One of the hallmarks of a well-designed community, I believe, is considering how to place buildings so they engage with the passerby and speak an architectural language of civic harmony.

The vast majority of post-1970s Southern Calfornia housing does not.

I think of those developer cul-de-sacs with three car wide garage door fronts, or those depressing townhouses with narrow driveways that feature catapulting stucco boxes over vinyl garage doors in a dead end alley. Every last one is ugly.

People who live in this kind of unimaginative, zoning department paper plan of construction go home at night and stay unengaged with their neighbors. Nobody has a gathering place, there is no common ground, only rows of dead faced residences.

In better designed, multi-family housing there is a goal of community enhancement. It helps calm the nerves of Angelenos who rightly fear crime, vagrancy, speeding cars, and disrespect for others.

Communities where people can socialize, get out of the house, go outside and sit near flowers and trees; reading a book or drinking coffee near a pleasant park; are healthier places.