Fires Leave Los Angeles a Blank Slate for Rebuilding
Weeks after fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures in Greater Los Angeles, thousands of people are living where they can: in hotel rooms, in long-term rentals, with family or friends, some leaving for second homes outside the area. Still reeling from the devastation, they are starting to consider rather terrifying choices: whether and how to rebuild their homes.
According to a recent article by Ali Martin Staff and Francine Kiefer of CSMonitor, Already, a groundswell of experts and coalitions is emerging to inform the rebuild – each with their own ideas about how best to do it, taking into account climate resilience, energy efficiency, and quality of life.
Time is the pressing factor: As days turn into weeks, families’ immediate needs can overshadow community development goals. But rebuilding quickly and with objectives like resilience and efficiency doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive, says Amy Bodek, Los Angeles County’s director of regional planning.
The competing interests, she explains, are between homeowners and their communities. But they do overlap, “And we have to find that sweet spot that allows us to have both conversations at the same time,” she says.
Photo credit: Ethan Swope / AP
