Livable Streets
Streetsblog LA
Making Change on North Figueroa Street
Earlier this year, when the designs for South Figueroa's My Figueroa project were released, Josef Bray-Ali wasn't happy. While many advocates celebrated designs that would, if implemented, result in segregated bike paths, transit-only lanes, pedestrian plazas (at a minimum), Bray-Ali saw another major investment in the Downtown and area around L.A. Live. Meanwhile, the portion of Figueroa where he worked and that he loved remained a traffic sewer, with five lanes of concrete and curbside parking blighting the area.
August 25, 2011
Danish Architect Jan Gehl on Cities for People: The Safe City
Editor's note: Streetsblog is thrilled to launch a three-part series today by renowned Danish architect and livable streets luminary Jan Gehl. The pieces are excerpts are from his book, "Cities for People" published by Island Press. Donate to LA Streetsblog and you'll qualify to win a copy of the book, courtesy of Island Press. Visit the Island Press website to find many more great titles by the nation's leading publisher of books on environmental issues.
June 14, 2011
Open Space Starved Hollywood Breaks Ground on “Cahuenga Alley”
Its no secret that outside of Griffith Park, Los Angeles is a city starving for open space. There is nowhere this is more true than Hollywood, where even a weekly farmer's market is under attack because it blocks access to a parking lot. Thus, while Hollywood waits for projects such as the Hollywood Freeway Central Park, it's important to try and create pockets of places where people can be outside in a safe and welcoming environment.
May 3, 2011
Guest Post: Complete Streets Conference Packed 2/25/11
Strong examples are noticeably lacking in Los Angeles, but this conference was designed to inspire people to action!
February 28, 2011
CRA Unveils Draft Plans for South Figueroa, Public Mostly Positive
A standing room only audience descended on the Fashion Institute of Design on South Grand Street to listen to a presentation from the embattled Community Redevelopment Agency for a ground breaking and popular proposal to transform the South Figueroa Corridor. When people discuss Los Angeles' streets, they usually use terms such as "car-oriented" or "ugly." The new South Figueroa, aka My Figueroa, would be a truly beautiful street designed for people to walk, bike wait for transit or just enjoy life outside as well as a way to shuffle cars from one area to another.
February 9, 2011
Will Figueroa Street Be Los Angeles’ First Truly Complete Street?
I have to be honest. If the My Figueroa project ends up fulfilling its mission of designing a people-friendly Figueroa Street from the southwest corner of Exposition Park to Downtown Los Angeles only by adding a couple of trees and repainting the crosswalks, I'll be extremely disappointed.
January 25, 2011
Video: Car-Free Play Streets in the UK
A little weekend viewing from the west coast of England. Since the summer of 2009, neighbors in Bristol have organized "Playing Out" events on seven streets, setting aside car-free hours for kids to play in the street without constant parental supervision. Watching this video immediately brought to mind Clarence's Streetfilm of the 78th Street play street in Jackson Heights.
December 20, 2010
LA in Maps: What’s next??
After reading the book L.A. in Maps I asked myself the question, "What's next?"
November 3, 2010