Mike Antonovich's Funny Definition of "Equity"

In what could be seen as a classic display of projection, Mike Antonovich accuses the city of Los Angeles of being greedy with transit funds generated from sales taxes. This as he demands that the County build his Foothill Extension to bail out car dependent constituents as well as the slumping real estate markets within his district. As I've said before, the Foothill line has nothing to do with equity or improving metropolitan mobility and everything to do with greasing the cogs of the development and growth machines in the 5th district.

Antonovich’s cynical exploitation of the politics of resentment reaches absurd levels of audacity whenever he talks about equity. Betraying not a hint of self-awareness of his own district’s privileged position in the metropolis’ post-War expansion, he rattles of a list government-subsidized freeways that opened up peripheral land for development (which was further bolstered by tax subsidies for mortgage holders). Development of the suburbs and exurbs made killer profits for developers and the real estate industry by siphoning off LA city’s middle-class tax base while shifting a disproportionate share of the costs of the region’s growth (poor population, diminished capital investment, aging infrastructure) back onto the city. Meanwhile, entire city neighborhoods (lacking the pull and the juice of South Pasadena) have been gouged out to make room for the freeways and parking lots that further enable the suburban and exurban growth that has drained LA city’s coffers. Yet despite the mountain of evidence that districts like his have been the primary beneficiaries of post-War urban policy, Antonvich continues to stamp his feet with the entitlement of a spoiled 7 year-old demanding a train set underneath his tree by Christmas day.

If you have any doubt that the Foothill Sprawl line is nothing more than a money grab and a real estate scheme, consider that all but one of the Foothill cities the initial expansion to Azusa passes through fall within Antonovich’s 5th district. Meanwhile, not only would the line fail to serve denser, more populous, and less affluent minority-majority San Gabriel Valley cities to the south (Alhambra, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Monterey Park, Temple City, El Monte), it would actively drain those cities of current and future transit investment while diverting much needed development capital towards vacant land ill-served by the sprawl-inducing line. (Boy, if there were ever a cause tailor made for the BRU, this is one).

Antonovich's suburban politics are a relic of the 20th century. It is a politics that not only encourages the individual's secession from the larger community but also fosters a politics of resentment and entitlement that prevents us from confronting the consequences of the choices we've made, collectively and individually. We can no longer opt out of the social contract in pursuit of some suburban Manifest Destiny. We need to invest in our cities and all our citizens.

Following data via Wikipedia.

Income of Foothill Cities:



Income of Southwest SGV Cities:



Ethnic Breakdown of Foothill Cities:



Ethnic Breakdown of Southwest SGV Cities:







Future K-8 School, Rosedale Azusa



Future Community Pool, Rosedale Azusa



"Park Coming", Rosedale Azusa

Future Transit-Oriented Development?, Rosedale Azusa