What is L.A.'s greatest tragedy? (Los Angeles, San Francisco: homes, high school)

[ferretkona]

I would say the dam collapse in 1928.
St. Francis Dam

[iamtall]

The St. Francis Dam disaster of February 1928. The dam was built in San Fransiquito Canyon by William Mulholland. It is a canyon in between the Antelope Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley. The estimated death toll is between 500 and 1500. No one knows for sure because of the immigrant workers on the farms.

It was devastating. The dam was not built properly, and in a very unstable area. There were warnings, but Mulholland believed everything was alright. Luckily the area just below the dam in modern day Castaic was sparsely populated. But down river in areas like Santa Paula lost over 300 buildings.

The dam broke early in the river, and gushed down the Santa Clara River Valley all the way to Ventura. Newspaper reports were very grim.

I think this was the greatest LA tragedy because even to this day there is very little coverage of this human made disaster.

You can visit the sight today. San Francisquito Canyon Road will take you right past it, but you will have to walk out of your car to see it better. The road used to run right through the center, but several years ago, a terrible rain washed out that road. You can get to it either from north from Lancaster, or the south from Santa Clarita.

[summerwriter]

River Phoenix dying on Sunset in 1993.

[Harrier]

Maybe the several tenement fires over the years - like Dorothy Mae (1982) - Dorothy Mae Fire | 'It was as if the devil himself lived there.' - Los Angeles Times .

Read Ecology of Fear by Mike Davis.

So many tragedies have occurred - it is hard to pick just one.

[Visit a Library]

Our greatest tragedy is the L.A. City Council, and that's quite enough for most of us.

[yamota]

Take your pick, the kardashians, Lindsay Lohan, OJ

[VLWH]

Originally Posted by Visit a Library

Our greatest tragedy is the L.A. City Council, and that's quite enough for most of us.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by yamota

Take your pick, the kardashians, Lindsay Lohan, OJ

True.

Add Arnold to the list now.

My take: the failure to create a heavy-rail rapid transit system with 5 or 6 lines in the 60s or 70s, when the Bay Area was doing so.

[bigdumbgod]

Reality TV.

[RogueMom]

The 1986 Immigration and Control Act.