Warzone LA

 Tyler Grasser

2/2/2021

Response 

Mike Davis “Fortress Los Angeles”

Warzone LA and the militarization of what was once public space

Increasing polarization of social classes aided by the privatization of public spaces have transformed cities into fortresses. In the post-liberal era of Los Angeles California, it is quite evident. The militarization and the weaponizing of architecture is becoming more and more normalized, designed to separate people of different class statuses. Isolating the middle and upper class while over policing the criminalized poor. This is not a new form of social warfare. We have seen many examples throughout history, like in the 1890s with the construction of a new Times building that resembles a fortress with battlements, turrets, and even a functional cannon installed on the hood of General Harrison Gray Otis’s car who was the proprietor of Times at that time. General Harrison Gray Otis is seen as Los Angeles's first spatial militarist and we can obviously see why he is designated that title. Public spaces in urban settings, historically, were culturally significant areas where peoples of different social and ethnic classes mixed. Now these public spaces are being privatized and turned into shopping centers and other privately owned venues with distinct purposes. This privatization of public spaces greatly divides differing people from each other while more often than not those who are poor get the short end of the stick. I even see examples of this in my home state of Washington when I visit Seattle. Anti homeless architecture is just part of life in Seattle now as well as police barricades and checkpoints at the entrances and exits of underfunded neighborhoods whose population more often than not are people of color. It has become normalized here and all over the United States. This division is doing more harm than good in my opinion. Rather than criminalizing the poor and making their lives more difficult, finds need to be allocated away from the police and from things like anti homeless architecture, and used to find programs at schools as well as other vital cultural centers which includes public spaces. A great example of the cultural significance of public spaces was the CHOP zone in Capitol Hill park called Cal Anderson Park is a public park in Seattle. It was a place where artists of all types gathered, collaborated, and shared their work. A place were services like counselling, medical care, and addiction help were freely given without judgement. It was a place where police where not welcome, rather community members policed themselves and did a better job at de-escalating and working with mental illness when problems arose. Don’t get me wrong though, there were major issues including drug abuse and violence but that stuff happens anyways with or without policing. The difference is this was a radical new way of handling those issues. It just wasn’t given enough time or resources to see any real effect.