Walking

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.

It always amazes me how artists can capture new ways of walking in the existing built environment.  The boring streets of South Park became a world of physical and sensual discovery through Being Pedestrian facilitated by Sara Wooky and Sara Daleiden last Saturday.

Back in Jan 2010, I wrote about my disdain for the current suburban-styled Ralphs supermarket that sits in the middle of Pasadena’s urban downtown financial district along Lake Ave. This particular Ralphs that many of us Pasadenans shop at is surrounded by anti-pedestrian characteristics that actually harm the built environment as it pertains to pedestrian activity. The potential for creating a better community in this section of Pasadena sits tragically unfulfilled. That’s why I’m still not happy with it.

The debate over whether or not to allow a Fresh & Easy to open a new store on Crenshaw Boulevard at the intersection with 52nd Street with a large parking lot facing the street heads to the full City Council this Wednesday morning at 10:00 A.M.  The matter was moved to the Full Council by the Council's Planning and Land Use Committee without recommendation, despite the development's strong support from the local Councilman, Bernard Parks.

Big Ticket

Since 1997, communities around the U.S. have been celebrating Walk to School Day. In 2009, over 3,300 walking events registered their participation in Walk to School events. How many will this year? How are those of us in Southern California supporting this great event?

For those of you who do not yet know him – meet Zozo!  He’s Livable Streets’ big purple friend who loves anything that gets people out of cars and moving about the streets.  You might find him riding his ZoGo along the new PPW bike lane, sitting out in the pedestrian plaza in Union Square … Continued

Federal funding for pedestrian and bicycle projects reached a new high last year, according to a report released yesterday by the Federal Highway Administration. In terms of dollars, federal investment in walking and biking more than doubled compared to the previous high, set in 2007, thanks largely to an infusion of $400 million in stimulus funds.

(If you live in Culver City, get your comments in on how you'd like your city to improve things for "people powered transportation" by June 18! - DN)