…Los Angeles architects and builders are now incorporating features to keep residents safe from drive-by shootings. Features such as walls, berms, elimination of street-level windows, and bulletproof windows are now being used to provide built-in protection for residents:
“Every development is geared toward the people that have to live there on a day-to-day basis,” Reyes said. “When we look at the pragmatism of our neighborhoods, we have to ask questions: Where is the bullet going to come from? What projectile elevation should we adhere to in our development? Where should we situate the trees?”
This is sensible, but so saddening. The idea that architects have to learn ballistics in order to design parks and buildings is a sign that Los Angeles has lived with the violence so long that it’s decided to accommodate it, rather than eliminate it.
It’s one thing when you have to design anti-terrorist features into a building – that’s defending against an external threat over which we have little control. But being forced to design against gang violence shows us that many aspects of social policy in Los Angeles have failed, and failed badly.
[Makes one want to re-read P. J. O'Rourke's "Just One of Those Days" short story from Republican Party Reptile. But not as a humor piece, more as a training exercise.]
