No American city comes close to matching the number of helipads that are found in downtown Los Angeles. There are more than 75, and that’s just in downtown, not including the rest of the city. This is because of unique local building codes that require new buildings higher than 75 feet to have provisions for emergency landing by helicopter. (80 feet is the general limit of fire truck ladders.) The establishment of this code in 1974 has had a dramatic effect on the look of the city: there are no Postmodern pyramid-topped buldings, no neo-Gothic or Moderne spires, topped by an antenna mast. All major buildings in LA built after 1974 have flat tops, to accommodate the required 50 x 50 foot touchdown pad, surrounded by an obstruction-free Peripheral Area of 25 feet. It’s a local idiosyncrasy that no developer or architect has tried hard enough to challenge. (Elevated Descent)
