Lakers stay put at Staples Center, Echo Park reopens (with a fence)

Things to read from the past week:

Why Metro’s Restored Bus Service Still Falls Short "Metro argued that these cuts were undertaken out of necessity, but that was shown not to be the case when staff identified a mid-year surplus and failed to recommend that any of that money be used for restoring service. When the Board of Directors twice directed the agency to use the additional funds to boost bus service, staff delayed and an eventual compromise was put in place to return to the pre-Covid level of service by September 2021, a full 18 months after the cuts were first implemented." (Investing in Place)

L.A.’s new 6th Street Bridge is rising. See the rebirth of the historic span in these photos "The $588-million project is being funded by the Federal Highway Administration, the state of California and the city. It’s scheduled for completion in summer 2022." (LA Times)

Can the City of Los Angeles Permanently Embrace Remote Work? A Conversation with LA’s Head of IT "Right now the city of Los Angeles is examining its teleworking policies. It's not a technology issue. We've been doing it for the last year. So it becomes more of a policy issue. Looking at my department, I expect that 60 to 70% of my workforce can be a hybrid workforce, which means we expect them to come into the office a day or maybe two days a week. And you can say part of it is quality of life, but there's a lot of other aspects that are just good business. So, for example, we want to be a resilient government, which means if there's a flood or if there's a fire or if there's an earthquake, we're able to restore government services as quickly as possible. Teleworking is a big component of that. If there's an issue that affects the civic center we've got to be able to still run government operations from people's homes or alternate locations." (dot LA)

Editorial: Not even beach parking lots can be off-limits in a study of sites for temporary homeless housing  "Homelessness is the moral crisis of our time in the city. And before you say, 'It’s not my problem,' it is your problem. Homeowners need to remember that the market forces that have escalated their property values at warp speed are the same forces that have left the poorest of the poor tumbling out of housing. Homeless people don’t have to move under your roof. But stop resisting them moving into a safe space near you or your favorite haunts." (LA Times)

Light-rail line to Whittier could get funding help from Newsom’s $1 billion proposal "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal would provide an additional $1 billion for Los Angeles-area high-priority transportation projects to move people seamlessly in time for the Olympics in 2028." (Whittier Daily News)

Eagle Rock Remains A Bus Lane Battleground As Metro Takes Step To Put Project On Colorado Boulevard "The project has been an existential battle in Eagle Rock for years (and it’s not the only neighborhood split by a bus project). Some welcome it as a transit upgrade that will improve safety and provide viable, clean travel options for residents and workers — and attract more patrons to local businesses. Others are adamantly opposed to taking away space for vehicle drivers to travel or park and feel Metro hasn’t taken concerns from car-centric homeowners seriously." (LAist)

Lakers extend Staples Center lease for 20 years "In a deal expected to be announced Thursday, the franchise will extend its lease with owner AEG for another two decades through 2041. The agreement includes a commitment to spend 'nine figures' on capital improvements and upgrades throughout the 22-year-old arena." (LA Times)

Los Angeles Is Covered in Delicious Fruit and No One Is Eating It "Los Angeles, especially the hotter, drier East Side, is not home to an unusually large number of native edible plants, but it is home to an absolutely berserk amount of non-native fruit trees, planted both intentionally and accidentally. Many of these simply line neighborhood streets. Among them, especially prominent on the East Side, in now-trendy neighborhoods like Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Atwater Village, is the loquat." (Atlas Obscura)

Echo Park Lake reopens — Angelenos cheer and mourn "In March, the city erected the fencing around the nearly 30 acres of public space and dismantled a large homeless encampment there. Many unhoused residents moved to shelters or housing in the weeks leading up to the closures. People who wanted to keep camping were displaced, which sparked protests, mass arrests, and widespread criticism of how the LAPD handled it. Others blamed City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who represents the area and led the effort." (KCRW)

Judge rails at L.A. officials for causing homelessness through structural racism. They don’t disagree. "At a hearing Thursday devoted to structural racism in a federal lawsuit about homelessness in Los Angeles, the defendants offered no evidence to suggest it doesn’t exist....Neither did the plaintiffs." (LA Times)

High Cost Of Los Angeles Homeless Camp Raises Eyebrows And Questions "According to a report by the city administrative officer, the new East Hollywood campground costs approximately $2,663 per participant per month. That's higher than what a typical one-bedroom apartment rents for in the city, according to the website RentCafe. While the per-tent cost covers services, meals, sanitation and staffing, some are concerned that the city is investing too much in short-term Band-Aids over long-term solutions....'If you can paint lines on a sidewalk for the same cost that you can give someone the rent for an apartment,' says Shayla Myers, an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, 'I'm concerned that our city is making the choice to paint the lines rather than actually get people into housing.'" (NPR)