Streets are for People

CityWatch, Sept 23, 2011
Vol 9 Issue 76

RETHINKING LA - Talk is cheap and it’s hard to get people’s attention in a world that is filled with noise that comes from all directions via texts and tweets and blogs and billboards and mailers and editorials and advertisements and public meetings ad nauseum.

It’s tough to be heard above the urban din but all that changes each year when artists, activists, architects, planners, educators, business operators, and community organizers put a quarter in the meter and proceed to transform a curbside metered parking space into a temporary park, just for the day, as part of Park[ing] Day LA.

That’s the moment when a great dialogue takes place on open space, green space and public space, a discussion that continues long after the meter has expired and the park has been dismantled.

Park[ing] Day originated several years ago when Rebar, a San Francisco based art and design collective, transformed a metered parking spot into a park-for-a-day in an effort to make a public comment on the lack of quality open space in American cities.

For the last five years, Angelenos have participated and Park[ing] Day LA has truly crossed over from an aspirational journey into an implementation stage of development.

Valerie Watson, Chair of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council’s Complete Streets Committee, began her Park[ing] Day LA celebration at City Hall. She was joined by Councilmembers Huizar and Perry in a press conference announcing the city’s commitment to partnering with community groups in reimagining the streets of Los Angeles.

“DLANC has long supported and actively participated in annual Park(ing) Day events,” said Watson, “showcasing our efforts to promote the creation of world-class, sustainable, safe, and accessible public space, along with balanced, complete streets for Downtown residents, workers, businesses and visitors. It’s exciting to see Los Angeles build from this momentum to create our own innovative solutions to re-imagine our public realm.”

The DLANC Park[ing] Day LA installation included traffic calming, a bikeway demonstration and
a Parklet which is a new urban planning standard for green space that is built in the public right-of-way and is maintained by private property owners.

A local business owner looked out over the DLANC Complete Streets installation and asked “Why can’t it look like this every day of the year?”

Someday soon, it will.

The range of Park[ing] Day LA installations paid tribute to LA’s vast spectrum of creative talent, bringing to life the mantra “Streets are for People” in a wide variety of expressions.

A local High School Science Class took advantage of LA’s great weather and set up educational exhibits about urban gardening on Spring Street, embracing the “Edible Streets” concept that challenges traditional limitations of greening urban space.

Long Beach’s Office of Sustainability fed the minds of the community with a beautiful reading room on the street built from stacked apple crates filled with books from the closed Acres of Books which were offered to the community for free.

The Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse promoted their philosophy of turning used or recycled materials into artwork and eco-friendly creative projects that stimulate the mind, feed the soul, and educate the public. At a glance it appeared to be an outdoor art gallery, and it was, but up close it was much more, a living lesson in repurposing and rethinking.

Long Beach’s Tiffany Tedesco brought the Bike Friendly Business District to life with a cluster of Park[ing] Day LA installations that was complemented by a Bike Tour led by League of American Bicyclists educator Chris Quint and local environmentalist April Eileen Economides. Bike tune-ups, bike portraits, bike parking and bike rides are all part of an approach to economic revitalization that celebrates people powered transportation and embraces public space.

Pacoima Beautiful (PB) got involved in Park[ing] Day LA as a tool for challenging a built-out local environment that discourages physical activity and is hostile to public health. The PB mission is three-part; to reduce local pollution, to revitalize the local community, and to train the next generation of community leaders.

The offices of Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes and Senator Alex Padilla joined Pacoima Beautiful on the streets as they brought their environmental justice program to life, a journey that was covered by Streetsblog LA as part of their coverage of the LA County PLACE grants and RENEW grants.

The DeLAB crew set up shop outside their favorite restaurant, Silver Lake’s LOCAL, and hosted PARK, designed by Silver Lake architects STANDARD and brought to life with elegant simplicity, paying homage to the iconic Hollywood Sign with “topiary” letters that resulted in Sunset Boulevard’s LOCAL PARK.

Echo Park’s Time Bank brought their vision for urban park space to the Circuit City Ruins on Sunset Boulevard, offering up the notion that a community garden, performance space, outdoor yoga and open-air classrooms might be a better allocation of land than the current chain-link fence and blight.

Global Green USA promoted Green Schools, SPOKE celebrated bike friendly businesses, AIA embraced Complete Streets, and DLANC promoted the idea of “flocking to, not speeding through, Downtown LA."

MetroDuo captured the Park[ing] Day LA experience on rail and visited the green space of Pfeiffer Partners architects, the NBBJ expression of “Rubber meeting the Turf” and SWA’s sun shelter made from recyclables.

Park[ing] Day LA was celebrated by many, from Inhabitat to LAist to ABC to KPCC to Echo Park Patch to Curbed LA to Streetsblog LA to UncoverLA to ArchPaper. In fact, the notion that “Streets are for People” seems to be getting significant traction, to the point that policy is shifting and Complete Streets programming is legitimized.

Park[ing] Day LA also had its detractors, some who grumbled “Streets are for Cars!” and others who simply struggled with the idea that urban life as they know it may soon include happy humans sharing public space in a newly greened urban environment.

The most vocal opposition to Park[ing] Day LA came from the City of Santa Monica which levied a $240 permit fee on the use of parking spaces, explaining that it was for safety reasons. “Imagine if a motorist tried to park in the space,” explained the Santa Monica Police Department, “and ran over everybody!”

Apparently the $240 permit changes the laws of physics and properly permitted celebrants are no longer susceptible to damage from motorists who can’t control their vehicles. Ah, Santa Monica, so much potential yet so much drama.

Park[ing] Day LA is celebrated around the world, on 6 continents, in 30 countries, and in 183 cities. Los Angeles is the proud host of temporary parks that challenge the current paradigm of urban space programming, resulting in innovative planning and policy that is slowly turning LA’s thoroughfares into Complete Streets that work for everybody.

(Stephen Box is a grassroots advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at: Stephen@thirdeyecreative.net .)

CityWatchLA - Transformed: Curbside Parking to Urban Parks

CityWatch, Sept 17, 2010
Vol 8 Issue 74

Today is the 4th annual celebration of Park[ing] Day LA and park-ticipants throughout the city will step up to the curb, put a quarter in the meter, and proceed to transform metered curbside parking into urban parks, just for the day.

Park[ing] Day LA is designed to stir a conversation or dialogue on public space, green space, and open space, challenging the status quo and inspiring locals to imagine a city where "Streets are for People!"

The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council will be returning to Santa Monica Boulevard and Madison where they will build a park outside the Bureau of Street Lighting facility and ask the simple question "Why not a park?" The City of Los Angeles owns a significant piece of property in the center of the park-poorest neighborhood council, yet it's wrapped with razor wire and used to store light fixtures.

The Hollywood Community Studio is building a pavement-to-plaza demonstration project at Hollywood Boulevard and Hudson, a location they claim as "Streets for Feet!" Hollywood is experiencing significant transformation and the HCS is challenging local residents to imagine reclaimed and repurposed public space.

Westwood Squared brings a Town Square to Westwood Village at Westwood and Lindbrook, a public space that encourages community activities including art, dancing, speaking, singing, music, relaxing, reading and eating. W2S is sponsored by GFA Architects, UCLA Planning students/alumni, and Westwood locals.

This year's Park[ing] Day LA is notable for the impact of social media on the crowd-sourced event. Traditional tools such as Facebook and Google have been complemented with Twitter and FourSquare so that #PDLA fans can follow the events throughout the day, from the comfort of their phones.

The parks are listed on a Google Map and they are also geo-tagged so that they will continue to exist (virtually) even after they're gone. Visitors can tag them on FourSquare, leaving tips and comments for other visitors.

There are three tours by bike scheduled for Park[ing] Day LA, leaving from the Westside, from Hollywood, and from Highland Park. Participants can find the groups by following the Twitter hashtag #PDLA and by following Park[ing] Day LA on Twitter.

From East Hollywood's Shakespeare in the Park[ing] to SoRo's Western Roundup & BBQ, from Westwood Squared to North East LA's Bocce Ball & Lemonade, from Long Beach's Organic Farmers Market and open Bookstore to Silver Lake's Poem Booth and Echo Park's Dog Park[ing], there is something for everybody, from early in the morning on the westside to late at night in Chinatown.

Park-ticipants and guests will have three opportunities to unwind after a full day of park[ing]. Silver Lake is hosting a Happy Hour reception at Sunset Triangle, the Echo Park Film Center is screening Breaking Away at Echo Lake, and Chinatown's Grandstar is hosting the official afterparty.

Park[ing] Day originated in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco based art and design collective, transformed a metered parking spot into a park-for-a-day in an effort to make a public comment on the lack of quality open space in American cities. Their goal was to reprogram the urban surface by reclaiming streets for people to rest, relax and play and their mission is to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play.

(Stephen Box is a grassroots advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at: Stephen@thirdeyecreative.net. Disclosure: Box is also a candidate for 4th District Councilman.)

CityWatchLA - Streets are for People!

CityWatch, Aug 13, 2010
Vol 8 Issue 64

Great cities are notable for their commitment to built, natural, and social environments. While other cities embrace open space, public space, and green space as zippers that bring people together, Los Angeles continues to position the curbside metered parking space as a battle ground that alienates individuals and divides communities. At the same time, curbside metered parking spaces are one of the best real estate deals in town. Great locations, excellent view, short term rentals.

On Friday, September 17, artists, community members, neighborhood councils and visionaries will step up to the curb, put a quarter in the meter, and proceed to transform a small bit of street into a park, sparking a dialogue on our urban landscape, along with the allocation and management of public space.

This is the 4th annual Park[ing] Day LA, an event that is part of a worldwide celebration spanning 6 continents, 21 countries, 140 cities and 700 parks. Last year Los Angeles hosted four dozen parks, two bike rides, one film screening and a lot of inspired imaginations. Park[ing] Day LA 2010 promises to keep the tradition and raise the standard, offering different expressions of the idea that streets should be an opportunity for connectivity, not division.

Park[ing] Day originated in San Francisco in 2005 when the artists from Rebar transformed a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in an area of San Francisco that the city had designated as lacking public open space. Since then, the concept has been remixed and adapted, resulting in parks that range from the traditional green space/park bench to mobile parks that are moved throughout the city by cyclists. Park[ing] Day events have included urban farms, ecology demonstrations, political seminars, poetry, art installations and even a wedding ceremony.

Through it all, the simple message is "Streets are for People!"

This year, plans are underway for Park[ing] Day LA clusters, some that come with a commitment to creating community and some that come with a commitment to develop specific land into a permanent park. Themes range from Shakespeare Everywhere to Free Speech Zone to Dog Park[ing]. Some folks like to build parks, some like to visit, and some cluster of parks provide people an opportunity for walking and riding tours of the wide variety of themes, messages, and expressions of Park[ing] Day LA. There are already great parks grow[ing] in Downtown, in Silver Lake, Echo Park, East Hollywood and Westwood.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

If you’d like to participate in Park[ing] Day LA but are unsure as to where to start, how to build a park, how to frame your message or how to engage your community, come by East Hollywood on Saturday, September 4 for a Park[ing] Day LA workshop.

At 9 in the morning, the Greensters, LA’s first pedal powered transpo team, will be delivering Park[ing] Day LA materials to Santa Monica Boulevard.

From 10am to 2pm, join the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, local community activists, the Greensters, an Urban Forester and people who simply want to engage the leadership of Los Angeles in a robust discussion on LA’s public space.

Park[ing] Day LA Workshop
Saturday, September 4 from 10am until 2pm
4590 Santa Monica Blvd. LA, CA 90029
Between Madison and Westmoreland, south side of the street.
Two blocks east of the Santa Monica & Vermont Red Line Station.

Contact Info: info@ParkingDayLA.com for more information. Join Park[ing] Day LA on Facebook, on Twitter, on MySpace and on YouTube.

(Stephen Box is a grassroots advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@thirdeyecreative.net. Disclosure: Box is also a candidate for 4th District Councilman.)

Hey Dude! Where am I supposed to store my stuff?

The real conflict on the streets of Los Angeles isn't between people trying to get somewhere, it's between people who think their right to store private property on the streets of LA supersedes the rights of others to safely get to their destination.

Witness the brouhaha on Topanga Canyon Boulevard over the bike lanes that have been engineered and funded, only to get the veto from the local LADOT Traffic Engineer because he would rather use the curb lane for traffic during rush hour and then for parking during the off-hours. This is referred to as "peak-hour parking" and it is one of the most common excuses used by the LADOT when they argue against implementing bike lanes or sharrows. Curbside parking takes precedence over humans on their way to a destination.

Sunset Blvd. is a very popular route for cyclists and the bike lanes are a hotly contested real estate all the way through Hollywood, East Hollywood, Echo Park, Silver Lake and on into DTLA. For all of the traffic encountered on a ride from the westside to the bestside, the real conflict occurs as cyclists dodge the doors that open from parked vehicles, or the valets who put their signs and cones in the bike lanes or the armored car outside the Bank of America or the Bands' vans outside the Echo or the too-wide Catering trucks or the too narrow parking lane or the 18 wheelers outside the Olive Motel or any of the many other surprises that occur because the curb lane is not for travel but for the storage of private property.

No developer can make it through the community engagement process without promising and over-promising parking not just for those who live or work or shop at the development but for those who will be impacted by the project and simply consider parking as the currency of land-use negotiations.

Dr. Donald Shoup of UCLA has risen from academic obscurity to rock star status as a result of his work studying the economic impact of free parking on a community. Always guaranteed to both entertain and inform, Dr. Shoup is also capable of inflaming the sensitivities of those who feel the very fabric of all they hold near and dear threatened as Dr. Shoup extols the evils of free parking. His best selling book "The High Cost of Free Parking" challenges the notion that our streets are designed for the storage of private property. He is also responsible for California's oft neglected and poorly enforced parking buyout law, a scheme that requires employers who provide employees with free parking to consider it a perk, a benefit that has a cash value. Once that value is determined, the employee has the right to elect to take cash instead of the parking space.

We live in a society that tolerates homeless people but criminalizes homeless cars. The County of Los Angeles has seven parking spaces for every registered car, all on the off chance that you might want to shop at the Montclair Plaza on Christmas Eve and, heaven forbid, there better be a convenient parking space there for you! This commitment to stimulating the asphalt industry has resulted in an urban heat island effect that has seen the temperature in areas such as LA's West Valley increase over time as the streets widen, as the parking lots increase in size and as the continuing development of auto-centric infrastructure perpetuates the "Pave paradise, put up a parking lot!" mantra that positions the storage of personal property as one of the basic rights of a civilized country.

As communities evaluate the allocation of public space and discuss the purpose of streets and the impact of parking on their neighborhood, the real opportunity for conflict typically arises when curbside parking is discussed. Events such as Park[ing] Day LA have become popular challenges to the status quo, causing people to reconsider the primacy of curbside parking. Park(ing) Day is an annual event celebrated around the world that involves people of all walks taking curbside parking space and turning them into parks for the day, all in an effort to stimulate discussion on everything from urban planning to the environment to community to public space allocation to the need to make streets more people friendly.

Through it all, small battles get fought, little accommodations are made, and the status quo gets tested. Sometimes it's simply a matter of reclaiming words such as the phrase "closed streets" which the LADOT uses when referring to the restriction of motor vehicles. Community activists now call a street with no motor vehicle traffic an "open street" because it has been freed, the neighborhood is no longer under seige. A "closed street" is one full of motor vehicles and void of humanity.

Sometimes the small shift is in allocation of space. We live in a city where taxis, FedEx and UPS, tour buses, morticians, catering trucks, delivery trucks, school buses, and other special purpose vehicles all get special curbside accommodations, after all, they're key to the smooth operation of our city! But when a local merchant suggests taking a curbside parking space and using it exclusively for the storage of bicycles, we discover the proverbial line that dares to be crossed.

Known as a Bike Corral and consisting of a traditional curbside parking space filled with bike parking racks and surrounded by bollards to protect the bikes, Bike Corrals are popular land use solutions in many large cities such as San Francisco and New York City. Here in Los Angeles, the proposal to install a single Bike Corral in Northeast LA resulted in a hearing at the City Council's Transportation Committee where the critical implications of this assault on all that LA holds near and dear (curbside parking for motor vehicles!) were dissected and reviewed by our City Council leadership and LADOT elite.

The battle isn't over, the "camel's nose" proposal to convert a curbside parking space into bike parking must still go through the City Council and then it must be studied, reviewed, analyzed, and reported on, perhaps resulting in a permit for permanent residency on York Avenue. That's right, a permit!

CityWatchLA - East Hollywood Sees the Light…Yard

CityWatch, Oct 16, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 85

In park-poor East Hollywood, LA's Bureau of Street Lighting service yard on Santa Monica Boulevard is looking very attractive to community members who think the large 4.2 acre storage space is the perfect location for a park.

Last month the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council hosted two Park[ing] Day LA celebrations and one of them was on Santa Monica Boulevard, across the street from the Cahuenga Library and right in front of the Street Lighting service yard. Their message was simple. People need parks and in a densely populated neighborhood surrounded by three elementary schools, it's strange to see so much LA city property used for storage while kids are playing in the streets.

The idea of converting the Street Lighting service yard into a park is not a new idea. Years ago, Proposition K was passed, positioning three decades of funding "to develop recreational opportunities for our city's young people." When Councilmember Mike Hernandez initially positioned Proposition K, he called on the other Councilmembers for projects and cobbled together a list that included the development of the Street Lighting service yard for soccer fields. Prop K was quite controversial and there were charges from the public that the money wouldn't be spent on the proposed projects and would instead turn into another City Council slush fund. The assurance at the time was "The City Council must ultimately approve every Proposition K expenditure. We are the ones who will be accountable to the public for the proper use of those monies."

Last week, City Council President Eric Garcetti's staff took a couple of dozen community members on a tour of the Street Lighting service yard, offering a backstage view of the very busy service yard. The invitation referenced the "great deal of interest in locating green space/park space/community space at this site" and promised that Garcetti's office would be working with the CRA "to undertake a study in that direction that looks at creative, collaborative possibilities." All of which was in stark contrast to the repeated comments from Heather Repenning, Garcetti's District Director of Community Development, who took several opportunities to state firmly that they would look at opportunities to accommodate some green space but that in no way would they compromise the efficiency and efficacy of the Street Lighting service yard.

All of this is in stark contrast to the Prop K commitment and to the City Council motion of 2006 which stated "The conversion of the site into a park would serve to improve the aesthetic quality of the local community." The motion directed staff to identify a new location for the service yard and specified that once the service yard is relocated, the existing site can be converted to much needed park space.

It appears that the framers of Prop K thought the Street Lighting service yard would be a great place for a park. It appears that the City Council thought the Street Lighting service yard would be a great place for a park. It also appears that the community thinks the Street Lighting service yard would be a great place for a park.

Yet City Council motion 06-07-07 expired on August 25, 2009 and simply died, mortally wounded by City Council inactivity.

There's no doubt that the Street Lighting service yard provides an invaluable service. Approximately 80 Street Lighting trucks call the lot home and every morning, they load up with poles, fixtures and supplies and head to the four corners of the City of Los Angeles, from the Harbor to the Westside the the far reaches of the Valley and to the Eastside, confirming that East Hollywood is indeed the center of Los Angeles. They repair or replace about 75 light poles each month that are damaged or destroyed by motorists in auto collisions. They replace burned out light bulbs and they conduct routine maintenance in order to keep approximately 5000 miles of LA's streets illuminated for our safety and comfort.

There are approximately 400 different street light fixtures used on the 5000 miles of LA street that the Street Lighting maintains and they store approximately 200 of those fixtures at the East Hollywood service yard. Some are rare and historic fixtures that require custom repairs at the welding shop. Some are common such as the cement or aluminum poles. Some are experimental and the light yard is also used to test the new LED lighting, low impact lighting, solar panels and solar wraps, all of which represent some of the changes that are taking place in the Bureau of Street Lighting as new technology drives new solutions to the old public safety commitment of illuminated streets.

The Street Lighting service yard has been in this location for decades. It has grown over the years, taking over space that formerly served as film production facilities, as restaurants, as apartment buildings and as a gas station. There is no more room to grow and the yard now counts among its neighbors a convalescent home, apartment buildings, and a a library. There really is no place to grow.

Meanwhile, every morning the local kids walk past a chain link fence topped with razor wire as 80 large utility trucks leave the service yard to take care of the lighting needs for the entire city.

The Bureau of Street Lighting needs more room and the local community needs a park.

One would think that the opportunity here would be win-win instead of the either-or situation that Repenning works to deflect when she repeats the "community green space as long as it doesn't interfere with the efficiency of Street Lighting" mandate for further development of East Hollywood green space at the Street Lighting service yard.

It was not too long ago that the City of Los Angeles, as it grappled with the budget crisis, surveyed the City-owned property and looked for opportunities to divest itself of unused or under-utilized property. Surely that information could lead to a large facility that could accommodate the Bureau of Street Lighting and supporting their invaluable contribution to the quality of life in Los Angeles while at the same time allowing for the development of the 4,2 acres of service yard into a great park for East Hollywood.

The City Council motion of 2006 directed General Services to identify property that could be used to accommodate the Bureau of Street Lighting service yard and property was identified but the motion died. It simply died.

This area is part of the Specific Plan Area of "Vermont / Western Station Neighborhood Area Plan" and the property is earmarked for redevelopment into "public elementary, secondary or high schools; police stations and related uses; parks and recreation facilities, including bicycle paths and walking trails, nature trails; park land and lawn areas; children's play areas; picnic facilities; athletic fields (not to exceed 200 seats); senior citizen centers, community centers, clubhouses; swimming pools, libraries; tennis courts; rest rooms; gyms; camping facilities; museums; aquaria, observatories, planetaria and zoos."

Perhaps there is an opportunity here for the community to partner with the Bureau of Street Lighting and to look for a way to support and to even enhance the efficiency and efficacy of the people who bring light to our community. Perhaps there is a way to repair and store the special, historical and architectural lighting fixtures and poles without having to service the entire city from one location. That only serves to make all commutes equally inefficient. Perhaps there is a way to explore inventory management innovations so that the Bureau of Street Lighting can more effectively service the communities that have unique lighting needs.

All of which would free up the East Hollywood Bureau of Street Lighting service yard so that the Prop K commitment can be kept, so that Council President Eric Garcetti's City Council motion can be honored and so that the community of East Hollywood can enjoy a park within walking distance of their homes and of their schools.

Seems like a win-win situation to me!

CityWatchLA - Make Parks, Not War!

CityWatch, Sept 4, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 71

Los Angeles' Mayor Villaraigosa is the Captain of a ship adrift, battered and tossed by the budget crisis, unemployment, home foreclosures, homelessness, traffic congestion, air pollution, land use struggles, transit controversy and a host of other issues, all sized proportionately for the largest City in the most populated State in the most powerful Country in the World.

As Villaraigosa stands on the bridge and looks at the rocks, he also watches as members of his senior staff row to shore, demonstrating with their rapid exits their confidence, or lack thereof, in the direction Los Angeles is headed.

Scrambling to muster a team, he has raised more than a few eyebrows with his appointments to fill those empty uniforms and we can only hope that those who answer the call have maps with them and that they stay long enough chart a course that moves Los Angeles in the right direction. Stepping up as Chief of Staff comes the Rev. Jeff Carr, fresh from his successful tour of duty as the "Gang Czar" responsible for "Summer Night Lights," a program designed to confront the problem of gangs and inner city crime, not by declaring war, but by providing evening access to parks and by providing activities to bring people together and to create community.

Novel concept! Got the attention of the White House. For 16 neighborhoods in Los Angeles, the two year old program offered "skaters, taggers, rockers, homies, jocks, ballers and, of course, their families" the opportunity to enjoy each others company, supported by "summer squad" park staff along with gang-intervention workers.

The program is not without controversy and the actual impact of the program is being debated.

The Mayor's office is claiming a 17 percent drop in "violent gang-related crime" and an 86 percent "reduction in gang-related homicides" in "communities surrounding SNL parks."

Critics point out that "the final Gang crime statistics, which may or may not give some idea of the success of Summer Night Lights, won't be tallied until AFTER the program ends on September 5."

As the debate settles out, it's refreshing to note that under Carr's leadership, the City of Los Angeles stands a fair chance of moving forward under the banner of "Make Parks, Not War!"

If the Chief of Staff can take that same mission inside City Hall, we may stand a chance of weathering the storm!

Imagine if you will, the warring departments within the City of Los Angeles coming together in a campaign centered around parks. It makes sense!

Think of parks as Water Reclamation opportunities and you've got the Department of Water & Power working with Rec & Parks.

Think of all of the DWP property that could be utilized for parks, from the huge swaths of land under the transmission lines to the small pocket parks at the switching stations. Landscape and maintain the property with bio-basins for retention and infiltration and we're well on our way to reclaiming water and providing green space, all at the same time.

Think of parks as Public Safety strategies and you've got the Police Department working with General Services.

Imagine all of the city property that typically sits in a default "off-limits" state, vulnerable to crime while the people of Los Angeles scramble to find public space. Involving the community and putting eyes on the street is an effective technique for reducing in crime and for creating an enhanced sense of community.

Think of parks as Air Pollution mitigation and you've got the Ports and Harbor Authorities partnering with the local communities in solutions that resonate, cleaning the air and creating community, providing for healthy bodies and healthier neighborhoods.

Think of parks as Emergency Preparedness strategies and you've got the Fire Department working with Rec & Parks.

Imagine the people in a community engaged and connected so that in the event of an emergency and an evacuation, they're already acquainted and prepared and know the drill.

Think of parks as Sustainable Community tipping points, starting places for a real conversation of sustainability and how it resonates environmentally, economically, educationally and socially.

Imagine people (re)thinking their communities and land use and mobility from the perspective of a sustainable and intentional lifestyle and how it all started with a park!

Think of parks as educational facilities and a whole new relationship with the LAUSD blossoms, integrating rather than isolating, bringing down rather than building fences, creating partnerships that begin with simple access and linger as the community takes responsibility for education and for the educational facilities.

Think of parks so numerous that people actually walk to them, creating street life and contributing to the health of the community. Transportation and Planning now have a whole new application of access and mobility to incorporate into the Community Plans. They might even begin to work together!

Think of parks as a foundation element in street standards and Public Works has a whole new approach to laying down Green Streets, Safe Streets, Shared Streets, Complete Streets and Great Streets. To think, it all started with a park!

Granted, the City of Los Angeles is facing significant crises and building a Zen garden in my neighborhood is not going to balance the budget or put people to work. But with almost four dozen different departments in LA and enough Deputy Mayors to fill a couple of life rafts, I contend that if the Mayor is serious about citywide solutions that “require new creative thinking,” he start by positioning LA as a Great City of Great Parks.

That point of focus gives Chief of Staff Carr the opportunity to direct the full force of the city with a starting point, an end point and a "context specific" approach to working together.

If Chief of Staff Carr can get the Deputy Mayors and the General Managers of Los Angeles to all put their hands out, grab a piece of a park and to simply reposition themselves and their departments in the context of building more parks, I propose that Los Angeles would be well on its way to becoming a Great City, one park at a time.

Along the way, we'll solve a lot of problems, we'll create community and we'll become a proactive city!

As for me, I'm starting tomorrow, at the Park(ing) Day LA Workshop. We'll be building a park, on Santa Monica Blvd., in a curbside park(ing) space.

(Stephen Box is a transportation and cyclist advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@ThirdEyeCreative.net) Photo credit: LA Times. ◘


Park[ing] Day LA Workshop:
On September 5, 2009 @ 10 am, we will be hosting a Park[ing] Day LA Workshop.
The Greensters will be using bikes to transpo supplies to the location (9am load-in, 9:30 ride, 10am arrival) where we will install a simple and basic temporary park as a demonstration project.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
9:00 am to 10:00 am - Greensters transpo
10:00 am to 2:00 pm - Park[ing] Day LA Workshop
4590 Santa Monica Boulevard
South side of the street
Between Madison & Westmoreland
Los Angeles, CA 90029

CityWatchLA - Great Cities Make Room for People

CityWatch, Aug 28, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 69

Great Cities are great for many reasons but they typically share one thing in common, a commitment to creating and maintaining a foundation of vibrant and dynamic public space that brings people together and creates community.

Los Angeles definitely qualifies as a Great Big City but as for the elements of greatness, LA comes up short when it comes to how it allocates and utilizes its public space. It’s not that there is a shortage; it’s just that the access and use is limited.

In Sydney, kids play cricket outside Town Hall. In Melbourne, mothers with prams meet under the Flinder Station Clock. In Budapest, locals congregate at Hösök Terén (Heroes Square).

Munich features Fischer Brunnen for those who need a meeting place. New Yorkers can find both solitude for the individual and concerts for the masses in Central Park. Meanwhile, Chicago raised the bar on public space with its innovative and versatile Millennium Park.

Around the world, Great Cities provide parks so people can walk, so they can picnic, so they can relax, so they can skate, so they can run, so they exercise, socialize, visualize, and romanticize.

Some Great Cities refer to their parks as the city’s lungs because they clean the air. Other cities build them on rooftops and use them to insulate and contribute to the sustainability of the buildings. Parks are even used to collect and clean rainwater and to contribute to the community’s water reclamation efforts.

As for public space in Los Angeles, well, that’s where you’ll most likely find people honing their parallel parking skills. After all, as for the utilization of public space, LA has more parking spaces per capita and less parkland space per capita than any of the Great Cities.

LA is parkland poor but parking space rich.

Los Angeles County has seven parking spaces for every registered car, all of them standing by on the off chance that a motorist somewhere might need to pick up some late night snacks at the local Piggly Wiggly. Heaven forbid he/she can’t find a parking space close to the front door. Angelinos somehow consider a parking space within walking distance to be a basic right, yet they yawn when confronted with the fact that only 34% of the children in Los Angeles live within walking distance of a public park.

The absurdity of this scenario is driven home when one considers that in LA, the nation’s capitol for homelessness, it’s illegal to have a homeless car but homeless people are simply irrelevant.

LA has it upside down!

On Friday, September 18, artists, urban planners, neighborhood councils and activists will address the allocation and utilization of LA’s public space by stepping up to the curb, putting a quarter in the meter and turning that curbside park[ing] space into a temporary park, all in a celebration of Park[ing] Day LA and in an attempt to start the dialogue that our city leadership has avoided for too long.

How does the largest City in the most populated State in the most powerful Nation in the World allow the rights of inanimate objects to take precedent over the rights of humans?

When is Los Angeles going to take a giant step toward becoming a Great City by committing to creating local community parks so that all Angelinos live within walking distance of a park.

East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, the park poorest NC in the City of Los Angeles, has two Park[ing] Day LA celebrations planned. The first park, “Rec Center,” will take place at Heliotrope & Melrose and will become a permanent pocket park after Park[ing] Day LA is over. LA Guerrilla Garden[ing] will repurpose the Park[ing] Day LA plants and leave East Hollywood one park richer.

The second East Hollywood Neighborhood Council Park will take place on Santa Monica Boulevard between Madison and Westmoreland, right in front of the City of LA’s Street Lighting Yard.

The Lighting Yard is a very large facility, nestled in the middle of a densely populated neighborhood and surrounded by a large number of elementary schools, all within walking distance.

It’s across the street from the Cahuenga Library; a beautiful old building that should be complemented with great public space. It’s bordered by an imposing chain link fence and it’s used to house LA’s light poles and fixtures and equipment.

It’s used for storage. It’s a lay-down yard, a staging facility. It could be anywhere but it’s right in the middle of a vital community and it’s an eyesore.

Meanwhile, kids play soccer in busy streets, vendors sell ice cream at the adjacent Metro Station, kids hang out at the 7-Eleven and community leaders look at the Light Yard and ask “Why not a Park?”

The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council will build a park outside the light yard on September 18 and they will demonstrate that Santa Monica Boulevard, right across the street from the Cahuenga Library, is a great place for a park.

If you’d like to participate in Park[ing] Day LA but are unsure as to where to start, how to build a park, how to frame your message or how to engage your community, come by East Hollywood on Saturday, September 5 for a Park[ing] Day LA workshop.

At 9 in the morning, the Greensters, LA’s first pedal powered transpo team, will be delivering Park[ing] Day LA materials to Santa Monica Boulevard.

From 10am to 2pm, join the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, local community activists, the Greensters, an Urban Forester and people who simply want to engage the leadership of Los Angeles in a robust discussion on LA’s public space.

Park[ing] Day LA Workshop
Saturday, September 5 from 10am until 2pm
4590 Santa Monica Blvd. LA, CA 90029
Between Madison and Westmoreland, south side of the street.
Two blocks east of the Santa Monica & Vermont Red Line Station.

Contact Stephen@ThirdEyeCreative.net for more information.

(Stephen Box is a transportation and cyclist activist and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@ThirdEyeCreative.net.)Photo credit: Flickr. ◘

CityWatchLA - Dude—There’s a Park in My Loading Zone!

CityWatch, Aug 14, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 65

LA’s Greensters are going mobile with LOAD[ing] ZONE, a pedal powered bicycle convoy that transports temporary parks through the streets of LA as part of the Sept 18 Park[ing] Day LA celebration that will be turning park[ing] spaces into parks, just for the day.

The Greensters are an all bicycle transportation team that was formed as part of the Rebel Without A Car Productions commitment to sustainable film production. They provided all transpo support for the entire "At What Price" film shoot, including moving all grip & electric, camera & audio, catering supplies & food, production supplies and even a couple of camera operators. They had so much fun, they’re still riding as a team. Load[ing] Zone starts early in the morning on the west side and the Greensters will load up supplies for their curbside temporary parks and begin riding, stopping as opportunity presents itself, and building a temporary park, engaging the public in a dialogue of open space and of how we approach the movement of goods and people.

The parks they build will be traditional in the sense that they offer people a place to meet, hang out, seek entertainment, refreshment and enlightenment.

Ron Durgin and Jeremy Grant will be leading Load[ing] Zone on a route that meanders through South LA, up through the Wilshire District, across East Hollywood, through Silver Lake and up to Highland Park, stopping to pay homage to the home of the Fly[ing] Pigeon and the home of the Bakfiet.

Load[ing] Zone features a cupcake bike (not made out of cupcakes but loaded with cupcakes!) a music trailer and an ice cream bike.

CaterGreen will be pulling a ZeroWaste compost trailer as part of the “leave no trace” commitment and will engage the community in a dialogue on opportunities to improve our relationship with our environment by putting our trash to work.

Load[ing] Zone’s participation in Park[ing] Day LA 2009 is part of a citywide celebration engaging artists, activists, neighborhood councils, urban planners and community groups in an effort to (re)claim public space and to remind the public that “Streets are for People!”

The parks built on Park[ing] Day are temporary parks, typically build in metered parking spaces and lasting only as long as the meter is fed, but Load[ing] Zone will also have a Guerrilla Garden[ing] Trailer. Park visitors will find native and drought resistant seeds, soil and castings so that they can make seed bombs to take away, and toss them on the barren and forlorn empty lots in the area. The next rain will awaken them, causing a small Pocket Park to blossom.

Load[ing] Zone is an open ride and cyclists, park lovers and fans of cupcakes are invited to join the Greensters as they take the parks to the people.

The day of riding and parking and cupcaking and pollinating will conclude in Echo Park with an outdoor Ride-In Movie featuring highlights from the Bicycle Film Festival.

“See you on the Streets!”

(Stephen Box is a transportation and cyclist advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@ThirdEyeCreative.net) ◘

CityWatchLA - Park(ing) Day LA: A Cry for Parks and Public Space

CityWatch, Aug 7, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 63

Park[ing] Day LA is underway and activists, artists, urban planners and neighborhood councils are preparing to step up to the curb, place a quarter in the meter and then transform curbside park[ing] space into temporary parks, all in an effort to stir a dialogue on public space.

The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, holding the title of park-poorest NC in the city, will be [re]claiming public space and building a Recreation Center on Heliotrope, installing a swimming pool, grilling up food on a bbq, entertaining guests with music and volleyball, creating live art and challenging the community to imagine a neighborhood with ... brace yourself...parks within walking distance of the people! Organized by Alfredo "the Park Czar" Hernandez, the East Hollywood NC is planning a demonstration of Parkland Alchemy as the "temporary" park is transformed, the next day, into a permanent park within the NC boundaries.

LA Guerrilla Garden[ing] will be taking all of the drought resistant native plants used on Park[ing] Day and will build a small park for the community as a demonstration of the "leave things better than you found them" commitment of the Park[ing] Day LA grass roots movement.

LA's Greensters will be handling all the heavy-lifting needs for the East Hollywood transformation from temporary park to permanent park, utilizing Xtracycles, trailers and wagons in a pedal-powered display of sustainable transportation and as a demonstration of fact that LA is simply a great place to ride a bike!

Recycled Movie, the production company that turns kids into movie moguls, will have their recycling trailer on site throughout the event and will be documenting Park[ing] Day LA while fulfilling their mandate to make recycling a routine activity that puts kids to work and also funds their filmmaking endeavors.

Park[ing] Day originated in San Francisco in 2005 when (Re)Bar, a small group of artists, opened eyes worldwide by transforming a metered park[ing] spot into a park-for-a-day. That simple act served as a significant commentary on the lack of quality open space in American cities and resulted in Park[ing] Day celebrations around the world. This is the third annual Park[ing] Day LA and participants have engaged their communities with a wide variety of parks and public space perspectives, all of them challenging the status quo.

The EHNC Park[ing] Day LA activities are designed to engage the community, stir a dialogue, provide a venue for a celebration and to simply "change the world!" To that end, money raised during Park[ing] Day LA in East Hollywood will go to the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, creator of parkland throughout LA, and to supporting the Hollywood Cap Park, a 44 acre park that will stretch from Bronson Ave. to Santa Monica Blvd., covering the 101 Freeway and greening LA's park-poorest neighborhoods. This ambitious and visionary project is a clear demonstration that the future of LA's open space requires us all to ...

Step up to the curb, look at all of that public space and ask "Why not?"

For more information on Park[ing] Day LA visit http://ParkingDayLA.com.

(Stephen Box writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@thirdeyecreative.net) ◘

CityWatchLA - Park[ing] Day LA is On the Way

CityWatch, June 26, 2009
Vol 7 Issue 51

Park[ing] Day LA hits the streets of Los Angeles on Friday, September 18th, as community activists, neighborhood leaders and urban planners throughout the city step up to the curb, put a quarter in the meter, and proceed to transform curbside metered parking spots into temporary public parks.

Jane Jacobs, in "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" writes that in order to make a city safe, prosperous and worth living in, one must start with "lively and interesting streets."


To that end, Park[ing] Day LA is an opportunity for community members to engage passers-by, motorists, members of the press, city leadership and yes, even the authorities, in a rational and respectful dialogue of everything from our city's parks and public space to the environment and allocation of land to mobility issues and local beautification projects.

Park[ing] Day LA is an opportunity to create community, engage the public and create a dialogue, all while taking advantage of one of the best real estate deals in town, the public park(ing) space.

Park[ing] Day originated in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco based art and design collective, transformed a metered parking spot into a park-for-a-day in an effort to make a public comment on the lack of quality open space in American cities. Their goal was to reprogram the urban surface by reclaiming streets for people to rest, relax and play and their mission is to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play.

This is the third year that Los Angeles will be participating in Park[ing] Day and the call is out for individuals and organizations who want to work together to stir a discussion of LA's parks, open space and land use allocation.

Last year there were over 70 parks spread throughout Los Angeles, built and hosted by community activists, architectural and design firms, advocacy groups and neighborhood councils.

Cyclists loaded up trailers with sod, trees and park benches and then rode through Central LA until they found an empty park[ing] space. They would throw a quarter in the meter, unload, roll out a park, sit for a spell and engage the passers-by in a conversation and then after the meter had run out, they would load up and head off to another empty park[ing] space.

Architects and designers in Silver Lake created a Zen garden complete with babbling brook and flagstone walk that proved to be irresistible to those who wandered by.

East Hollywood, which is the "park-poorest" neighborhood council in the city, went all out and built the "East Hollywood Rec Center" complete with swimming pool and BBQ pit. Alfredo Hernandez hosted a party that earned him the title of Park Czar.

Mia Lehrer and Associates built a park inspired by the LA River and complete with willows and giant reeds. The beautiful and serene environment was complemented with shade from plastic bags and police line tape as a reminder of the impact of pollution on nature.

One park featured basketball, some created complicated political statements, others simply loaded up on basic park amenities and encouraged folks to sit a spell and relax.

As for the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, well, they simply did it all. Not content with a simple parking space, they simply shut down the street and threw a block party. Organized by Gunner Hand and Ashley Zarella, the block party included bands, food, exhibits and, in keeping with the park theme, served as the driving force for a petition drive for a downtown dog park.

The 3rd annual Park[ing] DayLA is just 3 months away and now is the time for neighborhood councils to partner with community groups and to select a message, pick a location, assemble the team and go to work transforming LA's best real estate deal, the park[ing] space, into a park.

For a recap of last year's Park[ing] Day LA and ideas on how to build your own park visit www.ParkingDayLA.com

Park[ing] Day LA has a twitter page on www.twitter.com/ParkingDay_LA

For an overview of the origins of Park[ing] Day visit www.ParkingDay.org

(Stephen Box is a transportation and cyclist advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at Stephen@ThirdEyeCreative.net)