Los Angeles Has 995 Days to Rise
Los Angeles is standing at the edge of a once-in-a-generation moment. With fewer than 1,000 days until the world arrives for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the largest Chapter of the Urban Land Institute held a powerful conversation about what legacy really means — not in theory, but in practice.
The theme echoed throughout the evening was simple and electric: the Olympics aren’t just something we host — they’re something we become.
The panel line-up featured:
Daniel Bernstein, LA Metro, who works in the Office of Innovation
Rodrigo Libano Soares, AECOM, architect and design lead for LA28 venues and design overlay
Mott Smith, Amped Kitchens, urban problem-solver and small-business advocate
Michelle Stevenson, HKS Architects, sports facilities expert behind SoFi Stadium and UCLA’s Pauley PavilionRick Cole, Pasadena City Councilmember, longtime urban policy leader and former Deputy Mayor of LA
Daniel Bernstein, who coordinates LA Metro’s Olympic preparation, reminded the room just how transformative this can be:
“This is going to be the largest peacetime gathering in human history.”
But he also made clear the goal isn’t two weeks of spectacle — it’s a deeper shift in how Angelenos experience their own city. If Paris taught us anything, he said, it’s that the Games can spark a long-term civic awakening, especially through initiatives like fan zones and shared public experiences that give everyone a stake in the Games.
And yet, the heart of last night was not big stadiums, not sponsorships, and not pageantry — it was people-powered infrastructure.
The Festival Trail — a proposed chain of walkable and bikeable routes linking venues to neighborhoods — is the clearest expression of this energy. As Rick Cole described,
“The Festival Trail is… a grassroots effort. It is not coming from LA28… it’s coming from people who said we need to roll up our sleeves and make a difference.”
This is a different kind of legacy: one built around the person instead of the car.
Mott Smith captured the spirit behind it:
“The Festival Trail is basically like a transit line for people who walk [and] bike… a chance to start building housing and other uses around the person, rather than the car.”
This project doesn’t wait for the city. It doesn’t depend on mega-budgets or slow approvals. It echoes the “Deborah Sussman moment” of 1984 — when Los Angeles was stitched together visually and spiritually — but updates it for the reality of today’s LA: decentralized, culturally layered, and ready to be seen again.
From Spectator to Citizen
A major thread that ran through the conversation was the call to transform Angelenos from viewers of the Games into architects of the legacy. Too many modern host cities have become passive hosts. LA must be different.
As Rick Cole reflected,
“In Los Angeles, we have gotten used to being spectators… and forgotten about being citizens.”
That is the exact shift the Festival Trail is designed to spark — participation before arrival day. Legacy in motion, not in ribbon-cuttings.
Rodrigo Soares offered a poignant reminder of what “welcoming the world” really means:
“It’s the mentality… How are we welcoming the world? We’re welcoming our brothers and sisters.”
The panel didn’t sugarcoat the complexity of this moment: fears of traffic, public skepticism, lost time, and civic fatigue were all raised. And yet, the conversation turned again toward hope — not as naïve optimism, but as something earned through activation.
As Mott Smith said:
“We have a creative spirit here… I am convinced we are going to find it in these next 1000 days.”
That creative spirit is the real venue of 2028. Last night ended with a challenge that doubles as an invitation — and a promise:
“I will leave my city greater and more beautiful than I found it.”
That is the Olympic oath reimagined for Los Angeles. The Festival Trail is the vehicle. The Games are the catalyst. We are the legacy.
Over the next 995 days, the world won’t just be watching what LA builds — it will be watching what LA becomes.