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Celeste Fremon asked ten Los Angeles figures their wishes for 2008 and blogged their answers. Some media types are included:
[Oscar Garza, editor at Tu Ciudad]: I wish that every citizen would think about the notion of community and commit to doing something to improve their own neighborhood or the community at large. Whether it’s joining an organized volunteer effort of any sort, or something as simple as picking up stray trash in your neighborhood, every effort helps.[Marc Cooper, LA Weekly et al]: Oh, God! Less traffic. That’s the only thing that means anything to me anymore in Los Angeles. I can’t go anywhere. I can’t think about anything. I can’t do anything. I’m tired of life spent in traffic. You remember the rainstorm in January of 2005 when that big boulder fell in Topanga and traffic had to be rerouted? I have no proof of this, but it’s my impression is from that point forward traffic in the city has never recovered. I know it was getting incrementally worse before then. But that was the turning point.
Also, LAPD "detective X," who works gangs: "I wish that we had injunctions for every gang in this city and that the LAPD could stop enforcing Special Order 40 so when we run across hard core gangsters who we know is illegal we could get them deported."