Los Angeles Newsletter - March 2020

area newsletter MARCH 2020 • LOS ANGELES

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Community News L.A. Named Top Global Real Estate Market Los Angeles has been ranked the top real estate investment market in the world – just as concerns about the global economy have investors retreating to the safety of real estate. Schroders’ Global Cities Index named Los Angeles No. 1 based on economic, environmental and educational criteria. London and Hong Kong came in second and third, respectively.

New York ranked ninth. According to Mansion Global, at least one property agency in London has noticed worried clients expressing interest in long-term real estate investment. Property prices in world-class population hubs – which boast diversified economies are more likely to weather a recession, investors believe.

This is the fourth year in a row Schroders’ Global Cities Index has named Los Angeles as the global leader in real estate investment.

SpaceX to Build Rockets to Mars in Long Beach

spaceship and rocket booster. Before the vote to approve the move, L.A. Councilman Joe Buscaino said, “We are becoming a spaceport.” Previously, a SpaceX representative told an L.A. Board of Harbor Commissioners meeting that the Elon Musk-led company would use the port site to help bring about an interplanetary civilization that includes the red planet, the Los Angeles Times reported. This isn’t the first time the port has been considered a launchpad to Mars. SpaceX also currently builds Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules in Hawthorne. After the Starship and its parts are built here, they would be shipped to a launch site in Texas or Florida.

Fewer Scooters Scattered on Streets The explosion of electric scooters and bikes may be sputtering out. According to a report from the Los Angeles Department of

Life on Mars could soon begin at the Port of Los

Transportation, there

Angeles. SpaceX has won the support of Los Angeles

were only 12,776 devices

City Council to use a site on Terminal Island to

distributed around the

manufacture and develop its Mars-bound Starship

city in December. That’s

Community News down sharply from July 2019 when 26,782 vehicles

the fleet. The move is part of Garcetti’s “Green New

were out on the streets. Even in September 2018,

Deal for Los Angeles,” which aims to make the city’s

when Bird was the only company in the business,

fleet emissions-free in time for the 2028 Olympic and

there were as many as 15,000 deployed. Moreover,

Paralympic Games. This follows the news that the

while more than 1.2 million rentals were accounted

city’s garbage trucks are transitioning to 100 percent

for in August 2019, by December, the number had

zero-emissions by 2035.

dropped to less than half that. Of course, the colder of transportation, but according to a recent survey

Metro Secures $1.3B to Finish Purple Line

of 1,800 L.A. County residents by USC researchers,

The final stretch of a subway line extension set to link

weather could have put a chill on outdoor modes

only six percent had even tried an electric scooter or bicycle.

Westwood to Downtown Los Angeles has received $1.3 billion in federal funding. When it’s completed, the Purple Line will carry riders from the westside to downtown in only 25 minutes. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the funding comes in the form of a grant that Metro will not be required to repay. Metro indicates that the total cost for the last segment of the project is $3.6 billion, with the remaining funds coming from Metro’s transportation sales tax measures greenlit by voters.

Major construction is expected to start later this year.

The three sections of the Purple Line extension are

City Charges Ahead with Electric Buses Los Angeles is rolling ahead with its plans for a fleet of electric buses. The city has placed the largest single order for the zero-emissions vehicles in U.S. history.

In announcing the purchase, Mayor Eric Garcetti said it will bring L.A. closer to a sustainable future with cleaner air and healthier communities. Over the next two years, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation will add 155 zero-emission buses to

anticipated to open in 2023, 2025 and 2027.

Spotlight LESSONS LEARNED TO KEEP YOU AND YOUR FAMILY SAFE AND HEALTHY For all the complexities of the coronavirus, its lessons are simple. Soap. Water. Think about others. Eat healthy. Prepare for the worst. So let’s take a moment, as we move forward in time, to remember the ways we can keep ourselves and others safe from harm - for now, and the next time.

WASH YOUR HANDS A splash of water and a quick shake is not enough. Nor is a dab of soap that barely lathers. Instead, you should soap and scrub for at least 20 seconds - and longer if you’ve been sneezing or coughing. Wash them after you’ve been out in public. Wash them before you eat. And please, wash them after you’ve used the bathroom. As we all know by now, you should be able to sing “Happy Birthday” twice from the time you turn the taps on to the time you towel off.

WATCH HOW YOU COUGH OR SNEEZE Cover your face, your mother probably scolded you after you sneezed. Turns out, the CDC says your mother was right. (As moms usually are.) Use a tissue to shield the cough or sneeze and if a tissue is not within grasp, bury the blast in your sleeve or elbow.

MAINTAIN A HEALTHY DISTANCE The term “social distancing” has been carved into the popular lexicon, but really, it’s just another way to remind you about germs. They’re out there. They don’t mean you well.

And they’re usually on people, especially strangers, and the knobs, rails and handles they touch. Whether it’s this pandemic or the next, you should always remember how illnesses spread.

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Spotlight

KEEP IN SHAPE Staying healthy starts with being healthy. So do all the things you know you should be doing, but probably don’t: exercise, drink lots of water, get at least eight hours of sleep, consume food that supports your immune system (hint: it’s green and comes in the vegetable aisle) and maybe pop a vitamin. Your body will thank you for it during the next flu season or outbreak.

STAY STOCKED Walking into a store to find its shelves stripped bare is troubling enough if you’re just looking for a snack – never mind if you need medicine. So keep enough on-hand to last at least a month - from prescriptions to over-thecounter supplies. And you should have at least two weeks of food and water stocked, too. Because this probably won’t be the last emergency you see.

WHEN SICK, STAY HOME There was a time when if you were under the weather, you went to work anyway. But that only slows your recovery and exposes others to illness.

Take a sick day. That’s why you have them.

SHOW YOUR ELDERS SOME LOVE Time is precious for the elderly. So while caregivers have to do what they can to keep the older population safe from harm, which can include limiting exposure to germ-carrying grandchildren and great-grandchildren, it’s just as important emotionally to let them know they are not alone.

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