South LA
Streetsblog LA
CicLAvia Highlights Need for Better Bike Infrastructure for Cycling to Grow as a Transportation Option
"Stay to the right!" rang out over the megaphone from a passing police car. "That means you, young lady!"
April 8, 2014
Make a Little Noise, Get a Little Bus Stop Love: Random Thoughts on Mobility
Oh, honey, no... I thought as I watched the obviously strung-out woman yank up her miniskirt and gesture insistently that passersby partake of her unkempt lady offerings.
April 2, 2014
Pop-Up Plaza Enhances Art Walk, Hints at What Could Be in Leimert
As we watched the group led by female elders drumming their way toward us, Rashida, a vendor of wonderful-smelling body scrubs, leaned over and said, "You can't get this anywhere else in L.A.!"
April 1, 2014
Pondering Boyle Heights During This Weekend’s Tour de Co-Ops
Bringing together seven different bicycle collectives, the Tour de Co-Ops was a half-day ride that celebrated the "do it yourself" (DIY) spirit of the Los Angeles cycling community. Split up into two separate routes, the ride acted as a fundraiser for the participating volunteer-operated co-operatives. In 2005, Los Angeles didn't have any store-front bicycle co-ops.
April 1, 2014
Leimert Takes Steps Toward Re-Branding with Pop-Up Plaza and More this Weekend
As I listened to speakers on the "Creative Industry Business Development, Tourism Markets, Branding, Marketing, Event Management, Business Alliances, and Program Partnerships" panel at the Leimert Park Design Charrette this past January, one question kept bothering me:
March 27, 2014
City Leaders Shepherding MyFigueroa Stakeholders Toward Consensus
The long-anticipated MyFigueroa project made another appearance at the Los Angeles City Council's Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) committee yesterday. With more than a hundred supporters in attendance, a great deal of staff work, political leadership, and a stakeholder summit process underway, it appears that MyFigueroa may be on track to break ground some day in the not too distant future.
March 26, 2014
St. John’s New Health and Wellness Campus Promises Good Things for South L.A.
"Is that yours?" a surprised 9-year old had asked me as I had unlocked my bike from a post at the Martin Luther King Jr. Rec Center in South L.A. last weekend.
March 25, 2014
To Be or Not To Be a Gang-Banger: Is that Really the Question?
AS WE CONCLUDE our conversation, he takes a deep breath, adjusts his belt, and asks – this time, I think, as a person and not a police officer – if I really believed kids in Watts didn’t have much choice about whether or not to get involved with gangs.
March 21, 2014
The Tour de Watts Gathers Momentum, Signals Good Things Ahead for Watts
While heading to South L.A. for the United Riders of South L.A.'s Tour de Watts this past Saturday, I was reminded of a guest lecture I gave in a USC journalism class a few weeks ago.
March 18, 2014
“Our Fears Have Not Been Allayed”: The Limits of Regulatory Powers Over Unconventional Oil and Gas Extraction Techniques
"Qué significa 'fracking' en español?" the woman wearing a "People Not Pozos" shirt and a "Ban Fracking Now" sticker asked me.
March 14, 2014