Torched: LIVE
A live conversation on LA's megaevent-hosting era.
Last week we had a lovely in-person event hosted by Alissa Walker of Torched. Building off of her extensive reporting and our interview with her from a few months ago, she hosted a conversation that turned a critical eye on the civic investments and policy decisions that LA is making in preparation for its megaevent-hosting era.
You can listen to the full conversation here.
The panel featured Rick Cole, Pasadena City Councilmember & former City of LA Chief Deputy Controller, Rachel Reyes, NOlympics LA & co-host LA Podcast, Chris Torres, founder of Festival Trail & Agency Artifact, and Michelle Barton, of USC Public Exchange & ShadeLA.
Everyone had an incredibly sharp point of view on where we are and how to move forward, and we were very lucky to hear from these five experts. Here a a few quotes to give a sense of the conversation:
“We have to look back to look forward. And I think that that is kind of the theme of the mess we’re in.” - Alissa Walker
“In LA at noon, 79% of the city is unshaded. And we’re bringing people to LA during the summer for all of these events – it’s going to be hot, and right now there is not enough shade.” – Michelle Barton
“We will do fine with the Olympics. The Olympics will be fine, and the World Cup will be fine, and the Super Bowl will be fine, but we will sacrifice two things… We’ll sacrifice everything else today in order to throw every effort into pulling off the Olympics… and the second thing is, we won’t have the opportunity for a legacy. We didn’t just fall asleep. We really, as a region and the institutions in the region… have been criminally negligent about the opportunity that is coming once – and then the circus is going to go away.” - Rick Cole
“I think the best bet we have right now is to create incredible moments that are really kind of test cases, prototypes – not only of the physical place we want to be, but the community we want to be together – and show that to the world, show that to ourselves, and then demand that change.” - Chris Torres
“Talk to your neighbors. We have to get to know our neighbors. You can’t know your neighborhood if you don’t know your neighbors… I think a lot about community art projects. I think art is the best way to create a sense of identity… We have to start in our schools. We have to start with our families… We have to start speaking about [LA] more positively… We’re a beautiful city and we deserve so much more than we have.” - Rachel Reyes
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