Ferraro's unprecedented reign began in 1966. He was serving his ninth council term as president when he quietly succumbed to spleen cancer yesterday at a Santa Monica Hospital. Ferraro led the charge to secure federal funds to restore poverty-stricken Watts and used the knowledge he gained from that experience later to help re-build LA after the city's riots.
Ferraro also played a key role in shaping the city's skyline. While other members of the City Council simply rubber-stamped plans for new housing tracts in the suburbs, Ferraro often forced developers to include commercial space in their projects so new home-buyers wouldn't have to drive several miles to their jobs.
In his later years, Ferraro started concentrating on bringing more commercial development to LA's central business district. Many say the wildly successful Staples Center, the Downtown sports arena that opened 18 months ago, would never have been built if Ferraro hadn't personally wooed its frustrated developers back to the CBD.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
