L.A. River Plan, Downtown News, KTLA’s Pacesetters, Mapping Green Access

Improving the LA River Revitalization Master Plan

Click map to enlarge.

There is much to be praised in the draft River Plan, but the plan must take a balanced approach with multiuse projects for parks, schools, ball fields, flood control, housing, and jobs, that serves the diverse needs of Los Angeles. For example, out of over 80 parks proposed in the Plan, only two specify active recreation and ball fields. “One of our biggest concerns is that it utterly disregards human health and the need for places for physical activity in parks and schools to improve health,” Robert García, Executive Director of The City Project, told the Downtown News in the following article. The draft Environmental Impact Report does not adequately study and mitigate social, economic, health, and environmental justice impacts. The City Project with the Alianza de los Pueblos del Rio will submit public comments and work with City officials to improve the final River plan and the final Environmental Impact Report.

Watery Disputes: Controversy and Complaints Follow New L.A. River Plan
by Evan George
Downtown News, March 5, 2007

Last month, the City Council rolled out an ambitious plan to revitalize the Los Angeles River from Canoga Park to Downtown. The massive report capped an 18-month campaign of unprecedented community outreach.

Now, less than two weeks before the draft plan enters its final stage, the most vocal and well-organized coalition involved in that process is up in arms, claiming its input has been marginalized.

Though city leaders and others strongly defend the document, some acknowledge that improvements to the final plan are necessary.

Leaders of the Alianza de los Pueblo del Rio, a loose coalition of Latino organizations, last week said the plan focuses too much on beautifying the concrete channel’s riverside property and not enough on the mostly poor, park-starved communities that surround it.

“The plan as it stands now could be called the L.A. River Gentrification Master Plan,” said Robert Garcia, executive director of the nonprofit City Project, which provides legal and research aid to the Alianza. “It’s utterly incomprehensible why they would have ignored all of our input, not cited any of our work, not cited any of our maps and our statistics on children’s health and the lack of parks.”

Leaders of the Alianza scrambled last week to put together a rebuke of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan before public comment on the draft ends March 27.

The group finds itself in a strange position: once heralded by city leaders for generating excitement and feedback about the master plan and now on the offensive for more input.

The report, which Garcia said will be released this week and presented formally to the Council’s Ad Hoc River Committee, assails city officials for paying lip service to issues like public health and gang prevention in urban communities without offering detailed solutions.

“One of our biggest concerns is that it utterly disregards human health and the need for places for physical activity in parks and schools to improve health,” Garcia said.

The plan identifies 239 improvement projects along a 32-mile stretch of the river. They include everything from pocket parks to creating more than 4,600 housing units near Chinatown. Implementing all of them would cost more than $2 billion.
However, only two of the 87 proposed park projects include any sports fields or facilities. more…

Half Hour TV Show on LA River on KTLA 5′s Pacesetters

Host Ray Gonzalez interviews Robert García and D.J. Waldie about the L.A. River on Sunday morning’s Pacesetters program on KTLA Channel 5 at 6 a.m. D.J. Waldie is the author of the book Where We Are Now: Notes from Los Angeles, and one of the most thoughtful commentators on the River and the region. Record the show and sleep in!

Draft L.A. River Plan Public Comments March 27

The City has extended the deadline for public comments on the L.A. River Revitalization Master Plan to March 27, 2007.

Mapping Green Access

The City Project’s new Policy Report Healthy Parks, Schools, and Communities: Mapping Green Access and Equity for the Los Angeles Region will be released within a week. Please check back for updates. The Report is relevant to revitalizing the Los Angeles River, reforming parks and recreation, building schools with playing fields open after school and on weekends, and the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan.

Rio de Los Angeles Sumario Ejecutivo en Espanol/Los Angeles River Executive Summary in Spanish

Aqui esta en Espaňol el Sumario Ejecutivo del Plan Maestro para la Revitalizacion del Rio de Los Angeles, gracias a la Alianza de los Pueblos del Rio y el Ad Hoc River Committee.

Here is the Spanish translation of the Executive Summary for the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, courtesy of the Alianza de los Pueblos del Rio and the Ad Hoc River Committee.