More L.A. bashing

No offense to Joel Kotkin, but I just don't believe that L.A.'s job growth picture is worse than in Buffalo, NY or Camden, NJ or Newark NJ, or Phoenix or Memphis or many of the 58 cities that are ranked higher in the annual Forbes survey. You don't have to believe me - check out the Brookings Institution's recent report that showed L.A. slightly below the middle of the pack in several job-related indicators. That's not great, of course, but it's not the basket case being described in the Forbes report.

Frankly, these kinds of rankings should never be taken all that seriously - there are just too many factors that relate to one community but not to others. The Brookings study also had Buffalo high on its job growth list, but only because the economy was in such bad shape before the recession that it couldn't fall much further. That's not exactly a plus. One reason cited for the low grades in L.A. and other California cities is the state's regulatory mess - and that's certainly true. But it's been true for decades, and companies have been moving their facilities to other states and nations for almost as long. Somehow, business life has managed to go on.