What do LA Natives or long time residents think about mayor villaraigosa (Los Angeles: condo, how much)

[LuckyGem]

Originally Posted by happ

Villaraigosa is presiding over a period of great growth in downtown LA [even during current republican national regime when everything is crumbling from negligence and incompetency]. The mayor was able to get funding for the new light rail/Exposition Line & is working on putting one-way streets [Pico & Venice, etc] doing something to help traffic on Wilshire, upgrading Broadway downtown by bring back street cars.

He and the governor have made it clear to the republicans that clean air will not be negotiated, universal health care is mandated, coastline preserved. We live in one of the most progressive states in the nation [considered a major economic world power].

Some of the comments are either racially-based or conservative/Bible belt types who disagree with the vast number of Californians & then gripe & wallow in self-pity. Maybe Bakersfield would suit your political bent

Umm no.

Schools are in the TOILET.

The Gangs are OUT OF CONTROL, evidence: the bus stop shooting yesterday where 8 people were shot.

The "one way" street thing? Do you think that's new? He had to do something.

No it's not racially based, you can't trust him. He's only trying to use being the mayor as a springboard to be governor.

He could give less than a care about this city.

[happ]

Los Angeles has the lowest percentile of middle class in a major American city, something like 26%, with the rest a majority of poor and a small percentile rich. The norm for major American cities is 50% middle class. It is therefore not correct to claim that L.A., particularly under the present mayor and his policies, represents utopia. Middle class families cannot make a go of it here, predating even the current housing crisis, because they are taxed to pay for services for illegals, services which they themselves will never receive.

You could be writing about most large cities in California unless you move inland away from the immediate coastline. Middle-class may be more available in Bakersfield/Fresno/etc. The problem of affordability is widespread in California and precedes Villaraigosa by decades. That's why the mayor advocates more housing for those who cannot pay huge rents/mortgages & why Los Angeles/Santa Monica/etc have rent control & require new construction of apartments to include subsided housing for those unable to afford it.

Forgive the assumption, but you write as if A) you do not pay property taxes in Los Angeles; B) you accept all propaganda offered from La Raza extremists; C) do not believe in the American ideal of e pluribus unum but wish to reverse the solidarity of same; and D) are young enough never to have voted beyond the current mayor's tenure. It is sad that you seem not to accept American principles of equality, and instead wish for cultural segregation, staking the secessionist flag in L.A. as not being for any others.

What propaganda do you refer to? Please be more specific and less anecdotal. What La Raza extremists are you writing about? You remind me of those in the South who claimed Black extremists would take over the nation. Mindless fear and hysteria, generally centered in ignorance and bigotry.

BTW I have been voting for several decades. I own a home & am strictly middle-class. What you do mean, secessionist's flags? In New York you see many Italian flags. Are the Italians going to make New York become a territory of Italy? Silly and sadly paranoid.

This country has worked too hard to want any sort of segregation to return. I'm sure most posters here do not conform to or believe in A through D as you seem to, and therefore join me in disapproval of mayor who espouses tenets similar to B and C.

Respectfully, you are an alarmist for a non-existent cause. Who is concerned that Los Angeles is becoming segregated? The wealthy folks live in the Hollywood Hills because they can afford it not because it is a white-only region. Latinos are moving into parts of the city that were slums. They purchase the property and improve it [Compton is becoming a home-owners region for families].

Your comments are uninformed and mostly reflect prejudice and resentment, I'm afraid. I'm assuming you are a Republican by your statements. In that case, you probably are living in a city that you will never be happy in. Los Angeles has a different outlook/different priorities than many Republicans share [like community responsibility for everyone since when everyone is cared for then we all profit]. The "I'm in it for myself" attitude is shallow & selfish, IMO.

[the one]

honeslty i nevertake any of the "tony VILLAR", "antonio VIVALARAZA" people seriously. what little intelleigent claim they might have made gets muddied in their own personal muck racking. stick to actual gripes about villaragaisa. who cares if he was a member of mecha. im sure most uni students were part of some cultural student group while in college and im sure he did it for some scholarship. it completely reduces your argument to one of a disgruntled individual who hates the reality of LA. i still dont particularly like him but thats because the way he did the 14th. not because of mecha or his affair. get real people

[fastfilm]

I admired the persons and policies of Governor Jerry Brown and L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley and voted thusly. I headbang to punk, hardcore, reggae, oldskool soul, metal and most alt-musics, but love anything good art-wise, actually. Ronald Reagan made me vomit, but I like the political witticisms of P.J. O'Rourke and Dave Chappelle. Private property is sacrosanct until or unless you hurt someone. Illegals erode wages for all. So what political party am I? (A: neither.)

Our present city mayor comes under the "you're no John Kennedy" grouping of cladistics since you insist on putting him there. He is not widely admired outside of the demographic that insists everyone speak Spanish, despite the English language being our country's lingua franca, which allows people from all over the globe who come here to communicate with the citizens here and one another. This country's very make-up demands it; furthermore, its the global business language.

I believe our country was founded for everyone. Solvang, CA, Little Italy NYC and Kenosha, WI don't espouse any cultural militancy, and instead believe ancestory is something in the past of which to be proud, not wield as an exclusionary tool.

I'm old enough to have seen both reprehensible and casual bigotry in the Deep South in the 1950's firsthand, and would offer the present philosophies of La Raza as its closest modern equivalent. There is little tolerance for anyone "different" than them. The poster I've addressed even appears to believe that the mayor's preferential treatment of a single culture's concerns, to the detriment of all other Americans, is something laudable. Hardly.

[the one]

who is la raza? and why is it mostly anglos talking about them? really someone tell me. in the meantime ima try google.

[CamaroGuy]

Antonio Reconquista is just a lackey for the militant La Raza, Aztlan crowd. He's an ego maniac too and hopefully he'll be voted out of office in 2009!

[happ]

Yes, tell us where is all this La Raza stuff is coming from? I understand the political feelings that some Latinos have about California & Los Angeles [and for the most part believe they have a point] but it is merely an academic supposition. Please show us where all this secessionist talk is coming from. I've lived in Los Angeles nearly my entire life & have never heard about it except on a rare occasion on right-wing radio & some websites. It sounds merely like an obscure excuse to stir up some anti-Latino rhetoric.

This emphasis on English-only is also pure bunk. There are so many different languages spoken in LA but I have never had a problem communicating with anyone. On the contrary, multi-culturalism brings diversity & interest to the city. California is considered the Ellis Island of contemporary America w/ great mingling of cultures/food/lifestyles. It is nothing to fear.

So much on this thread is simply a cover for racism based on nothing more than fabricated distortions as a way to justify fear & resentment. It is also so contrary to the typical Angeleno mindset [seems more like what would be voiced in the rural South where Republicans rule like the KKK use to rule.

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by happ

Yes, tell us where is all this La Raza stuff is coming from? I understand the political feelings that some Latinos have about California & Los Angeles [and for the most part believe they have a point] but it is merely an academic supposition. Please show us where all this secessionist talk is coming from. I've lived in Los Angeles nearly my entire life & have never heard about it except on a rare occasion on right-wing radio & some websites. It sounds merely like an obscure excuse to stir up some anti-Latino rhetoric.

This emphasis on English-only is also pure bunk. There are so many different languages spoken in LA but I have never had a problem communicating with anyone. On the contrary, multi-culturalism brings diversity & interest to the city. California is considered the Ellis Island of contemporary America w/ great mingling of cultures/food/lifestyles. It is nothing to fear.

So much on this thread is simply a cover for racism based on nothing more than fabricated distortions as a way to justify fear & resentment. It is also so contrary to the typical Angeleno mindset [seems more like what would be voiced in the rural South where Republicans rule like the KKK use to rule.

Oh get off the soapbox! You sound like someone on AirHead America radio.lol

[happ]

Originally Posted by CamaroGuy

Oh get off the soapbox! You sound like someone on AirHead America radio.lol

Quite simply "put up or shut up" [either prove your point or admit that it is just personal feelings based in nothing more than hatred of others - generally a sign of self-loathing.

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by happ

Quite simply "put up or shut up" [either prove your point or admit that it is just personal feelings based in nothing more than hatred of others - generally a sign of self-loathing.

Oh lets see, how about that soccer match between the USA and Mexico several years ago in the colosium where Mexicans booed the American anthem and threw bottles at American players!

Not to mention seeing the Mexican flag flying everywhere too.