If you overlook the polluted Seine, Paris looks so pretty on TV, so quintessentially Parisian, that it raises the question: How will Los Angeles compare when it hosts the 2028 Olympics? We can rhapsodize about our fabulous mountains and beaches, gorgeous parks and gardens, and many breathtaking residential drives. But that's not what people see when they first arrive to Los Angeles or what we encounter most days as we go about our business. Instead, it's long bleak corridors of concrete and traffic, off-ramps and intersections choked with weeds and trash, blocks of faceless (or defaced) buildings and front yards with boring (or dying) swaths of lawns.
Things are especially grim at the entry point for most visitors — that interminable construction zone known as Los Angeles International Airport, where the main message after leaving the terminal appears to be "Welcome to Hell." We can do better, we must do better, not only for our visitors but ourselves. And the 2028 Olympics are a golden opportunity to make some substantial changes that will not only beautify our city, but celebrate our unique natural history while supporting our threatened pollinators and wildlife.
Here's the plan: Let's create a campaign to line our yards, our streets and even our airport thoroughfares with the beautiful and fragrant plants that grow natively in this region. And let's get started in the coming year, so by 2028, when the city is hosting athletes and guests from around the world, the plantin.