Urban Design

Note: The authors are active advocates in the urban sustainability movement, focusing on non-motorized transportation in low-income urban areas. As mixed race women of color, we believe that we are in a unique position to bridge the advocacy communities trying to better conditions for the urban poor and for the environment. In this series, we draw on our experiences in the bicycle and environmental movements to shed light on the unfortunate divides we have noticed between urban sustainability communities and low-income communities of color.

There's a change happening on Los Angeles' streets.

This week, I'm attending the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), now in it's 20th year and currently in West Palm Beach Florida from May 9th to 12th. This is my first time attending but CNU has long been influential to my thinking. Many of my books devoted to urban topics are written by prominent leaders of CNU, and many of these authors are speaking or contributing to the conference.  These writers attempt to distill and articulate what really makes cities thrive, and how we went wrong in so much of America.

Planners who traveled to Los Angeles over the past four days to attend the American Planning Association’s National Planning Conference were greeted by a very different L.A. than the one they visited at the last APA conference in L.A. over 25 years ago.

While the politics and drama surrounding the state's decision to do away with Community Redevelopment Agencies has been a top news story around the state, there has been less attention paid to what will happen to various projects of the agency.  For Streetsblog readers, concerns about the future of various open space, bicycle parking and even the ground breaking South Figueroa Corridor Project are at the top of the list.

I have suggested improving transit for shoppers, legalizing sidewalk vending, and establishing regional food hubs.   While it is important to expand options for getting food to people and people to food, today I want to address ways to increase the availability of good food near where people live. That way, we can walk and bike to shop for food rather than needing to rely on motorized transportation.

I have to admit that when Jonathan Weiss first described his idea for a Westwood-Expo Botanical Water Garden (WEBWG) at the Westwood Station for the Expo Line, I thought it would never happen.  Three years later, it would be a major upset if some sort of Botanical Garden wasn't built at the station site, as the concept has gained traction even with groups opposing the rail line itself.

Even as Los Angeles embraces an expanded transit and bicycle program, the rest of Southern California is still pictured as a sprawling wasteland of highways and subdivisions.  However, that's not what the people that live in the Southland want according to a new survey released by Move L.A., the American Lung Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council.  Instead, Southlanders want the kind of dense mixed use development and short commutes over McMansions and sprawlways.

Over the past few months, we've checked in on the efforts of five communities in Los Angeles County to create more livable, walkable, bikeable and healthier communities through better transportation planning through the Los Angeles PLACE Grants.  However, Los Angeles County is home to 11 million residents, and less than 750,000 live in PLACE communities.