The Brief

Los Angeles’s trees are in increasingly dire health, according to one measure, weakened by climate, poor planning and a city stretched too thin to adequately care for them.

The number of “tree emergencies” reported to the city’s MyLA311 service has been climbing steadily, reaching 1,844 in December, the highest level recorded since the city began releasing data last April. A tree emergency, by the city’s own classification, typically means a tree has fallen or is at imminent risk of doing so. A Crosstown analysis shows that the increase is not isolated to just some parts of the city, but is more or less consistent across all neighborhoods.

The sudden rise — propelled by recent rains — is an illustration of what arborists have been warning about for some time: Los Angeles is failing to properly care for its urban tree canopy, pushing once healthy trees to the point of failure. They expect conditions to get worse, exacerbated by a lack of regular maintenance and increasing stresses brought on by hotter temperatures and intense storms.

The various city agencies in charge of maintaining trees are so underfunded that they “are not able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” says Aaron Thomas, the urban forestry director at North East Trees, an environmental advocacy organization. The lack of adequate care only accelerates that decline. “It’s a vicious cycle, young trees that need structural pruning that will prevent issues in the future don’t get care. Trees that are just not healthy because they are not being cared for become hazardous.”

Workers respond to a tree emergency on Venice Blvd.

(

Gabriel Kahn

/

Crosstown

)

Once every 17 years

There are approximately 660,000 trees that make up the city of Los Angeles’s urban tree canopy, one of the largest in the nation. Keeping them healthy requires attention at every stage. A young tree that does not receive early pruning grows unevenly and eventually becomes a hazard. Without that investment, the city ends up spending more money later on bigger, more dangerous trees.

A representative for the city’s Bureau of Street Services, which houses the Urban Forestry Division, said that despite the city’s recent budget woes, staffing has remained more or less consistent, with about 220 workers. That allows the division to operate on a 17-year maintenance cycle.

That 17-year interval is far longer than what arborists recommend, according to Esther Margulies, a landscape architect and urban planning professor at the University of Southern California. “The more you defer maintenance, the more expensive and difficult it becomes,” she said, “because you’re dealing with bigger trees and more structural problems.”

Recent patterns of intense rainfall followed by high winds have made conditions worse, and have likely pushed up the number of tree emergency calls. Saturated soil loses its grip, and trees that might have held come down.

Margulies described the situation as an infrastructure problem. Trees provide shade, stormwater absorption, and cooling in a city that faces more extreme heat every year. “None of that happens for free,” she said, “just like other infrastructure in our city.”

New trees needed for a new climate

Bryan Vejar is the associate director of community forestry at TreePeople, an organization that helps maintain the local tree canopy, among other things. The city’s Urban Forestry Division is “so undercapacity, their priorities are responding to tree mortality and hazards, not planting.”

Part of what is occurring now is the consequence of bad decisions made years earlier. Trees planted across the city were chosen for their looks rather than their ability to survive in Los Angeles’s evolving climate. Only 10-15% of them are native to Southern California, says Vejar. Species selected for fall color or flowering, popular in wetter climates, were never suited for prolonged drought or rising heat. Many are now approaching the end of their lifespans. Vejar noted that Los Angeles street trees survive on average between eight and 25 years, even though many of the species planted are capable of living hundreds of years under the right conditions.

Simply planting more trees won’t fix the problem. “Once you plant it, as a minimum, you have to care, water for three years,” says Vejar. “We can’t plant ourselves out of tree mortality.”

Trees need to be capable of surviving in compacted soil that is often poor quality. “These different pressures winnow down the inherent tree palette. Climate change makes it harder,” says Vejar. He added that in some cases, even native tree species are no longer adequate. “Sometimes, we have to plant for a climate that is hotter, drier. We can’t plant native trees, but ones that can survive in that new climate.”

How we did it: We analyzed 10 months of MyLA311 data for tree-related services requests and also broke down the data by neighborhood.

Warm temperatures are on tap again today as we head into a toasty weekend with temps set to reach the triple digits in desert communities.

L.A. County beaches will see daytime highs from 67 to 72 degrees. It'll be between 69 and 76 degrees along the Orange County coast. More inland areas like downtown L.A., Hollywood and Anaheim will see temperatures from 75 to 81 degrees.

Meanwhile, the valleys will see varying temperatures. Areas closer to the coast will see highs from 78 to 83 degrees, and further inland, temps will stay in the upper 80s, up to 89 degrees.

Meanwhile in Coachella Valley, temperatures will rise to 101 to 106 degrees.

Looking ahead to the weekend, the valleys will reach the 90s for Mother's Day, up to 100 degrees in the Antelope Valley too. Come Sunday, an Extreme Heat Warning kicks in for the Coachella Valley, where temperatures will stay in the low 100s, with up to 109 degrees possible. Make sure to stay hydrated!

Jessica Wang has experienced delay after delay for nearly two years as she tried to open Gu Grocery in Chinatown. Her father, a contractor, had told her it would take nine months.

Instead, she says, there have been issues with city permits, inspectors, inaccurate information, illness and wayward appliance installers which have pushed things back.

The community didn't take nearly as long. In two weeks, 134 donors contributed nearly $12,000 to keep Wang afloat. But money can't solve her problem — she still needs the city's approval to open the doors.

Wang signed the lease at the end of 2023, envisioning a Chinese-Taiwanese grocery store and community hub where seniors could use EBT to buy fresh tofu, where kids from nearby elementary schools could stop by after class, and where her mother, Peggy, could teach neighbors how to make their grandmother's pickles.

Now, more than two years into a five-year lease, and nearly out of money after paying for permits, buildout, and rent on a space she can't operate, Wang launched a GoFundMe campaign a few weeks ago. The response showed the community believes in Gu Grocery and wants to see it succeed. But she's still waiting for at least seven final inspections by the city before she can open.

The story of Gu

The name "Gu" carries layered meaning: the character 菇 means "mushroom" in Chinese, a traditional symbol of prosperity, while the sound "gu" also means "auntie" in Mandarin — honoring intergenerational caretakers. Wang's mission for the space is to provide a place to purchase Chinese-Taiwanese pantry staples and prepared foods, and to host community workshops.

The communal aspect is central to Wang's vision of social entrepreneurship, not solely focused on profit. In addition to workshops, Gu Grocery plans to accept EBT and offer senior discounts for those on fixed incomes.

"I wanted a space where I could share knowledge and share culture and also just learn from the community," Wang said.

Ultimately, she hopes to convert the store into a worker-owned co-op.

Wang grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and worked as a pastry chef at San Francisco's State Bird Provisions before a pre-diabetic diagnosis at age 29 prompted her return to L.A. She began volunteering with API Forward Movement, a local nonprofit focused on health equity and food access in AAPI communities, and saw firsthand the need during COVID food distributions at L.A. State Historic Park.

Chinatown had lost its last two full-service grocery stores in 2019. Last fall, the neighborhood lost another: Yue Wa Market, a small produce shop that had served residents for 18 years before rising rent and pandemic losses forced it to shut its doors. The closures hit especially hard in a neighborhood where, according to American Community Survey data, half of the residents are low-income and one in five are seniors 65 and older — many of whom rely on walking to shop.

Jessica Wang (center, in black) and her mother Peggy (left, in white and red) smile while serving customers at a farmer's market pop-up for Gu Grocery.

(

Daniel Nguyen

/

Courtesy Gu Grocery

)

Permitting woes

Much of bringing Gu Grocery to reality has been made possible by support from Wang's friends and family. Her father, Willie Wang, serves as her general contractor. When plans were submitted to the city in March 2024, he told her the buildout would take nine months if everything went smoothly.

Instead, she’s experienced delays from all directions, from slow bureaucracy, to issues with contractors. A hood installation contractor rescheduled multiple times, she said, then doubled his price the day before a rescheduled appointment. Drywall contractors said their workers had been detained by ICE and never returned.

The process hasn't just taken time — it's been expensive. One inspector approved a makeup air unit for the kitchen hood system, she said, only to have a senior inspector overturn the decision and order a complete replacement at nearly $6,000. Her father paid out of pocket — even as he was recovering from March surgery to remove a cancerous lung growth.

"Who would have thought that something an inspector asked us to do would be completely overturned by another inspector?" Wang said. "That's just so wild."

LAist has reached out to the city's Department of Building Services for comment but has not heard back.

The financial toll

Wang estimates she's spent more than $200,000 so far — more than $100,000 on buildout and permits alone, plus a full year of rent on a space she can't operate, equipment, insurance and taxes.

She draws no income from Gu Grocery. To cover personal expenses, she teaches fermentation workshops through her other business, Picklepickle, though that work has been inconsistent lately. Her health insurance doubled this year. The GoFundMe money, she said, is a "rainy day fund" in case she needs it to pay future bills.

The financial strain has touched her entire family. Her mother, who received a small inheritance when Wang's grandparents died, got scammed late last year trying to grow that money to help with the store. Targeted through online ads, she was convinced by an "investment tutor" based in Taiwan to hand over cash to a stranger in a parking lot.

"I didn't realize this would become part of what it's like to have aging parents in the age of technology," Wang said. "But it's scary how they get targeted."

Black sesame noodles from Gu Grocery's popup menu. Wang uses black sesame for higher nutritional value and plans to offer the dish as one of the prepared foods when the store opens.

(

Aunty J

/

Courtesy Gu Grocery

)

Rice balls with house pickles from a Gu Grocery pop-up. Wang has been teaching fermentation and pickling workshops for 15 years and plans to serve pickles alongside all meals when the store opens.

(

Aunty J.

/

Courtesy Gu Grocery

)

Addressing Chinatown's needs

Once Gu Grocery opens, it won't operate as a full-service market — there won't be a meat counter. Instead, it will function like a corner store with a focus on healthy prepared foods: butter mochi, sesame noodles and daily congee.

"Something that Chinatown has never had was prepared food that is EBT eligible," Wang said.

In 2020, Wang surveyed seniors through API Forward Movement's Tai Chi fitness program to understand their shopping habits following the closure of local grocery stores. Many told her they now ride the bus to Super King on San Fernando Road in Glendale, nearly 5 miles away, for produce deals, or rely on family members to drive them to 99 Ranch in Alhambra. Some grow their own food in gardening plots, Wang said, "but they can't produce everything they need."

Willie Wang (left), Jessica Wang (center), and Peggy Wang (right) pose inside Gu Grocery. The signs display the store's values in both English and Chinese — Willie's reads "body health" and Peggy's reads "mushroom auntie," playing on the dual meaning of "gu."

(

Daniel Nguyen

/

Courtesy Gu Grocery

)

The community response

When she launched her Go FundMe in mid-April, she was overwhelmed by the response. "I have a hard time asking for help," said Wang. "So actually receiving help, it's very moving."

The donors range from former pop-up customers and friends to a range of assorted well-wishers — a musician who had her food once at an event, fellow food business owners, farmer's market regulars and even her insurance agent.

"The generosity is beyond my expectations," Wang said. "Some of these people only had my food once. People are showing their support truly in a personal way and really believing in the vision."

The GoFundMe money helps Wang stay "afloat for now," but she's had to rethink her opening strategy. She won't be able to afford full inventory when she opens. Instead, she plans a phased opening: prepared foods only, served through a takeout window, then using revenue to slowly stock shelves with the retail items she originally envisioned.

The community raised more than $14,000 in three weeks. After nearly two years of delays, Wang is still waiting for permits. She hopes to open by Father's Day — her general contractor dad's birthday. But she's learned to expect the unexpected.

Many donors sent her direct messages saying simply: "We got this, Jess, we got you."

Olympics organizers have released a first look at plans for a celebration of arts and culture across Los Angeles during the summer of 2028.

Known as the "Cultural Olympiad," the programming will include a poster series by local artists, film screenings across the city and a calendar of events, including live performances and art installations at different institutions. The city of L.A. will also put on its own events, including culture festivals in each council district, in the lead up to the Games.

Arts programming is a long Olympic tradition — starting in 1912 as artistic competitions and eventually evolving into festivals.

When Los Angeles last hosted the Olympics in 1984, the city hosted a weeks-long spectacle that included more than 400 performances and launched with the unveiling of a sculpture by artist Robert Graham topped with two statues depicting the naked female and male form, each without a head. The statues still stand at the entrance to the Coliseum today.

A closeup of the statues by artist Robert Graham atop the Olympic Gateway Arch at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

(

David Madison

/

Getty Images

)

The 1984 festival is credited with transforming the city's arts scene. After the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion put on opera productions in the summer of 1984, local patrons launched L.A. Opera, which had its first season in 1986.

“That moment — when this city chose to present itself to the world not only through sport but through the full force of its artistic imagination — gave rise to an institution that has, for four decades, reflected the scale, diversity and ambition of Los Angeles itself," Christopher Koelsch, president of L.A. Opera said in a statement provided by LA28.

L.A.'s artistic contributions in 1984 in turn transformed the Olympics. John Williams composed the "Olympic Fanfare" for the Opening Ceremony, which is still associated with the Games today.

The legacy of 1984 means expectations for the 2028 Olympiad are high — but most details on what's in store are still to come. Some in Los Angeles have criticized LA28, saying that planning is lagging.

Another big question is funding. The city of L.A.'s initial plan for cultural programming estimates a budget of $15 million, which would cover local festivals in each council district. But the city also painted a vision for what it could do with $45 million in funding, including a seven-week arts festival across the city.

Documents from the city's Department of Cultural Affairs says full funding will depend on external partnerships, including LA28. LA28 told LAist that the Cultural Olympiad will be funded through private fundraising but didn't provide further details.

The first event associated with the Olympiad will launch in July 2027, when winners of the local artist poster contest are announced.