“Greetings from Post-Liberal Los Angeles”

 Jennifer Spatz

2/2/2021

Response Paper 3

“Greetings from Post-Liberal Los Angeles”

“Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space” by Mike Davis explores the ways in which Los Angeles as a whole as, over time, has become more and more obsessed with immoderate security measures, creating polarization between citizens, the decline in democratic progression, and destruction of public space for the poor and the homeless. With all the security measures in place and designed to restrict the living and well-being spaces for those who need them, Davis argues that the hope for social integration and urban reform has been replaced by these excessive “safety measures”. 

In the crusade to secure the city, urban spaces are being destroyed through private police forces through creating privatization, or ownership of public spaces. There is proof of armoring the city against the poor in Los Angeles and William Whyte in his famous study, “social life of small urban spaces” expands on how we can see this obvious proof as you travel from block to block in the city. Whyte explains that the quality of life in an urban area can be measured through the convenient and comfortable places for pedestrians, which there is a vast amount of in the middle or upper-class areas of Los Angeles. Downtown, however, is deemed “unlivable” by Whyte in the way as the homeless and poor reside there, yet there is less care, consideration, and planning that go into creating safe spaces for them. However, there were measures taken on the benches that were present in these areas so that they would be shaped so one couldn’t possibly sleep on it or occupy it for a long period of time, or sprinklers would go off at random times to soak the person in need potentially seeking shelter. 

When the homeless population is faced with criminal charges and offenses for occupying free and public spaces for survival, their only safety net is taken away. They have no other options. Their lives go from “misery to catastrophe”. While for the upper and middle classes, having excessive security is not a safety measure, but a luxurious quality to boost the social status and control public spaces. There is a war on the homeless and a setup for failure that needs to be changed. Where there is so much effort going into enforcing fake boundaries and destroying safety nets, we could be implementing safety features that could benefit people and change lives.