Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6 Conclusion
This chapter has examined the spatial patterns of freight and logistics activities and
the planning and policy issues associated with them, using Los Angeles as a case
study, and discussed the rapid increase in the number of freight facilities in Los
Angeles over the last decades. An important aspect of the geography of the
logistics industry in the Los Angeles metropolitan area has been identified:
''logistics sprawl'', which is the spatial deconcentration of logistics facilities and
distribution centers. The chapter has also shown how local governments give
explicit consideration to logistics activities, especially for the jobs and tax reve-
nues they can generate in a time of economic difficulties.
Two cities were examined in detail, one is a traditionally industrial city close to
the downtown area, and the other is a sprawling community of the ''Inland
Empire,'' east of the L.A. metro area. Both cities tell the story of the seemingly
inescapable rise in the importance of the warehousing/logistics industry in the
economic life of working class areas. The city of Vernon has, rather unsuccess-
fully, implemented several strategies to slow down the pace of logistics devel-
opments. Vernon city managers consider that manufacturing activities provide a
higher number of jobs and municipal revenue per square foot of building than
logistics activities. However, these preferred activities have been hit hard by the
changes in the economy. Logistics activities have settled in Vernon, warehouses
represent a common feature of the city's landscape today, as well as a growing
share of the activities performed. The city of Moreno Valley has anticipated,
supported and promoted logistics developments, because the demand for ware-
housing space kept growing even after the economic downturn of 2008. The
warehousing industry is among the two priorities for the city's future economic
development. The city's strategy towards warehouses has changed recently, with
the adoption of new landscaping provisions and an increase in the attention paid to
environmental performance for warehousing facilities.
Warehouses and distribution centers are now very visible and represent an
increasing share of the industrial activity in Los Angeles. This brings with it new
questions for the city's economic and social development. Today's warehouses
occupy large parcels of land with a low jobs density. These jobs are not as ''good''
(in terms of salary and benefits) as more traditional manufacturing jobs. Ware-
houses and logistics sprawl also bring with them truck traffic, pollution and
physical impacts on roadways that are ultimately local and the duty of the State
government to offset. However, freight facilities are of fundamental importance for
logistics, an industry which has become key to the growth and well-being of the
entire region, helping to confirm the status of Los Angeles as a provider of a
substantial share of the Nation's trade with the rest of the world. Local govern-
ments have to cope with, and make the best of, the material impacts of a con-
quering global industry on which they have very little leverage.
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