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April 11, 2006
The not-so-mighty Los Angeles River meanders 51 miles through the middle of the L.A. basin. It has been largely ignored since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channeled it in the 1930s, but is finally being recognized as an important natural and economic resource.
Last June, a team was chosen by the L.A. City Council to create a master plan focused on a 32-mile stretch of the waterway that runs between the San Fernando Valley community of Canoga Park and the East L.A. community of Boyle Heights. [RECORD, June, 2005, p. 30]. The technical and engineering consultants are Tetra Tech, the urban design firms Civitas, Wenk Associates and HNTB Architecture, and the landscape architects are Mia Lehrer + Associates. Several community outreach organizations, including The Robert Group, Transportation and Land Use Collaborative of Southern California, and consultant Adan Ortega, Jr. are helping engage the public, and Urban Partners LLC and Asset Strategies are providing implementation services for the team.
The designers say the $3 million master plan, scheduled to be complete by next January, has several goals. One is developing an interconnected park system, including sports fields, parks, trails, greening along the banks, and enhanced areas for wildlife to thrive. Another goal is to reduce the volume and improve the quality of storm water entering the channel through natural filtration and retention systems. Finally, the plan aims to stimulate private and public reinvestment in the communities adjacent to the river. By the end of the planning process, the consulting team will hand the city a 20-year blueprint for the river’s management and development.
The team, along with the city’s Department of Public Works, has been inviting residents, activists, and others to public workshops to discuss the development and help hone design ideas. Seven have been held since October. “This master plan process really helps us to see what people see now, what they want to see, and what they don’t want to see,” says city councilmember Ed P. Reyes, who is chair of the council’s L.A. River Ad Hoc Committee. Based on input from the community, the team has identified five quarter-mile “nodes,” which will receive more focused efforts. The next community meetings are scheduled for June 2006, when the planning team will present its node concepts.
Support from local officials and residents for the team’s work has been positive. But, once completed, the fate of their master plan will be determined by the city, which will need to secure funding from state and federal sources as well as private investors.
“We hope that the city will be bold and jump-start this process with public investment,” says Mark Johnson, an urban planner with Civitas. Deborah Weintraub, AIA, the chief architect and deputy city engineer on the project, notes that besides design ideas, the master plan must also develop a framework for governance, zoning, and financing mechanisms for river development.
The designers have high hopes, but are aware of huge challenges. Weintraub points out that existing infrastructure near the river, like highways and rail lines, may have to be moved. Mia Lehrer of Mia Lehrer + Associates points to the ways a revitalized river might act as a symbolic conduit, connecting L.A.’s diverse communities with shared spaces and a series of foot and bike paths. “This is a chance to bring the city together,” she says. “It’s also an alternative way to commute. Can you imagine people being able to ride to work along the river?”
Allison Milionis
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