Two of the most destructive blazes in California history continue to smolder on the fringes of Los Angeles. But as the Santa Ana winds subside, and as firefighters work to contain the burn, focus is already shifting to what happens next for the 82,000 evacuated Angelenos who still can’t go home — many because they no longer have homes to return to.
“We’re already organizing a ‘Marshall Plan,'” Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Saturday. “We already have a team looking at reimagining L.A. 2.0.”
It’s an appealing vision: The resilient metropolis, “infamous” for its “culture of reinvention,” literally rising from the ashes to become a new and improved version of itself.
Yet the promise of L.A. 2.0 glosses over the grueling process of recovery and rebuilding that affected residents will now have to endure — a logistical and emotional grind that will dominate their lives not just for the next few weeks and months but for years to come.
So far, …