https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_Towns

I know municipal finance is about as exciting socks for Christmas, but if the Strong Towns thesis is correct, we've basically found ourselves in slow moving crisis, where city budgets start very slowly, but very surely, become unsustainable, and by the time anyone notices, it's mostly too late to do anything about it. Pipes cost money, repaving costs money, replacing your wastewater system costs money... lots of money. The fact that they only have to be replaced every 30-50 years doesn't mean the costs go away... they just disappear temporarily. Deferring that maintenance doesn't actually do anything except make the problem worse tomorrow.

The idea that LA literally can't afford to bring it's sidewalks up to ADA code is insane. The idea that they're engaging in penny-smart, pound-foolish solutions is a strong signal that the city budget is already deeply broken, and likely is not fixable under the current paradigm of LA politics.

California cities could trivially fix their budget problems by satisfying the demand for housing by adding density, but it seems they are determined to do nothing until the wheels finally fall off, and the city's budget crisis spirals out of control. Even then, I wonder if they will take the Detroit-route and declare bankruptcy before actually addressing the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPm4de6-eTg

LA government is an enormous corrupt police department with a few measly services slowly decaying as their funding gets cut.

You can somewhat walk in LA but it's damn shame how unfriendly it can be for pedestrians at times. I say shame because of the pristine weather, and people roll around sealed in aluminum boxes instead. trams and bicycles are ideal for it instead of cars. The bus system is ok by US standards too.

Cut the LAPD and the LA sheriff dept's budget, demilitarize them and fund infrastructure with it instead.

https://openbudget.lacity.org/#!/year/2025/operating/0/depar...

Here is their budget chart, there are about 15 countries in the world with lesser budget and GDP. The LASD has a budget of about $4B, more than the budget of 30 countries. Even that comparison aside, look at how they keep increasing their budget. In the LAPD chart above, it is "field forces" (+$200M over 10 years) that keep increasing their budgets, so it isn't "just inflation", and the crime rates don't justify it either. But that said, I get it, LA has bigger problems.

Why don't they asphalt curb to curb for a mile and then come back and do the ramps one at a time?

...just no. What this is, is that the federal ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has required wheelchair access (curb ramps) along roads since 1990. To comply, "Measure HLA" is a citizen initiative passed in 2025, which forces the city to build curb ramps WHENEVER it resurfaces a road.

But here's the kicker -- as the "Measure HLA" site explains [1], it promises "No New Taxes or Fees", claiming "improvements would be made during routine street maintenance".

But because it DIDN'T raise additional funds, but is a much more expensive process, and the city doesn't have the money, the city is getting around it by doing "large asphalt repair" which is lower-quality but avoids having to spend the extra money and time (which they don't have) to implement the curb ramps and other requirements.

All of this seems like an entirely predictable outcome when a law is passed that requires more work but doesn't pay for it. And in this case you can't blame a short-sighted legislature or a corrupt process -- it was a citizens' initiative. That promised voters they could have something for free, which isn't free. See this key quote:

> Per Mozee, “there’s approximately 14 ramps in a mile.” So for “one crew to build out those 14 ramps will take approximately three months.” In contrast, he said, “a paving crew on a good day … could pave that same mile in a weekend or one week, at most.”

So what exactly did people expect?

I'm all for accessibility, but demanding it without paying for it is not the way.

[1] https://yesonhla.com/

- rank cities by size

- go down around the 150th on the list

- that's cities like Knoxville, TN

- in the 1950s/1960s they received tons of federal funding to build infrastructure

- now that infra is falling apart but the cities themselves don't have the money to fix it and the government is going to bail them out

https://www.somerset.gov.uk/roads-travel-and-parking/surface...

hard to believe it's a problem for LA in 2026... 3 months to build 12 ramps?

At least they're admitting to the general public that the cause for the dysfunctionality is budget cuts. People can then vote accordingly for someone who campaigns on increasing the tax base.

You will see that patching is more labor intensive per asphalt wear time, thus incurring greater city budget expenditure on average basis.

Products from the disability industry are incredibly expensive. In London someone worked out it would have been cheaper to hire a full time human attendant for every person in a wheelchair than to pay for the city’s existing scant coverage ramps. Of you’re in tech , think of the overpriced web browsers supposedly aimed at disabled people from years ago and their “first boil the ocean” approach for web accessibility.

You guys have so. Much. Money. How can you not pave a road properly?

There's very blatant corruption within LA's government and no accountability. Your average American (which LA is full of) is too stupid to do anything about these issues.

Another fun one is talking about how much was accomplished decades ago when the streets were...decades newer.

Go ahead and say it's mismanagement.