Streetsblog Los Angeles

Tuesday, Wednesday – Metro may have completed the final environmental documents for the Regional Connector, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have one last chance to weigh in before the design state begins in earnest.  You can click the link on the right to visit the Connector’s webpage, or click here to get information for a pair of public meetings on Tuesday and  Wednesday.

Wednesday – We usually don’t publicize events that happen down in Long Beach, but this event seems like such a combination of fun and activism that I couldn’t resist.  Women on Bike SoCal launches a program to double the number of women and girls riding bicycles.  The kickoff includes the announcement of a scholarship program for League of American Cyclists instructors that specialize in teaching women cyclists.  Sounds like a good start.  The kickoff starts at 9 A.M. at Bike Station.  Click here for more details.

Wednesday – Vroom!  More speed limit increases on the agenda.  Fun times for the City Council Transportation Committee as it meets at 2:00 P.M. in City Hall.  Get the details and the agenda, here.

Wednesday – The Living Room on Sunset Boulevard in Silverlake is hosting a fundraiser for the California Bicycle Coalition.  Get the details, here.

Thursday – City Planning and the LA County Department of Public Health are sponsoring a series of workshops on TOD in South L.A. around the Green and Blue Lines.  Get the details on this week’s meeting at Augustus Hawkins Park by clicking here.

Friday – Do you love CicLAvia?  I do.  Get the details on their Valentine’s Day fundraiser, here.

Sunday – L.A. Graffiti Artist LA graffiti artist Galo “MAKE ONE” Canote is back for another workshop! Learn about MAKE’S
creative process as he takes you on a journey into LA street culture and teaches you the fundamentals of letter structure and design.  Get all the details, here.

If there’s an event we missed, please email damien at streetsblog dot org.

Tuesday – This month’s meeting of the Transit Coalition features Don Sepulveda, the executive officer for Metro Regional Rail.  Meet at Philllipe’s the original at 6:45 P.M.  For more information, click here.

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday – Metro is hosting a series of meetings to update the Antelope Valley community on their insane plans to bring a 63 mile freeway to that part of the desert.  Words fail me.  Get the details, here.

Wednesday – The City Council Transportation Committee meeting for this week has been canceled.

Thursday – The Metro Board of Directors meets for their monthly meeting.  We’ll have a full preview of the meeting up tomorrow.  Read the agenda, when it’s posted at Metro.net.

Friday – It’s that time of month.  Critical Mass will leave the Wilshire Western Subway stop at 7:30.  Come play with a battalion of LAPD officers in the streets of L.A.  For more information, click here.

A quick note that we don’t always include every bike and planning meeting around the county in our events round up because we could stack the events calendar with these types of meetings every week.  It’s worth noting that this week Beverly Hills, Glendale and South Gate are all having planning meetings this week that will impact bike planning in their respective cities.

• Wednesday – In advance of a presentation to a Metro Board Committee meeting, Metro’s bike staff will sponsor a public demonstration of what bike share looks like.  Get the details here, and see you Downtown.
• Wednesday – In a meeting last week, the American Institute of Architects Will Wright listed the redevelopment plan for Hollywood as one of the most important planning efforts going on in L.A.  Find out why at an AIA special presentation on Wednesday evening.
• Wednesday, Thursday – Every month that the Metro Board of Directors meets, their weekly Board meeting is preceded by two days of committee meetings.  Get the agendas, here.
• Thursday – There’s not enough adjectives to describe how highly I think of Human Transit’s excellent writer Jarrett Walker.  UCLA will be hosting Walker for a Thursday evening discussion of his new book, Human Transit: How clear Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich our Communities and Our Lives.  The event is free and open to the public, with refreshments provided. Get the details, here.
• Friday- The Westside Urban Forum looks at rail, rail, rail and the future of rail for the Westside.  Then when they’re done, they’ll talk about rail some more.  The meeting starts bright and early at 7:00 A.M.  Get the details, here.
• Friday – We accidentally announced this a week early last Thursday, but our friend Nathan Landau will be signing copies of his book, Carfree in Los Angeles and Southern California in Pasadena.  Check it out, here.
• Saturday – Los Angeles Eco-Village hosts a discussion and pot-luck dinner on sustainability lessons learned at a summer conference.  It sounds cool, so go right to the source to get the details.

Did I miss something?  Let me know at damien at streetsblog dot org.

It’s a relatively short week for events here in Los Angeles, but the Metro Board meeting on Thursday promises to be an absolute circus if the FTA’s report on alleged Civil Rights Violations drops between now and then.

Thursday – Live from the Metro Board Room at 9:30 in the morning, it’s the Board of Directors meeting.  As we previously stated, this meeting could be an ABSOLUTE CIRCUS, even by Metro Board standards.  I’ll be interviewing writers for our Boyle Heights position, but we’ll have full coverage sometime Thursday afternoon.  Or, you can listen on via telephone at 213-922-6045.  Read the meeting agenda, here.

Thursday - Down in Long Beach, Mia Birk, the super-planner from Alta Planning and Design, visits Long Beach for a bike ride and group discussion in support of her new book, Joyride.  Long Beach’s advocacy group, Bikeable Communities, is hosting the event and has all the details, including ticket reservations, here.

Saturday – GOOD L.A. needs your help to physically demonstrate how a small change in commuting habits can lead to big changes on L.A.’s streets.  Oh, and they’re hanging out at a bar afterwards.  The fun starts at noon, Downtown.  Get all the details, here.

Did we miss something?  Email other event listings to damien@streetsblog.org.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday – If you have any ideas how to improve the Arroyo Seco Parkway for all road users and the surrounding community, don’t miss this series of public input meetings put on this week by the Southern California Association of Governments.  Get the meeting details, here.

Wednesday – Someone’s doing a Streetfilms showing and it isn’t us!  The West Hollywood Bicycle Task Force will be screening the entire Moving Beyond the Automobile series at 6:30 p.m. at the new West Hollywood Library at 625 N. San Vicente Blvd.  After the presentation, a panel discussion with SCAG’s Alan Thompson, LACBC’s Alexis Lantz and super planner Ryan Snyder will follow.  Get the details, here.

Thursday – Is our first annual End of the Year Party at St. Andrews Lutheran Church in West Los Angeles, 11555 National Boulevard at 6:30 P.M.  There will be more on the fundraiser later today, but in the meantime you can check out our “Top 10 Reasons” to hang out with Streetsblog this Thursday.  The location of the fundraiser has moved to Earl’s Gourmet Grub, 12226 Venice Boulevard.  For more information on the move, click here.

Friday -night is the night for the All-City Toy Ride, the best bike ride that you’ve probably never heard of.  The 6th edition of this ride sees riders from at least a dozen start points around the city descend on Downtown Los Angeles with toys to benefit the  Alliance for Children’s Rights.  For more information, visit Midnight Ridazz.  If you can’t make it on Friday, bring a toy to our fundraiser and we’ll see it gets donated.

There’s a good amount of wonk stuff on the calendar this weekend, but it closes with a Bike Party in Santa Monica.  Of course, I guess every week closes with a Bike Party.  Pay special attention to the events on Wednesday.

• Monday – The LADOT takes their designs for roundabouts on 4th Street to the Koreatown Neighborhood Council.  Given some of the trouble they had in Hancock Park further west on 4th Street, these traffic calming devices are considered critical to the health of the 4th street plan.  If you want to join the fun, click here for the details.
• Monday, Tuesday – Following last week’s news from CPUC, the Exposition Construction Authority invites you to a design update community meeting for Phase 2 of the Expo Line project. Stakeholders will receive information on design progress and will have the opportunity to view progress renderings.  Get the details, here.  The Source has written more on the hearings, here.
• Wednesday – The L.A. County Planning Commission will vote on whether or not to move the L.A. County Draft Bike Plan to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.  The Plan has some serious flaws,  says the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, and we’ll have more on their concerns later today.   In the meantime, you can read the details of the meeting, here.
• Wednesday, Thursday – Every month there’s a lot of energy in advance of the Metro Board of Directors meeting, but a lot of the work is done at the committee level.  This week, the Metro Board Committees and Sub Committees will meet in the Metro Board Room.  You can check out all of the agendas, here.
• Saturday – Look out Long Beach.  Armed with a progressive Bike Plan, Santa Monica wants back in the “most bike friendly city in So Cal” game.  On Saturday morning they’re opening a Bike Center which isn’t quite as impressive at Long Beach’s Bike Station but is still pretty damm cool.  Get the details, here.

Did I miss something?  Drop me a line, damien at streetsblog dot org.

Who says November is a slow month?

Monday – The California Bike Summit is meeting at the California Endowment.  It’s not too late to join the fun.  Click here for details.

Monday – The Crenshaw Subway Coalition is holding a meeting to update the community on “Phase III” of its plan to force Metro to add a Leimert Park Station and grade-separate the line through the business corridor.  Get the meeting details, here.

Monday, Thursday - To continue to keep the communities informed of the project, the City and LADOT are hosting four public meetings for the Westside Mobility Plan project in November, which would create a multimodal transportation blueprint, including parking solutions, for the Westside.  For more information, click here.

Tuesday – Councilman Jose Huizar and the City of Los Angeles hosts a public meeting on the Future of Downtown Los Angeles.  The Source has all the details, here.

Tuesday - The Urban Growth Seminar Series is a lecture series sponsored by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the USC Center for Sustainable Cities, and the topic for this year’s series is “The Future of Sustainable Cities: Planning, Policy, and Technology.”  This week’s speaker is Justin Cook, the Manager of Foundational Research for IBM Corporate Brand.  Get the meeting details, here.

Wednesday – The Los Angles City Council Transportation Committee meets to discuss Sharrows, biking on sidewalks, and more.  Read the agenda, here.

Wednesday – The Southern California Planning Congress hosts a forum on the future of Union Station. As one of the most beautiful public buildings in Los Angeles and a local, state, and national historic treasure, Union Station has played a special role in fulfilling LA’s function as a metropolitan beacon for California, one of the world’s largest economies.  Get the details, here.

Thursday – Mobility isn’t just for the Westside.  On the same night that the Westside Mobility Plan the Valley hosts its own meeting.  Same topic, different locale.  Get the details, here.

Streetsblog is hosting its first ever end-of-the-year party and awards ceremony on December 8 at 6:30.  More details to come later this week.

A somewhat ho-hum week really picks up on Saturday.

Monday – It’s Halloween.  Be safe out their kids.

Tuesday, Thursday - To continue to keep the communities informed of the project, the City and LADOT are hosting four public meetings for the Westside Mobility Plan project in November, which would create a multimodal transportation blueprint, including parking solutions, for the Westside.  For more information, click here.

Thursday – Metro is hosting an evening meeting to update the public on the status of the Downtown L.A. Streetcar.  For more information, click here.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday – The California Bike Summit comes to Los Angeles.  Get more details on the conference here, and we’ll have more coverage later this week.

Saturday - TRUST South LA and its partners in the CicLAvia South LA host Committee will be hosting “FREE THE STREETS,” an eco-visionary experiential art/music fest celebrating the bourgeoning bicycle culture of South Los Angeles.  Proceeds go to CicLAvia’s South L.A. Expansion Plans.  For more details, click here.

Saturday – Joel Epstein and Karen Sarachik, hosts a special fundraiser reception for L.A. Streetsblog at their home in Brentwood.  We’re asking $100 per person, but as with all Streetsblog fundraisers you are welcome to join us if you would prefer to donate a different amount.  Fore more details or to RSVP, email damien at streetsblog dot org.

Saturday – Applications are due for the L.A. Streetsblog writer positions for Boyle Heights and South L.A.  Get your resumes and writing samples to damien at streetsblog dot org.

The calendar might look a little thin this week, but everything on the agenda is a huge event.  Too bad I’m out of town.

Monday-Wednesday – Metro is hosting three community meetings to solicit feedback for a plan to bring rapid transit to Van Nuys Boulevard.  What would your ideal transit way look like?  Light rail?  Heavy rail? Streetcars?  BRT?  Show up to one of the meetings and let Metro know.  Get the details, here.

Wednesday – The Urban Land Institute is hosting their fall meeting in Downtown Los Angeles with an interesting topic: “Mobility, Livability, and Economic Growth: Sustainability Lessons from the Pacific Rim.”  There’s nearly 6.000 movers and shakers from around the country booked in Downtown Los Angeles.  Join the fun, here.

Wednesday – The City Council Transportation Committee has a full agenda, including a grant application to extend the river trail and a lot more.  More on the agenda, tomorrow.  In the meantime, read it here.

Wednesday – Is the Second Annual Fundraising Gala for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition City of Lights Annual Award Dinner and concert.  If I weren’t out of town, I would be there.   The ticket cost was cut to $45 and you can get all the details at their official website.

Thursday – Live from the Metro Board Room, it’s the Metro Board of Directors.  The full agenda isn’t online yet.  When it is, we’ll bring a preview and it will be available at the Metro Website.

Did I miss something?  Is there a big event coming up in your ‘hood soon that’s not on the calendar?  Email damien at streetsblog dot org.

Wednesday – The Veggie Grill restaurants are hosting a series of CicLAvia fundraisers similar to the Streetsblog fundraiser at the Library Alehouse back in August.  You can get a list of all the restaurant locations that are donating a portion of their proceeds to CicLAvia here.  Also, Joe Linton and I will be hosting the event in Santa Monica because, ya know, I’m good at getting people to eat in Santa Monica.

Thursday – The UCLA Luskin School for Innovation and friends will unveil it’s model street manual that it has been working on for the last seven months.  Their team was led by Ryan Snyder, who is sort of the go-to guy for progressive transportation planning in the area.  Get more details, here.

Friday- The AIA Los Angeles Chapter, with support from LA County Department of Public Health and the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, will host a half-day symposium to highlight opportunities to design communities that promote greater physical activity and equitable access to healthier lifestyles. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Saturday – I’m not even sure how to describe the Tour De Fat other than to say it’s a bike parade, party, concert and more sponsored by our friends at New Belgium Brewing with proceeds going to our other friends at the Bicycle Kitchen, LACBC and CICLE.  Read their most recent press announcement, here.

Sunday – CicLAvia.  Starts at 10:00 A.M.  Get more details, everywhere.

Don’t Forget – Next week, on October 13, Streetsblog and the Echo Park Film Center will host a special Streetfilms screening.  Get more details, here.