Readers React: Fencing in Leimert Plaza Park would be a failure of city planning

To the editor: I have been a visitor to Leimert Park for more than two decades, enjoying its culture and community, fostered by a unique blend of artists, activists and business owners who care very deeply about its identity. City Hall’s disregard for that community, made clear by the plan to erect a fence around its central park, is an example of turning city planning into city politics.

A park is a public space that anyone should be able to access from any point; it is a symbol of openness and inclusiveness. A fence symbolizes the opposite; moreover, it demonstrates lack of imagination in a neighborhood that exudes it.

I applaud the progress made in so many areas by our mayor and City Council, but the plan to remake Leimert Plaza Park in part by enclosing it in “decorative” fencing is an example of failed city planning.

Daniel Rothman, Venice

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