All very good points, with great examples from where you live. At the very least when decisions are made on a local level as opposed to state/federal, there is

All very good points, with great examples from where you live. At the very least when decisions are made on a local level as opposed to state/federal, there is more of a chance that 1) people will be able to wrangle control of the situation by voting, and 2) the people who don't like the result can move away. But you're right, it sounds like there is no easy answer for Los Angeles.