1662190 - A Tale of Two Communities Impacted by Los Angeles Freeway System

The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 resulted in the largest public works program in the United States. With a goal of increased prosperity, faster commutes to address the sprawling housing growth, and creation of jobs, the highway program proceeded ruthlessly by demolishing homes and dividing communities. It brought over 40,000 interstate miles to the country of which 1500 miles were laid out in the freeway grid of the 1958 Los Angeles master plan. However, Los Angeles opted to only build 61 percent, a little over 900 miles of its intended freeway system, sparing the well-to-do neighborhoods. This created a legacy of economic inequality that still exists today. This session will describe two specific communities of Los Angeles impacted by the freeway system – Boyle Heights and South Pasadena. Boyle Heights is bounded on all sides by four different freeways and South Pasadena which successfully battled the extension of the 710 freeway for decades. These simple facts resulted in very different circumstances for the environment, economy, and the people in these neighborhoods that persist today. Boyle Heights, bordered by the freeway grid, has been subject to systemic inequity that has impacted health, air quality, economic stagnation, crime, and housing. South Pasadena, free from gridlocked freeway networks, has thrived and boasts of enviable property values, high-performing public schools, tree-lined streets, vintage craftsman homes and historic buildings. Even today, with awareness and funding to reinvest in urban neighborhoods to right the wrongs of the past, we often get it wrong. This session will discuss some of the solutions in place to address this inequity, highlight the power of collective community voices that hold government in check, and address how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law may be our saving grace in reversing the damage done.