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LOS ANGELES CONSERVANCY Pre ser vation Report Card | 2008

INTRODUCTION

Los Angeles County is a treasure trove of architecturally and culturally
significant sites. From the early adobes of colonial days, to Craftsman
and period revival structures of the early twentieth century, to stunning ex-
amples of Art Deco, to groundbreaking mid-century modernism and be-
yond, the county has an extremely rich and diverse architectural heritage.

This heritage is also surprisingly vulnerable, with
cultural resources facing ongoing threats of dem-
olition and insensitive alteration. The most effec-
tive protections against these threats often lie in
the hands of local government. Yet Los Angeles
County, which spans over 4,000 square miles,
has eighty-nine local governments: eighty-eight
incorporated cities plus the county government.
Each of these jurisdictions operates inde-
pendently and has its own protections—or
lack thereof—for preserving its historic resources.

The nonprofit Los Angeles Conservancy works
through advocacy and education to recognize,
preserve, and revitalize historic resources throughout Los Angeles
County. A crucial part of this effort is understanding how preservation
works in each of the county’s different jurisdictions, encouraging better
practices when needed, and applauding those with the strongest pro-
tections in place.

The Conservancy is the nation’s largest local historic preservation organ-
ization, with a membership of 7,000 households. It was founded in 1978
in the wake of the demolition of several beloved L.A. landmarks, and as
part of the community-based effort to save the Los Angeles Central Li-
brary from the same fate. At that time, local governments in Los Angeles
County had few tools available to protect historically significant sites.

For our twenty-fifth anniversary in 2003, the Conservancy decided to as-
Top: Self Help Graphics & Art Building (1927), sess how far local governments had come in protecting and revitalizing
unincorporated East Los Angeles, Los Angeles County their historic resources.This assessment took the form of a “report card,”
(Conservancy staff)
grading cities on the efforts they make and tools they have to foster the
Bottom: El Mirador Apartments (1929), preservation of their built heritage. We then issued the first-ever county-
West Hollywood Landmark (Conservancy staff)
wide Preservation Report Card, offering a snapshot of the different ways
in which our county’s historic resources are protected (or not).

The 2003 report card was very well received, and it opened a lot of eyes
to important needs and opportunities for preservation policies throughout

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