The report was released by the Southern California Association of Governments, a nonprofit group that includes a range of planning and other professionals from both the public and private sector. Commonly known as SCAG, the group tries to find regional solutions to problems facing LA, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties.
In the group's annual year-end "report card," SCAG says the region has failed to make any significant progress over the past three years in several key areas—including transportation, education and construction of affordable housing.
The region's transportation system, which recently ranked last in a study of 68 US metropolitan areas, was given a D on SCAG's report card. The public school system also rated a D, with the report noting that only one of every three students that graduate from high school are prepared to enter either the California State University system or the University of California system.
Government efforts to provide affordable housing received a C-minus. "Southern California is presently in the midst of a housing crisis which, if not addressed quickly, could threaten our future economic prosperity and impede social progress," LA Planning Commissioner Mitchell B. Menzer said in the 130-page report.
Not all of the region's grades were bad: SCAG gave the region's air quality, job growth and public safety grades of B or better. But other experts say the sluggish economy has caused the region's job growth rate to slow dramatically over the past few months and has also contributed to a recent increase in some types of crime.
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© 2024 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.
