Six months ago he had been hit by a car on Rodeo Road, the young man told me. He was laid up for seventeen days. Now he had a metal rod in his back. It wasn’t a story that made the news. And it wasn’t a hit-and-run – the driver actually stopped to help the […]

Listening to the City Planning Commission vote in favor – albeit somewhat reluctantly – of moving forward on the regressive amendments to the Mobility Plan 2035 this morning, I felt my heart sink. With recommendations the City Council approve amendments that a) remove Westwood Boulevard (between LeConte and Ohio) and approximately seven miles of Central […]

This coming Saturday, June 25, and next Thursday, June 30, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) will hold scoping meetings to gather community input regarding the extent to which the clean-up of lead-contaminated properties located within a 1.7-mile radius of shuttered lead-acid battery smelter Exide could affect surrounding neighborhoods. Community comments, the DTSC Notice […]

THE NUMBER ONE THING that representatives from the “creative habitat” known as the Reef felt they had learned from engaging the community, the speaker told the more than 600 town hall attendees this past May 5, was that Historic South Central was “lacking a sense of place.” To give the community that sense of place […]

If at first you don’t succeed in winning the Promise Zone designation from the Obama administration, try, try again. Wait – scratch that. If at first you don’t succeed, take the initiative to change the federal government’s understanding of urban poverty. And along the way, commit to laying the foundation for long-term cross-sector collaboration on […]

Sadly, a scheduling snafu meant that I was out of town for CicLAvia Southeast this past weekend. Having to settle for watching the photos pop up on social media was not nearly as good as being there in person. But it was still pretty great, believe it or not. You see, some of the very […]

I rolled up on the group gathered in front of the Japanese American National Museum yesterday morning just in time to catch the discussion of some of the history of the Little Tokyo area. The unity bike ride – the third annual effort between the East Side Riders Bike Club and the Asian and Pacific […]

According to a press release, California Governor Jerry Brown just signed legislation directing $176.6 million “to expedite and expand [lead] testing and cleanup of residential properties, schools, daycare centers and parks around the former Exide Technologies facility in Vernon, California.” The legislation came in the form of A.B. 118, by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) […]

“Food is a way in which you can get folks to think critically about their environment,” Lawrence De Freitas, a staff member with South Los Angeles-based Community Services Unlimited, Inc. (CSU), tells researcher and author Garrett Broad in an interview for Broad’s new book, More than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change. [Broad will […]

Last week, the Street Beats team converted the extremely busy and often dangerous intersection of Crenshaw and Florence into a play zone. No, really. With the help of a grant from the Mayor’s Great Streets program and countless extra hours over several months dedicated to pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, and building relationships with […]

The office of Governor Jerry Brown sent out a press release earlier today announcing his intention to “pursue an additional appropriation” of $176.6 million for lead testing and clean-up in the 1.7-mile radius around Exide Technologies’ now-shuttered lead-acid battery recycling facility in Vernon (seen above). The major allotment of funds — to be comprised, in […]

“Bottom line is, citizens want to be involved, they want to be engaged in the process of figuring out how we reprogram our streets, how we reprogram our communities, making it more livable, making it more desirable, making it safer.” So said councilmember for the 9th District, Curren Price, when interviewed by KCET’s Nic Cha […]