What's the Matter with Los Angeles?

What's the Matter with Los Angeles?

Los Angeles is reeling once again from urban disturbances, as it did in 1965, 1992 and 2020. After each outbreak the city is widely seen as a hopeless disaster That’s ironic because since its infancy Los Angeles sought to develop a new model of post-Dickensian urbanity – what the early 20th century minister and writer Dana Bartlett called “the better city” – one dominated by middle class single family homes. At the time, the city that was among …