Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council Hosts “Density in the Valley”

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The Woodland Hills Warner Center Community faces a tsunami of
development. The Westfield Village bulldozers are revving, the Warner
Center Specific Plan update is underway and the 3rd densest employment
center in the City is besieged with gridlock.

The community needs a plan to fight back and reclaim their streets.  To that end the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Community Council has assembled a panel of visionaries to discuss the problem and elicit feedback from the community at an open meeting this Saturday at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital Auditorium from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The public is invited to join in the discussion on the issues and opportunities that challenge our neighborhood including traffic congestion, urban design, water reclamation, energy conservation, mass transit, accessibility, mobility, walkability and livability.

The panelists includes:

  • Bart Reed, Transit Coalition Executive Director
  • Joyce Pearson, Chair of the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council
  • Denny Zane, the former Mayor of Santa Monica during the revitalization of the Third Street Promenade
  • Larry E. Smith, Executive Director of North East Trees

Photo:Wikipedia

  • With three million more people predicted to migrate to Los Angeles County over the next three decades, increasing density is inevitable. Recentralization along transit corridors is the responsible way of dealing with that density.

    The SGV is rallying around the Gold Lines. They also need the Silver Line project, increased Metrolink service and beefed up Foothill Transit.

    The Valley needs a comprehensive transportation and land use vision. North Hollywood, Warner Center and the Ventura Blvd. corridor are going to have increasing density in the years ahead. The Orange Line will need to be upgraded to light rail and there will need to be a Sepulveda rail project from Sylmar to LAX. Ventura Blvd. will need to upgraded eventually with a bus-only lane, streetcar or even subway. All of that is decades away in its fulfillment.

    However, the car culture is not dependable and single-occupancy motoring will only continue its decline in quality in the decades ahead. The more proactive the Valley (and every other area in Southern California) can be, the better.

    The era of unlimited and unplanned, random, automobile-centered sprawl is hopefully coming to a close.

  • Dan, does that mean you’re gonna join us on Saturday?

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