UCLA Luskin in the News
Source: https://luskin.ucla.edu/about/communications/ucla-luskin-in-the-news
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:16
UCLA Luskin in the News
UCLA Luskin in the News
California’s SB 1221 introduces a first-of-its-kind approach to decarbonization by shifting from individual building upgrades to neighborhood-wide transitions away from natural gas. According to
Legal Planet
, the California Public Utilities Commission is developing pilot program guidelines, due by July 2026, but key details remain unresolved. The policy aims to cut emissions, retire aging gas infrastructure and deliver benefits like improved air quality and potential cost savings.
The
UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
is helping shape the conversation through a detailed FAQ that expands on official guidance and provides independent analysis of the law’s rollout. The guidelines for this program are a major part of Senate Bill 1221, which was recently signed into law by Governor Newsom, and will hopefully answer some of these questions when they are finalized by this upcoming July.
New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, reported by the
Associated Press
, reveals that Asian surnames are taking the lead as the fastest-growing surnames in the country. While traditional surnames like Smith, Williams, and Johnson still hold the top spots, Asian surnames–particularly Zhang, Liu, and Wang–are quickly climbing the ranks. Representing 7% of the U.S. population, Asians are also the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the country,
UCLA research professor and director of the
Center for Neighborhood Knowledge
Paul Ong
notes that immigration has been central to this growth. “Much of the growth of the Asian population has been driven by immigrants and their children,” he said, adding that policy shifts could slow that trajectory. “Consequently, when Asians crack the top surname rank will be pushed further into the future.”
A
Los Angeles Times
article highlights
San Diego
’s upcoming vote on a “non-primary home” tax.
The proposal would impose an $8,000 annual tax on homes left vacant for more than half the year, potentially generating up to $24 million to support housing efforts. It targets an estimated 5,000 underutilized properties in a city where housing costs remain among the highest in the nation.
Supporters argue the tax could increase housing availability and discourage vacancies, while critics question its financial burden on homeowners and the allocation of revenue.
UCLA
Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
housing manager
Shane Phillips
commented on the policy, stating, “This is a policy, essentially, to bring luxury housing back onto the market.” He emphasized that “we are talking very small stakes compared to the scale of the crisis and the need.”
A new
Los Angeles Times
report highlights a continued decline in quality of life across Los Angeles County, according to UCLA Luskin’s 11th annual Quality of Life Index, which has fallen to its lowest point since the survey began in 2016. The index score dropped to 52, driven by widespread declines in satisfaction across nearly all major categories, including education, transportation, public safety, and cost of living. Six categories reached decade lows, underscoring persistent concerns about affordability, infrastructure, and safety.
The report finds that residents continue to feel the compounding effects of recent crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising housing costs, immigration enforcement actions, and devastating wildfires. Cost of living remains the most significant driver of dissatisfaction, with housing, utilities, groceries, and taxes increasingly cited as key pressures.
Zev Yaroslavsky
, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA, noted the cumulative toll of these challenges, saying, “We’ve been through a lot in the last five years: COVID, increases in the cost of living, immigration sweeps, and the Altadena and Palisades fires. [They all] have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives,” and adding, “People haven’t had a chance to come out of the water and take a breath.”
Despite the decline, the survey shows resilience, with most residents still optimistic about their economic future and a strong majority viewing L.A. as offering access to a “good life.”
“I think people still have hope and still think things can get better,” Yaroslavsky said. “There’s a lot of resiliency in L.A., … especially in the immigrant population,”
In a recent appearance on the
Raid Podcast
,
Paul Ong
, director of the
Center for Neighborhood Knowledge
, discusses how current immigration enforcement is reshaping both policy and identity in the United States. Drawing on his research on ICE arrest rates and raids, Ong explains that the country is at a pivotal moment, with a significant transformation underway in how immigration is defined and enforced.
He highlights the concept of “othering,” noting that efforts to narrowly redefine who is considered American have evolved over decades and accelerated under the
Donald Trump
administration. Ong also emphasizes how enforcement strategies, including deportations, are part of a broader political agenda, compounded by limited available data. Reflecting on his own family’s experiences with deportation fears, he underscores the lasting impact of immigration policies on communities of color and the nation’s demographic future.
“I do not see the administration backing away from pursuing mass deportation,” Ong said. “What I do see is them changing their strategies and tactics to minimize the push back.”
Listen to the full podcast on
Spotify
or
Apple Podcast
.
(Photo Illustration by Diana Ramirez / De Los; Photos by Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times, Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times, Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times.)
A
UCLA Luskin poll
finding that the Los Angeles mayor’s race is currently a toss-up received wide coverage from local, national, and international media outlets.
The poll of likely LA primary voters, part of the annual Quality of Life Index produced by UCLA Luskin’s Los Angeles Initiative, found that 40% are undecided.
The
Los Angeles Times initiative De Los
viewed the survey results through the lens of the Latino electorate, where the undecided vote is 44% just two months from the June 2 primary vote.
Other outlets highlighting the survey include the
Los Angeles Daily News
,
USA Today
,
Newsweek
,
Politico
, Britain’s
Daily Mail
,
Fox11 News
and
Spectrum News1
.
Since November 2025, MPP student Andrea Escobar has traveled across California attending gubernatorial forums in her role as a Senior Fellow at Unseen, engaging directly with candidates on issues including health access, environmental justice, and housing affordability. Drawing from these experiences, Escobar co-authored a
CalMatters op-ed
that reflects her perspective as a Gen Z Latina seeking clarity on who is prepared to lead the state.
Andrea Escobar
In the piece, Escobar offers a grounded and urgent critique of the current gubernatorial race, arguing that candidates are failing to meet the moment for Generation Z. She emphasizes the widening gap between the promise of the “California Dream” and the reality facing students today. She highlights the financial strain of higher education and cost of living, noting, “As a full-time student, I have to balance two jobs to afford tuition and rent in Los Angeles.”
Escobar’s critique centers on candidates’ lack of bold, actionable plans particularly around economic mobility, affordable housing, and education funding. She points out that young voters and Latino communities are often discussed in abstract terms rather than addressed through concrete policy proposals. This disconnect, she argues, risks alienating a generation already disengaged from the political process. As she puts it, “Without a clear plan to address the issues we care about, like college access and affordability, these candidates remain disconnected from mobilizing young voters like us.”
Read the full op-ed in CalMatters.
Zev Yaroslavsky
appeared on
ABC7 Los Angeles
to discuss findings from the Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index (QLI), which will be released April 15 at the
2026
Luskin Summit
. The annual survey, conducted since 2016, asks residents to rate their quality of life across nine different categories, including cost of living, education, the economy, healthcare, and sentiments around their neighborhood.
Yaroslavsky noted that the survey’s design allows researchers to track changes in public sentiment over time. Cost of living has consistently ranked as the lowest-rated category and has declined significantly since the pandemic. Concerns about traffic, transportation, and the education system have also received relatively low ratings.
This year’s results will provide insight into additional issues, including wildfire recovery, immigration enforcement, and housing preferences. Yaroslavsky emphasized that the QLI serves as a critical tool for policymakers and researchers working to better understand and address the evolving priorities of Los Angeles County residents.
View the full segment on ABC7 News.
In March 2006, more than one million people marched through Downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest demonstrations for immigrant rights in U.S. history. The protest became a defining moment for Latino political mobilization in California.
Chris Zepeda-Millán
, associate professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, recalled the event to
KQED.
“People were out there demonstrating their pride and their dignity,” he said. “They were refusing to be silenced while they were being demonized by Washington.”
Nearly two decades later, that legacy continues to shape present-day activism. Over the weekend, tens of thousands gathered across California in “No Kings” rallies to protest policies under
Donald Trump
, including mass deportations.
Temperatures are reaching record-breaking highs on the West Coast, and experts from UCLA shared their concerns with
Sierra Sun Times
about the changing climate and phenomena like El Niño and heat waves that predict sweltering conditions in the following summer months.
V. Kelly Turner
, associate professor of urban planning and geography at UCLA, noted that the early-season heat caught many communities unprepared. She emphasized that such events challenge traditional assumptions about when and how heat should be managed, underscoring the need for more adaptive, year-round planning strategies.
Turner concluded by emphasizing the importance of CalHeat Score, a tool that reveals the risk of the heat on health by using public health data, and called it “an important step in the right direction.”
As temperatures continue to rise, researchers stress that proactive planning and increased awareness will be critical to protecting vulnerable populations and building climate resilience.
Appearing on
“
Inside the Issues
“
with Amrit Singh on Spectrum News 1,
Zev Yaroslavsky
reflected on the legacy of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as the city prepares to host the
2028 Summer Olympics
. Scheduled for July 2028, the Games will mark the third time Los Angeles has hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Yaroslavsky, who served on the Los Angeles City Council during the 1984 Games, emphasized the importance of fiscal safeguards that guided the city’s approach at the time. “We did not want taxpayers on the hook for the 1984 Olympics, so we proposed a charter amendment to prevent the city from using general fund dollars to operate the Games,” he said. “Ultimately, voters approved that amendment in 1978.”
Looking ahead to 2028, he expressed cautious optimism about the Games’ financial outlook. “There is no reason why the LA28 Olympics shouldn’t break even or make a profit,” he said, noting that in 1984, organizers were forced to “maximize revenue and minimize expenses” because the city was not financially backing the event.
However, Yaroslavsky also raised concerns about the stalled negotiations between the city and LA28 organizers, particularly the absence of similar taxpayer protections. Host Amrit Singh underscored the potential risks, noting that if costs exceed projections, “the city and the state are on the hook.”
Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, called for greater transparency and stronger agreements as preparations continue, urging stakeholders to reach a clear and accountable path forward.
A recent op-ed for
Town & Country
by journalist Annie Goldsmith reexamines Los Angeles’s reputation for notoriously bad traffic. Opening with the iconic freeway scene from “La La Land” she frames traffic not merely as a nuisance but as a defining characteristic of the city. She argues that unlike older cities with dense, rigid street grids, Los Angeles offers multiple routes and relatively predictable congestion, allowing drivers to plan their travel more effectively.
Goldsmith reframes traffic as a byproduct of economic vitality and personal mobility rather than dysfunction.
Luskin urban planning professor
Michael Manville
reinforces this perspective, stating: “Congestion is oftentimes a sign of economic prosperity.”
Ultimately, the piece portrays Los Angeles traffic as culturally embedded and even somewhat romantic—encouraging readers to reconsider it as an inevitable and even perhaps meaningful aspect of urban life.
An
NPR
report examines the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to major U.S. airports during a partial government shutdown that left the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) understaffed. With hundreds of TSA workers resigning or calling out after working without pay, federal officials reassigned ICE agents to help maintain airport operations.
While ICE agents are assisting with tasks such as crowd control, monitoring entrances, and verifying identification, they are not trained to conduct core TSA screening procedures. Their presence has raised broader questions about the agency’s role in domestic travel spaces.
Experts note that ICE’s core mission remains immigration enforcement.
Paul Ong
, research professor and director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, explained, “ICE is an agency that’s created for enforcement, within the U.S., and so that will still be with them. While they’re there, they will carry out what they believe is their charge of identifying potential immigrants who are not in this country legally.”
California remains one of the nation’s most expensive states to live in, with communities like San José, San Francisco, and Orange County demanding six-figure incomes for comfortable living.
A recent
SmartAsset
study shows that a single adult in San José needs nearly $160,000 annually, while a family of four requires over $400,000, far outpacing local median incomes. Los Angeles ranks 16th, where single adults need $120,307 and families over $280,000. Housing costs are the primary driver of this gap, compounded by rising grocery and gas prices and stagnant wages.
The study underscores the broader housing affordability crisis in California, highlighting how daily necessities continue to climb while wages lag behind.
“It’s a problem that we created very slowly over a long period of time,” said
Paavo Monkkonen
, UCLA professor of urban planning and public policy, in a
Los Angeles Times
article.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board recently voted on whether or not to approve the K Line northern extension project that will connect San Vicente to Fairfax. The project is expected to boost ridership by nearly 100,000 daily users while linking key job centers and destinations, further strengthening the region’s growing light rail network.
Experts say the expansion could reshape how Angelenos navigate the city.
Jacob Wasserman
of the
UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies
shared with
Los Angeles Times
that the project could help create a more interconnected rail grid, allowing riders to travel across Los Angeles with fewer transfers.
“It’s really going to change people’s geography of L.A.” Wasserman said of the K line extension. “It’s creating this nice grid network of rail, so that you can get anywhere in the city with ideally just one transfer at most by rail. … It’ll change people’s mental model of the city where they live or work.”
The project has faced opposition from some residents concerned about tunneling beneath residential neighborhoods. Transit officials have emphasized that the tunnels will be constructed deep underground and are not expected to impact surface properties.
Part of the project’s first phase is not set to begin for nearly 15 years, in 2041.
Over the past several years, Latino voters — men under 40, in particular — have shifted right, but evidence from elections during President Donald Trump’s second term suggest an abrupt correction is underway.
The recent shift to the left could have a significant effect on the politics of 2026, potentially putting control of Congress in the hands of Latino voters.
In a
commentary in The Conversation
, UCLA Luskin professor of public policy
Gary M. Segura
and faculty director
Matt A. Barreto
of the
UCLA Voting Rights Project
explore these dynamics, tapping into their expertise as political scientists and pollsters who study Hispanic voting trends.
Many Latinos are quite upset with Trump’s actions on the economy and immigration, polls show. Segura and Barreto also note that some Latinos question whether Democrats who have received their support in the past have delivered on policies that would improve the lives of their families.
“Latino voters need to believe that politicians truly care about their concerns and will work to implement a plan to create equal opportunities for the nation’s largest minority group to achieve the American dream,” Segura and Barreto write. “We believe the candidates able to make that pitch convincingly will be the most successful.”
https://www.istockphoto.com/es/foto/paciente-de-la-tercera-edad-mirando-a-trav%C3%A9s-de-la-ventana-en-el-hospital-gm1242482746-362788962
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UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
3250 Public Affairs Building - Box 951656
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656
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University of California
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Follow
The statements on this page represent the views of people affiliated with the Luskin School of Public Affairs and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of California, or UCLA or its Chancellor.
Posts and comments by individuals at UCLA on social media channels may not reflect the opinions or
policies of UCLA
, the University of California or the Luskin School, nor its benefactors and academic partners.
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UCLA Luskin in the News
California’s SB 1221 introduces a first-of-its-kind approach to decarbonization by shifting from individual building upgrades to neighborhood-wide transitions away from natural gas. According to
Legal Planet
, the California Public Utilities Commission is developing pilot program guidelines, due by July 2026, but key details remain unresolved. The policy aims to cut emissions, retire aging gas infrastructure and deliver benefits like improved air quality and potential cost savings.
The
UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
is helping shape the conversation through a detailed FAQ that expands on official guidance and provides independent analysis of the law’s rollout. The guidelines for this program are a major part of Senate Bill 1221, which was recently signed into law by Governor Newsom, and will hopefully answer some of these questions when they are finalized by this upcoming July.
New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, reported by the
Associated Press
, reveals that Asian surnames are taking the lead as the fastest-growing surnames in the country. While traditional surnames like Smith, Williams, and Johnson still hold the top spots, Asian surnames–particularly Zhang, Liu, and Wang–are quickly climbing the ranks. Representing 7% of the U.S. population, Asians are also the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the country,
UCLA research professor and director of the
Center for Neighborhood Knowledge
Paul Ong
notes that immigration has been central to this growth. “Much of the growth of the Asian population has been driven by immigrants and their children,” he said, adding that policy shifts could slow that trajectory. “Consequently, when Asians crack the top surname rank will be pushed further into the future.”
A
Los Angeles Times
article highlights
San Diego
’s upcoming vote on a “non-primary home” tax.
The proposal would impose an $8,000 annual tax on homes left vacant for more than half the year, potentially generating up to $24 million to support housing efforts. It targets an estimated 5,000 underutilized properties in a city where housing costs remain among the highest in the nation.
Supporters argue the tax could increase housing availability and discourage vacancies, while critics question its financial burden on homeowners and the allocation of revenue.
UCLA
Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
housing manager
Shane Phillips
commented on the policy, stating, “This is a policy, essentially, to bring luxury housing back onto the market.” He emphasized that “we are talking very small stakes compared to the scale of the crisis and the need.”
A new
Los Angeles Times
report highlights a continued decline in quality of life across Los Angeles County, according to UCLA Luskin’s 11th annual Quality of Life Index, which has fallen to its lowest point since the survey began in 2016. The index score dropped to 52, driven by widespread declines in satisfaction across nearly all major categories, including education, transportation, public safety, and cost of living. Six categories reached decade lows, underscoring persistent concerns about affordability, infrastructure, and safety.
The report finds that residents continue to feel the compounding effects of recent crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising housing costs, immigration enforcement actions, and devastating wildfires. Cost of living remains the most significant driver of dissatisfaction, with housing, utilities, groceries, and taxes increasingly cited as key pressures.
Zev Yaroslavsky
, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA, noted the cumulative toll of these challenges, saying, “We’ve been through a lot in the last five years: COVID, increases in the cost of living, immigration sweeps, and the Altadena and Palisades fires. [They all] have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives,” and adding, “People haven’t had a chance to come out of the water and take a breath.”
Despite the decline, the survey shows resilience, with most residents still optimistic about their economic future and a strong majority viewing L.A. as offering access to a “good life.”
“I think people still have hope and still think things can get better,” Yaroslavsky said. “There’s a lot of resiliency in L.A., … especially in the immigrant population,”
In a recent appearance on the
Raid Podcast
,
Paul Ong
, director of the
Center for Neighborhood Knowledge
, discusses how current immigration enforcement is reshaping both policy and identity in the United States. Drawing on his research on ICE arrest rates and raids, Ong explains that the country is at a pivotal moment, with a significant transformation underway in how immigration is defined and enforced.
He highlights the concept of “othering,” noting that efforts to narrowly redefine who is considered American have evolved over decades and accelerated under the
Donald Trump
administration. Ong also emphasizes how enforcement strategies, including deportations, are part of a broader political agenda, compounded by limited available data. Reflecting on his own family’s experiences with deportation fears, he underscores the lasting impact of immigration policies on communities of color and the nation’s demographic future.
“I do not see the administration backing away from pursuing mass deportation,” Ong said. “What I do see is them changing their strategies and tactics to minimize the push back.”
Listen to the full podcast on
Spotify
or
Apple Podcast
.
(Photo Illustration by Diana Ramirez / De Los; Photos by Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times, Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times, Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times.)
A
UCLA Luskin poll
finding that the Los Angeles mayor’s race is currently a toss-up received wide coverage from local, national, and international media outlets.
The poll of likely LA primary voters, part of the annual Quality of Life Index produced by UCLA Luskin’s Los Angeles Initiative, found that 40% are undecided.
The
Los Angeles Times initiative De Los
viewed the survey results through the lens of the Latino electorate, where the undecided vote is 44% just two months from the June 2 primary vote.
Other outlets highlighting the survey include the
Los Angeles Daily News
,
USA Today
,
Newsweek
,
Politico
, Britain’s
Daily Mail
,
Fox11 News
and
Spectrum News1
.
Since November 2025, MPP student Andrea Escobar has traveled across California attending gubernatorial forums in her role as a Senior Fellow at Unseen, engaging directly with candidates on issues including health access, environmental justice, and housing affordability. Drawing from these experiences, Escobar co-authored a
CalMatters op-ed
that reflects her perspective as a Gen Z Latina seeking clarity on who is prepared to lead the state.
Andrea Escobar
In the piece, Escobar offers a grounded and urgent critique of the current gubernatorial race, arguing that candidates are failing to meet the moment for Generation Z. She emphasizes the widening gap between the promise of the “California Dream” and the reality facing students today. She highlights the financial strain of higher education and cost of living, noting, “As a full-time student, I have to balance two jobs to afford tuition and rent in Los Angeles.”
Escobar’s critique centers on candidates’ lack of bold, actionable plans particularly around economic mobility, affordable housing, and education funding. She points out that young voters and Latino communities are often discussed in abstract terms rather than addressed through concrete policy proposals. This disconnect, she argues, risks alienating a generation already disengaged from the political process. As she puts it, “Without a clear plan to address the issues we care about, like college access and affordability, these candidates remain disconnected from mobilizing young voters like us.”
Read the full op-ed in CalMatters.
Zev Yaroslavsky
appeared on
ABC7 Los Angeles
to discuss findings from the Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index (QLI), which will be released April 15 at the
2026
Luskin Summit
. The annual survey, conducted since 2016, asks residents to rate their quality of life across nine different categories, including cost of living, education, the economy, healthcare, and sentiments around their neighborhood.
Yaroslavsky noted that the survey’s design allows researchers to track changes in public sentiment over time. Cost of living has consistently ranked as the lowest-rated category and has declined significantly since the pandemic. Concerns about traffic, transportation, and the education system have also received relatively low ratings.
This year’s results will provide insight into additional issues, including wildfire recovery, immigration enforcement, and housing preferences. Yaroslavsky emphasized that the QLI serves as a critical tool for policymakers and researchers working to better understand and address the evolving priorities of Los Angeles County residents.
View the full segment on ABC7 News.
In March 2006, more than one million people marched through Downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest demonstrations for immigrant rights in U.S. history. The protest became a defining moment for Latino political mobilization in California.
Chris Zepeda-Millán
, associate professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, recalled the event to
KQED.
“People were out there demonstrating their pride and their dignity,” he said. “They were refusing to be silenced while they were being demonized by Washington.”
Nearly two decades later, that legacy continues to shape present-day activism. Over the weekend, tens of thousands gathered across California in “No Kings” rallies to protest policies under
Donald Trump
, including mass deportations.
Temperatures are reaching record-breaking highs on the West Coast, and experts from UCLA shared their concerns with
Sierra Sun Times
about the changing climate and phenomena like El Niño and heat waves that predict sweltering conditions in the following summer months.
V. Kelly Turner
, associate professor of urban planning and geography at UCLA, noted that the early-season heat caught many communities unprepared. She emphasized that such events challenge traditional assumptions about when and how heat should be managed, underscoring the need for more adaptive, year-round planning strategies.
Turner concluded by emphasizing the importance of CalHeat Score, a tool that reveals the risk of the heat on health by using public health data, and called it “an important step in the right direction.”
As temperatures continue to rise, researchers stress that proactive planning and increased awareness will be critical to protecting vulnerable populations and building climate resilience.
Appearing on
“
Inside the Issues
“
with Amrit Singh on Spectrum News 1,
Zev Yaroslavsky
reflected on the legacy of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as the city prepares to host the
2028 Summer Olympics
. Scheduled for July 2028, the Games will mark the third time Los Angeles has hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Yaroslavsky, who served on the Los Angeles City Council during the 1984 Games, emphasized the importance of fiscal safeguards that guided the city’s approach at the time. “We did not want taxpayers on the hook for the 1984 Olympics, so we proposed a charter amendment to prevent the city from using general fund dollars to operate the Games,” he said. “Ultimately, voters approved that amendment in 1978.”
Looking ahead to 2028, he expressed cautious optimism about the Games’ financial outlook. “There is no reason why the LA28 Olympics shouldn’t break even or make a profit,” he said, noting that in 1984, organizers were forced to “maximize revenue and minimize expenses” because the city was not financially backing the event.
However, Yaroslavsky also raised concerns about the stalled negotiations between the city and LA28 organizers, particularly the absence of similar taxpayer protections. Host Amrit Singh underscored the potential risks, noting that if costs exceed projections, “the city and the state are on the hook.”
Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, called for greater transparency and stronger agreements as preparations continue, urging stakeholders to reach a clear and accountable path forward.
A recent op-ed for
Town & Country
by journalist Annie Goldsmith reexamines Los Angeles’s reputation for notoriously bad traffic. Opening with the iconic freeway scene from “La La Land” she frames traffic not merely as a nuisance but as a defining characteristic of the city. She argues that unlike older cities with dense, rigid street grids, Los Angeles offers multiple routes and relatively predictable congestion, allowing drivers to plan their travel more effectively.
Goldsmith reframes traffic as a byproduct of economic vitality and personal mobility rather than dysfunction.
Luskin urban planning professor
Michael Manville
reinforces this perspective, stating: “Congestion is oftentimes a sign of economic prosperity.”
Ultimately, the piece portrays Los Angeles traffic as culturally embedded and even somewhat romantic—encouraging readers to reconsider it as an inevitable and even perhaps meaningful aspect of urban life.
An
NPR
report examines the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to major U.S. airports during a partial government shutdown that left the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) understaffed. With hundreds of TSA workers resigning or calling out after working without pay, federal officials reassigned ICE agents to help maintain airport operations.
While ICE agents are assisting with tasks such as crowd control, monitoring entrances, and verifying identification, they are not trained to conduct core TSA screening procedures. Their presence has raised broader questions about the agency’s role in domestic travel spaces.
Experts note that ICE’s core mission remains immigration enforcement.
Paul Ong
, research professor and director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, explained, “ICE is an agency that’s created for enforcement, within the U.S., and so that will still be with them. While they’re there, they will carry out what they believe is their charge of identifying potential immigrants who are not in this country legally.”
California remains one of the nation’s most expensive states to live in, with communities like San José, San Francisco, and Orange County demanding six-figure incomes for comfortable living.
A recent
SmartAsset
study shows that a single adult in San José needs nearly $160,000 annually, while a family of four requires over $400,000, far outpacing local median incomes. Los Angeles ranks 16th, where single adults need $120,307 and families over $280,000. Housing costs are the primary driver of this gap, compounded by rising grocery and gas prices and stagnant wages.
The study underscores the broader housing affordability crisis in California, highlighting how daily necessities continue to climb while wages lag behind.
“It’s a problem that we created very slowly over a long period of time,” said
Paavo Monkkonen
, UCLA professor of urban planning and public policy, in a
Los Angeles Times
article.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board recently voted on whether or not to approve the K Line northern extension project that will connect San Vicente to Fairfax. The project is expected to boost ridership by nearly 100,000 daily users while linking key job centers and destinations, further strengthening the region’s growing light rail network.
Experts say the expansion could reshape how Angelenos navigate the city.
Jacob Wasserman
of the
UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies
shared with
Los Angeles Times
that the project could help create a more interconnected rail grid, allowing riders to travel across Los Angeles with fewer transfers.
“It’s really going to change people’s geography of L.A.” Wasserman said of the K line extension. “It’s creating this nice grid network of rail, so that you can get anywhere in the city with ideally just one transfer at most by rail. … It’ll change people’s mental model of the city where they live or work.”
The project has faced opposition from some residents concerned about tunneling beneath residential neighborhoods. Transit officials have emphasized that the tunnels will be constructed deep underground and are not expected to impact surface properties.
Part of the project’s first phase is not set to begin for nearly 15 years, in 2041.
Over the past several years, Latino voters — men under 40, in particular — have shifted right, but evidence from elections during President Donald Trump’s second term suggest an abrupt correction is underway.
The recent shift to the left could have a significant effect on the politics of 2026, potentially putting control of Congress in the hands of Latino voters.
In a
commentary in The Conversation
, UCLA Luskin professor of public policy
Gary M. Segura
and faculty director
Matt A. Barreto
of the
UCLA Voting Rights Project
explore these dynamics, tapping into their expertise as political scientists and pollsters who study Hispanic voting trends.
Many Latinos are quite upset with Trump’s actions on the economy and immigration, polls show. Segura and Barreto also note that some Latinos question whether Democrats who have received their support in the past have delivered on policies that would improve the lives of their families.
“Latino voters need to believe that politicians truly care about their concerns and will work to implement a plan to create equal opportunities for the nation’s largest minority group to achieve the American dream,” Segura and Barreto write. “We believe the candidates able to make that pitch convincingly will be the most successful.”
https://www.istockphoto.com/es/foto/paciente-de-la-tercera-edad-mirando-a-trav%C3%A9s-de-la-ventana-en-el-hospital-gm1242482746-362788962
VIEW OLDER POSTS
Contact
UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
3250 Public Affairs Building - Box 951656
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656
Campus Resources
Maps, Directions, Parking
Directory
Contact
Academic Calendar
Careers
Diversity
University of California
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