Haute 100 Los Angeles Update: Antonio Villaraigosa

Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets—Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These people continue to make moves, so rather than waiting for the next Haute 100 issue to come out, we thought we’d provide you with regular updates on those Haute 100 members who are making headlines. Check back daily for more info on the most powerful people in your city. Today, Antonio Villaraigosa promotes environmentally friendly transportation.

Antonio Villaraigosa

Category: Thinkers

Industry: Politics

Company: The City of Los Angeles

What Made Him Haute: The first Hispanic L.A. mayor in the city’s 133-year history has revitalized the city with infrastructure projects, the wooing of tech companies, actively supporting small business, ensuring growth of the area’s unique creative capital, and an emphasis on education.

What Makes Him Haute Now: Villaraigosa’s newest project is to build 1,663 miles of bikeways in the city of Los Angeles in order to make it more bike-friendly. He says that his aim is to provide Angelenos with a better quality of life, which can also be seen in plans like The Civic Park project, a green space in the downtown area. Other recent advancements in the City of Angels under Villaraigosa’s mayoral term include the Summer Night Lights program, an effort to prevent gang violence, and Hire LA’s Youth program, which will work with local businesses to provide summer jobs to thousands of teens.