A new video shared widely on social media shines a light on a stark contrast between the city of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, calling into question the maintenance on one of the streets on the border between the two cities.
David Bernstein, a Realtor in Beverly Hills, recently recorded a TikTok video that shows the Los Angeles portion of Whitworth Drive with several cracks and patches of broken road while the Beverly Hills section appears newly paved.
“On the Beverly Hills side you can tell that they took care of the roads a lot better than the LA side,” Bernstein said. “Reading the comments a lot of people were saying, ‘Why don’t they just come together and finish the whole street?’”
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There are several, notable differences between the two cities on frequently used roadways.
For one, off Whitworth Drive, Beverly Hills and LA have different street signs and street names as well as the different colors of the fire hydrants and even different types of trees towering above.
But for people like Bernstein, the street maintenance issue is the most concerning one.
“There’s a safety issue,” Bernstein said. “Someone with a high heel or a little kid, (if) they trip on the LA side or they land on both sides because there’s literally a dividing line, what happens in that situation?”
Though he has his concerns, he understands why it may not be so simple to just pave the whole street.
“Beverly Hills has a higher tax rate, it’s smaller, a little bit less than 6 square miles, so they have more money to put into the smaller geographical area to take care of the city,” Bernstein said. “LA’s so big. I don’t know how they determine what part of the taxes go where.”
Those who live on the LA side hope the city will use some of the tax dollars to finish paving the street.
“When I’m walking my dog I only walk on the Beverly side because I’ll trip if I want on the Pico side,” Aly Palacci said. “Also when people are skating they only skateboard on that side because if you skate on this side you’ll trip.”
In response to the visible difference between the two jurisdictions, the city of Beverly Hills said in a statement that it's working hard to maintain the roadways to prevent injury or possible car damage.
“We always inform our neighboring jurisdictions (of) our planned repair work and they will make the best decision based on their resources.”
The city of Los Angeles told NBC Los Angeles that it's now working into the issue.
"The Department of Public Works has partnerships with some neighboring jurisdictions regarding street maintenance and will be reaching out to the City of Beverly Hills and other municipalities to explore partnerships on ways to address this issue, an official with the city of Los Angeles said.
Bernstein hopes some type of change can come from his TikTok Video now shared by more than 2,000 people.
“In this situation, maybe this video can bring something positive, and they can come together and make this an awesome place for everyone,” he said.
