University Library
Right of Way
University Library
Right of Way
As urban populations grow, the need for spaces that provide services to them also grows. These can include things like hospitals, schools, prisons, stadiums, and more. Sometimes privately owned, the impacts inherent in construction and renovation of these kinds of spaces are often complex. While the existence of hospitals, schools, and sports arenas in Los Angeles has been largely beneficial to the community as a whole, decisions to locate them in particular neighborhoods have often been racially motivated and hugely destructive to local communities that were directly impacted beyond siting and construction.
Los Angeles' decision to locate Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine and build the freeways we take to get there displaced thousands of residents in East LA, and was made in part to avoid political opposition over land value depletion the city anticipated in more affluent white neighborhoods. Today, surrounding communities suffer from traffic congestion and poor air quality caused by those who drive on the city's freeways to attend games. School and hospital siting in Los Angeles has been similarly controversial and damaging to surrounding neighborhoods, despite broader positive effects in the community at large.
On display in this case is a letter from a woman fighting eminent domain proceedings against her home for expansion of a public elementary school, a letter from Senator Richard Alarcon to the Los Angeles Board of Education opposing the proposed site of a new high school in the northeast San Fernando Valley, documentation of toxic school sites in Los Angeles, maps from construction of the Van Nuys airport, and a proposal to rehabilitate Barlow Respiratory Hospital near Dodger Stadium.
Case 12, Coast, is to your right along the gallery wall.
1
Letter from Councilman Thomas D. Shepard to constituent, 1967Tarzana Property Owners' Association Collection
2
Letter to Los Angeles Board of Education, 1987Susan B. Nelson Collection
3
Letter from Senator Richard Alarcón, 1999Arleta Chamber of Commerce Collection
4
Letter to Mr. Bell regarding the Northridge Hospital Helistop, 1985Reseda Chamber of Commerce Collection
5
Letter to "Legislative Representative," 1966United Teachers of Los Angeles Collection
6
Report, "Toxic School Sites in Los Angeles: Weaknesses in the Site Acquisition Process," 1998Tom Hayden Belmont Learning Complex Investigation Collection
7
"Dodger Stadium Area Circulation Study," 1988Susan B. Nelson Collection
8
Chapter 1, "Dodger Stadium Area Circulation Study," 1988Susan B. Nelson Collection
9
Environmental Notations, Barlow Respiratory Hospital, 1992Susan B. Nelson Collection
10
Map, "Barlow Respiratory Hospital: How to Get Here"Susan B. Nelson Collection
11
"Public School Facilities...School of Los Angeles," 1968League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Collection
12
"Master Plan--Land Acquisition: San Fernando Valley Airport," circa 1960Albert Zoraster Collection
13
"Van Nuys Airport Master Plan," 1960Albert Zoraster Collection
14
"Barlow Respiratory Hospital...Land Use Radius Map," 1992Susan B. Nelson Collection
