From the air, the concrete channel of the Los Angeles River is almost indistinguishable from the highways crisscrossing the greater Los Angeles area. The thin ribbon of water that flows down the channel can be hard to discern from afar; expected vegetation is conspicuous by its absence.
This is the price the city has paid for security from torrential flash floods which have proven devastating to the region in the past. And the social cost of the concrete-lined river has been high as well. Instead of being a focus for communities along its 51-mile-long course, the river separates them, exacerbating profound cultural and economic divisions.