Tag Archive for native Los Angelenos

How to Save Endangered Los Angelenos

I realize I’m a day late in posting. Chock it up to a tryptophan haze. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. I did and it was in part because traffic was surprisingly light over the holiday weekend. I could get places in a fraction of the time it usually takes me. Surface streets on the Westside were uncharacteristically light. What a pleasure. It seems a lot of people went out of town. But alas, they’re all back now.

This leads me to a campaign that I’ll be launching. I’d like to know what you think. You see, traffic was light because all of the Los Angeles transplants went home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Los Angeles has grown to impossible proportions over the last couple of decades due to these transplants. They have invaded our city and surrounding areas and we are feeling it on the roads.

I often say that native Los Angelenos are endangered. It seems many of the natives have fled our overcrowded city. I know it’s true in my family. Between my siblings and first cousins alone, I’m the only one who remained in Los Angeles. Our fair city has become a melting pot of transplants. Don’t misunderstand me. This is not an ethnic, racial or cultural statement for that matter. I love living in a diverse city with many of the world’s nations represented here. It makes for an endlessly rich and interesting life in the big city. That said, I could, however, do without the seemingly endless supply of people who have turned L.A. into an adjective — they’re so “L.A.” They want to get discovered, become famous and live the Hollywood-LA life. BUT … I digress. My point is, I believe in the same way that Alaskans have fought for indigenous rights, so should native Los Angelenos.

Since the traffic nightmare we live with every day of our lives is really not of our making, I therefore submit to you that we should start a campaign to grant native born Los Angelenos full access to the carpool (HOV) lanes regardless of whether they have any passengers in their cars! Granted, there are issues to resolve before taking on the campaign. For example, should we perhaps grant native status to those who have lived here at least 30 years or more? Should all native Californians be afforded this right or is this something we should reserve for just Los Angeles as we put up with the lion’s share of traffic? I’m not saying that other parts of California are without bad traffic. I am saying that I believe the worst congestion is in Los Angeles. In fact, I read just last week that the 110 Freeway has the worst gridlock in the country.

Let me know what you think.

Marci, your native activist