ ve disagreed with him… .
We want to do it safely , but we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as possible .
... We have to get it open .
I totally disagree with him on schools.
” President Kennedy on the need to rise above blame : “ Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer , but the right answer .
Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past .
Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.
” President Trump embracing blame : “ Today people started losing their jobs because of Crazy Nancy Pelosi , Cryin ’ Chuck Schumer , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” President Lincoln on humility : “ We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace , and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us ; and we have vainly imagined , in the deceitfulness of our hearts , that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.
” President Trump on his own concept of humility : “ I was watching the other night the great Lou Dobbs , and he said when Trump took over , President Trump , he used to say , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Then he said ‘ Trump is the greatest president since Ronald Reagan.
’ Then he said ― then he said , ’ No , no , Trump is an even better president than Ronald Reagan.
’ And now , he ’ s got me down as the greatest president in the history of our country , including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln .
”

Clockwise from top left; Painting of Gen. George Washington leads in the battle at Princeton, Jan. 3, 1777; an oil painting of Thomas Jefferson in 1805; 1865 photo of President Abraham Lincoln in Washington; President Donald Trump in the Oval Office; 1961 photo of President John F. Kennedy; and 1916 photo of President Woodrow Wilson throwing out ball at a baseball game in Washington.
What a week.
On Monday, Memorial Day, we honored fallen war heroes.
On Wednesday, the COVID-19 death toll topped 100,000 in the United States, nearly four times the count in any other country.
On Thursday, the unemployment rate was at its highest since the Great Depression.
And by week’s end, violence raged and racial tensions flared across the country over the controversial killings of black people, by white police officers in two cases and a white former cop in a third.
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As we move ever closer to the next presidential election, I got to thinking about how, since the birth of the nation, our presidents have tried to shine a light in trying times. Like poets and prophets, they reassured, urged resolve and compassion, and appealed to unity.
That was then, and this is now.
*
President Woodrow Wilson as the world looked for leadership coming out of World War I: “We cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose. We stand together until the end.”
President Donald J. Trump as the country longed for leadership on the coronavirus crisis: “I’m not running against Sleepy Joe Biden. He is not even a factor…I’m running against the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats & their partner, the real opposition party, the Lamestream Fake News Media! They are vicious & crazy, but we will WIN!”
*
President Abraham Lincoln on overcoming differences with another person: “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”
President Trump on his differences with a news broadcaster who has questioned his policies: “When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn’t it obvious? What’s happening now? A total nut job!”
*
President John F. Kennedy on the importance of science: “The question in all our minds today is how science can best continue its service to the Nation, to the people, to the world, in the years to come…”
Advertisement
President Trump on the importance of pseudo-science: “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”
*
President Thomas Jefferson on the Fourth Estate: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
President Trump on same: “When will all of the ‘reporters’ who have received Noble ??? Prizes for their work on Russia, Russia, Russia, only to have been proven totally wrong…be turning back their cherished ‘Nobles’…The reporters and Lamestream Media knew the truth all along…Lawsuits should be brought against all, including the Fake News Organizations…”
*
President George Washington offering advice to his niece: “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
President Trump, who clearly didn’t receive such advice: “When I took this over, it was an empty box. We didn’t have testing. We didn’t have anything. We had a broken system there…We had a lot of broke systems. And I’m not just blaming President Obama. You go long before that.”
*
President Barack Obama speaking about the 2004 election: “In the end, this is what this election’s about — do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?”
President Trump on the coming election: “Mail in voting will lead to massive fraud and abuse. It will also lead to the end of our great Republican Party. We can never let this tragedy befall our nation.”
*
President Harry S. Truman on self-improvement: “In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves…self-discipline with all of them came first.”
President Trump on having no need for self-improvement: “I’ve had great ‘ratings’ my whole life, there’s nothing unusual about that for me. The White House News Conference ratings are ‘through the roof’ (Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale…) but I don’t care about that. I care about going around the Fake News to the PEOPLE!”
*
President Ronald Reagan on selflessness: “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
President Trump claiming credit and blaming others: “I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic. Yet your Governor, Gretchen ‘Half’ Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude!”
*
President Lincoln on the need for government transparency: “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”
President Trump providing government disinformation: “When the professionals need a test, when they need tests for people, they can get the test. It’s gone really well.”
*
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on lying: “Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.”
President Trump lying: “I’ve always known this is a real—this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic … I’ve always viewed it as very serious.”
*
President Kennedy urging unity and leadership: “But I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high to permit the customary passions of political debate. We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.”
President Trump embracing discord and partisanship: “A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right…when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
*
President Theodore Roosevelt on letting experts do their jobs: “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”
President Trump on meddling: “Anthony [Fauci] is a good person, a very good person, I’ve disagreed with him…. We want to do it safely, but we also want to do it as quickly as possible. ... We have to get it open. I totally disagree with him on schools.”
*
President Kennedy on the need to rise above blame: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
President Trump embracing blame: “Today people started losing their jobs because of Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats…”
*
President Lincoln on humility: “We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”
President Trump on his own concept of humility: “I was watching the other night the great Lou Dobbs, and he said when Trump took over, President Trump, he used to say, ‘Trump is a great president.’ Then he said ‘Trump is the greatest president since Ronald Reagan.’ Then he said ― then he said, ’No, no, Trump is an even better president than Ronald Reagan.’ And now, he’s got me down as the greatest president in the history of our country, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.”
steve.lopez@latimes.com