some of us have discussed this for the 101 and the 110 in Downtown, so i thought this would be relevent here. Fantastic news if approved, and hopefully it will be implemented in DT LA as well...

Park Proposed Atop Freeway

By DANIEL MILLER
Los Angeles Business Journal Staff

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is proposing the creation of a 24-acre park that would be built on a concrete cap atop the Hollywood Freeway – at a cost of several hundred million dollars.

The planned Hollywood Central Park, which boosters will announce this week, would be a grassy and tree-lined expanse over freeway traffic. The freeway essentially would be a tunnel for about two thirds of a mile under the park.

The chamber has worked behind the scenes for months to build support for the project, which it contends is critical for the development of Hollywood. Supporters include some local developers, neighborhood councils, elected officials and, most importantly, Caltrans – since the park would be built above state-owned land in state airspace.

“It is an easy decision. This is available air space put to good use for the public,” said Deborah Harris, spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation. “If it can be used for the betterment of the community, we are all for it. Of course there are several details that have to be worked out. We look forward to looking further into this proposal.”

The park – which would stretch from around Hollywood to Sunset boulevards between North Bronson Avenue and North Wilton Place – will face its first test on Thursday when the board of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency will decide whether to pay for a feasibility study.

If approved, the study would be done by engineering and planning firm Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. with a targeted completion date of January. In addition to CRA money, the chamber is seeking money for the study from private donations.

Chamber officials said the park is a critical element for Hollywood to continue to thrive, given a severe lack of green space that makes the neighborhood less attractive for residents and businesses.

“We wanted to make sure … that the local economy and community is sustained, so we can build the community and have sustained growth,” said Rochelle Silsbee, vice president of public policy for the chamber. “It is primarily about protecting area livability.”

It is not clear who would own the park, though backers have not ruled out joint ownership by different entities.

Park deficient

Hollywood has a real need for open space, according to a report by the chamber.

The report indicates that in Los Angeles there are about 0.012 acres of open space per resident, and in Hollywood, the figure drops to 0.005 acres.Also, a 2003 study by the Trust for Public Land found that two-thirds of Los Angeles children do not live by a park, while 91 percent of New York City children live within walking distance of one.

“We believe there is a severe park shortage here,” Silsbee said.

And that will only get worse, given that about 4,500 residential units are either approved or under construction near the park site, according to the report.

At its narrowest point, the proposed park would be as wide as a football field.

About 50 such “freeway cap parks” are in various stages of development around the country, including in Sacramento, Phoenix and Portland, Ore., according to the chamber. Locally, there is a small freeway cap park in La Cañada Flintridge above the Foothill (210) Freeway, just east of the Glendale (2) Freeway interchange.

And in Hollywood, land is more expensive than in many other cities. So while the park would be expensive, it still would be cheaper than acquiring 24 contiguous acres by traditional means, said Don Scott, a Hollywood Chamber of Commerce board member who first proposed the park.

Vacant land in Hollywood near the freeway costs between $200 and $400 per square foot, while the freeway park in Portland is being built on land that costs $200 per square foot, Scott said. Even so, the park could cost well over $200 million.

“It’s a big number, but we feel it’s achievable through federal, state, and local funds,” he said.

Local U.S. Reps. Xavier Becerra and Diane Watson have said that next year they will work to appropriate federal money for the project, according to Silsbee. The project planners are also eyeing the infrastructure bond on the Nov. 7 state ballot as a possible source of funding, should it pass.

A spokesman for Becerra said the congressman supports the project, while Watson could not be reached for comment. Still, the cost of the park could pose an impediment.

“It’s a wonderful idea. But you drive down the road and there are potholes everywhere, so I don’t know how they are going to build a cap on the 101,” said John Tronson, a principal in the Hollywood office of Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services. “While I think it’s a noble cause, I do have reservations about how much time people should spend on it until we can pay for it.”

Wired on coffee

Possible plans for the park include an amphitheatre, sports fields, and a European-style square. Plans for the park call for it not to eliminate on- or off-ramps to the freeway below.

“Our interest is in maintaining the lanes as they exist today as well as available space for future use,” said Harris, Caltrans spokesperson for District 7, which covers Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Area schools and children would stand to benefit greatly from the park. At least three schools are in close proximity to the park, including Central Los Angeles High School, which is under construction. The proposed park also would be near two Metropolitan Transit Authority subway stations.

The park is the brainchild of Scott, who conceived it while driving on the Hollywood Freeway.

“I tell everyone I drank too much coffee that day,” said Scott, senior vice president at First Financial Bancorp. “But I was driving over the freeway and I heard something on the radio about the Big Dig in Boston. A light bulb went off.”

Scott concedes that the Big Dig – which involved sinking a 3.5 mile stretch of Interstate 93 in central Boston at a cost of nearly $15 billion – may be a controversial analogy. The East Coast project includes park land over the sunken highway, but has taken decades to build, experienced large cost overruns and recently a portion of the tunnel’s ceiling fell, killing a motorist.

By contrast the Hollywood park project involves building a concrete cap over an existing freeway, not sinking what was an elevated highway into a newly dug tunnel.

And what about calling it the Hollywood Central Park?

While the name may hark to the prominent park in New York, it also has some local meaning. The chamber says that the park is located at the nexus of central and east Hollywood.

For now the Hollywood Central Park is only an interim name, but supporters say they think it could stick – provided it is built in the first place.

“We believe there is a severe park shortage here,” Silsbee said.


As the leader of the neighborhood council in East Hollywood, I can't agree more.
None of this projected density can be justified without the proper infrastructure (transit, utilities, etc) and recreation space. Plus, I'm sick of the city adding these lame-ass "pcoket parks" just so they can tally up the acres and claim they've given us a lot of park space.

Bring on the park!

this is a good idea. but i think its a little less then grand. that park would not be very large at all.

and the guy who wrote it made a shity comparisson using 2/3rds comparied to 91%. im no writer but even i know that is shitty english.

and the only thing i dont like about this. is it mentions nothing of ventilation. as most of us here know car fires [or accedents that cause fires] are very common here

Good idea but I would have to disagree with "el". Pocket parks are much needed in LA, I think that's what the city lacks, in fact it makes a city like New York much more liveable. Pocket parks give your hood a sense of "hoodness", a sense of togetherness that feels like your park. On another note, doesn't Griffith Park border much of Hollywood?

Good idea but I would have to disagree with "el". Pocket parks are much needed in LA, I think that's what the city lacks, in fact it makes a city like New York much more liveable. Pocket parks give your hood a sense of "hoodness", a sense of togetherness that feels like your park. On another note, doesn't Griffith Park border much of Hollywood?

Pocket parks don't give places for the kids to play and especially in Hollywood, are known to attract drug dealers. No one else I know, at least on this side of the law, utilizes pocket parks here because of their reputation as a farmer's market for narcotics..

Yes Griffith Park does border much of Hollywood, but for a kids, it's not like they can just hop into their car and drive there. A lot of kids in Hollywood play in the streets, which is dangerous. And although Griffith Park dwarfs NY's Central Park in acreage, the majority of it is mountainous.

As someone who was once a kid who actually grew up in Hollywood, I know this are on a different level than most people do.

and the only thing i dont like about this. is it mentions nothing of ventilation. as most of us here know car fires [or accedents that cause fires] are very common here

Have you seen the overpass park in LaCanada-Flintridge? It's just like a very long overpass, but not long enough to be a tunnel. And unlike a tunnel there is lots of overhead clearance. Even still, we don't have any tunnels here in Los Angeles that warrant ventilation systems, save for Sepulveda under LAX. The Pasadena Freeway tunnels come to mind.

In addition to safety, ventilation is usually placed in tunnels to regulate air pressure. The Metro Red Line tunnel under the Santa Monica Mountains has a very deep ventilation shaft which comes out on top of one of the mountains.

...so are you saying it does or does not need ventilation?

...so are you saying it does or does not need ventilation?

Depends on how big it is and what the clearance is. If it's as small as you think it might be, no it does not need ventilation, but if the coverage is massive, they would have to ventilate.

I would have to once again disagree with you "el". Pocket parks can be a wonderful place to setup a slide, a jungle gym, a merry go round and some benches so that parents can monitor their children. They are usually close enough to home so that they are in walking distance. As far as drug dealers in pocket parks, I don't think we should use the logic of throwing out the baby with the bath water.
I wasn't suggesting that Griffith Park was a place for children to rome unattended, I mean with rattlesnakes and coyotes on the loose, adults need parks as well.

I would have to once again disagree with you "el". Pocket parks can be a wonderful place to setup a slide, a jungle gym, a merry go round and some benches so that parents can monitor their children. They are usually close enough to home so that they are in walking distance. As far as drug dealers in pocket parks, I don't think we should use the logic of throwing out the baby with the bath water.
I wasn't suggesting that Griffith Park was a place for children to rome unattended, I mean with rattlesnakes and coyotes on the loose, adults need parks as well.


Um, not all kids are toddlers who play jungle gyms, some kids are older and want to play soccer, football, baseball, etc.
And even the little jungle gym toddlers themselves grow up and want to play "older kid" sports. A pocket park cannot provide this play space. These kids play out in the street in Hollywood and can get hit by traffic. Don't believe me? I can see them outside my window on any given day. I got neighborhood kids playing football on my lawn. Sometimes I feel like shouting at them, but it's not their fault that we lack a recreational park space in our neighborhood.

The whole drug dealer issue has basically ruined the reputation of pocket parks in the Hollywood area. Normally the community lobbies for parks, but now only councilmembers put pocket parks just to tack on to their acres-of-parkspace tally. Residents hardly lobby for them, unlike recreational parks, where everyone wants one. Normally parks have staff, but in the City of Los Angeles, only parks with recreational facilities have staff. Pocket parks are not staffed and it would take a sizeable city budget to staff them all, which is the basic problem of pocket parks.

I believe Hollywood deserves better than mere pocket parks. Even South Central Los Angeles has more recreational park space than Hollywood. I have lived here for over 30 years. WE NEED MORE RECREATIONAL PARK SPACE IN HOLLYWOOD.

The only way pocket parks could work is if they are developed right next to high pedestrian retail areas, in close proximity to establishments like coffeeshops, restaurants, etc. That way they are out in the open, discourage clandestine activity and people would actually want to hang out there. The city of Alhambra has some of these by their Main Street. But the current format of buying a postage stamp-sized lot in a residential area and sticking in a couple trees does not work.

[QUOTE=Elsongs;10300697]These kids play out in the street in Hollywood and can get hit by traffic. Don't believe me? I can see them outside my window on any given day. I got neighborhood kids playing football on my lawn. Sometimes I feel like shouting at them,



^^ Amen..... Damn Kidz in my hood are always playing street Hockey. I will kick butt if they play on beautiful St Augustine weed-free lawn.


Sooooooo a park over the Fwy, Hmmmmm I don't know!

[QUOTE=Elsongs;10300697]

Sooooooo a park over the Fwy, Hmmmmm I don't know!

I think it's a just investment - People forget that when the freeways were built, they displaced houses, businesses and recreational spaces. Worst of all they divided communities. This is one way to claim it back.

Great idea, the more of these we get in the U.S. and around the world for that matter the better. I've come to realize that the horizontal area that freeways take up are wasted space, especially inside dense metro areas, and the time is definitely ripe to start reclaiming those air rights. Urban interstates are starting to have fiduciary obligations, to not ONLY provide accessible and convenient transportation for locals and passerbys, but NOW they are important growth areas. Begin to build parks and new developments atop freeways, and some of that suburban sprawl is kept at bay. Great idea for L.A.

its always cheaper to buldoze a swamp or two then to bulldoze a building. tearing up the freeways [a terrible idea] to make room for more construction will not stop it.

im all for covering them. making parks on them. puting them deep under gound so you can build over them. but removing them will cause huge problums to commuting, shipping, economy and just cruzing along in this city.

i believe this park will bring angelinos closer together and give us more of a sense of center. though i highly dislike keeping it named central park. c'mon, has los angeles lost it's originality altogether?!

we angelinos are used to playing on blacktop, pavement and cement (it's been that way longer than i can remember). i would prefer it if my kids in the future will have grass to play on.

pocket parks aren't ALL that bad, but we have plenty of them for one city... we have nearly NO large recreational parks besides Griffith. and even that park has a lot of unexplorable land givin the steep hills within it.

im all for covering them. making parks on them. puting them deep under gound so you can build over them. but removing them will cause huge problums to commuting, shipping, economy and just cruzing along in this city.

i agree... and a big reason that freeways and interstates and whatever were built was to give military easy access to ports and other vital geographical locations (though not the only reason).

just think how much longer it would have taken the national guard to get into los angeles during the 1992 riots... and what if a crisis of any kind were to happen today where such a transit system would be vital to possibly save lives?

though i hardly drive, i would prefer the freeways stay where they are for other reasons. and you can put a park above them or do whatever

I think it's a just investment - People forget that when the freeways were built, they displaced houses, businesses and recreational spaces. Worst of all they divided communities. This is one way to claim it back.

The division of communities was a clear desire of most of the freeway construction in L.A. In South LA they were intended to be racial boundaries.

Um, not all kids are toddlers who play jungle gyms, some kids are older and want to play soccer, football, baseball, etc.
And even the little jungle gym toddlers themselves grow up and want to play "older kid" sports. A pocket park cannot provide this play space.

Really, in many communities all that is needed is to open up the recreational grounds on schools to the public an hour or two after school lets out and on the weekends, and turning a lot of blacktop into grass.

Incidentally, park space isn't the only thing freeway caps can be used for. When researching this issue a month or two ago I found that they can be constructed strong enough to hold 8 story buildings. As land becomes more valuable in this city, using freeway caps for public services will become more common in our public discussions. We've got a lot of depressed freeways in the city and areas in need of not just parks, but schools, fire stations and police stations.

I came across one commentator who suggested the caps be used to provide affordable housing for cops, teachers and fire fighters and be partially financed by their pension funds. Not a bad idea if you ask me.

indeed those are good ideas. but an 8 story building? there are problums just keeping bridges to hold them selves up in an earthquake. ley alone one with a building on top of it

Great idea whose time has come....why is LA the last one to know? Seattle's had theirs for decades, but it fell into ruins and was recently redeveloped. We can probably do better than this.....Also, why not have a freeway park from Barham to Highland--so people from Universal City can walk to the Hollywood Bowl and Grand Avenue to Spring or Main.

http://www.tclf.org/features/freeway/images/Roadway-sections.gif

http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/_images/maps/freewayPark.jpg

http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/_images/parks/freewayI-5.jpg

i believe this park will bring angelinos closer together and give us more of a sense of center. though i highly dislike keeping it named central park. c'mon, has los angeles lost it's originality altogether?!

pocket parks aren't ALL that bad, but we have plenty of them for one city... we have nearly NO large recreational parks besides Griffith. and even that park has a lot of unexplorable land givin the steep hills within it.

There are lots of recrerational parks in Los Angeles, but most of them are either in the Valley or in South L.A. Balboa Park in the Valley is a huge recreational park with a lake, picnic grounds, a sports center, a golf course, a pike path, even a place to fly model airplanes. There is also a recreation center in Hollywood (on Santa Monica and Caheunga) which has a baseball field and I believe a swimming pool, but it's still inadequate due to the large population of the area.

The whole "Hollywood Central Park" name is just a working title. I will bet my life savings they'll name it after some person.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa World Dominatonitroy Park

Hollywood plots freeway coverup
Leaders push a plan to enclose half a mile of the roadway in a tunnel and place a greenbelt on top.
By Bob Pool, Times Staff Writer
November 1, 2006

In a town built on make-believe, Hollywood leaders are hoping to pull off the greatest feat yet: creating a public park out of thin air.

Civic and business organizers want to turn a half-mile portion of the Hollywood Freeway into a tunnel and construct a 24-acre greenbelt swath from Bronson Avenue to Wilton Place on top.

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Those proposing what they call Hollywood Central Park will reveal preliminary details tonight when leaders of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency meet with local business executives in an effort to raise $120,000 for a project feasibility study.

When the study is completed, local leaders say, they will be able to seek federal funding for the estimated $209 million that the freeway retrofit and park construction could cost.

Backers say other densely populated U.S. cities have undertaken similar projects to carve out hard-to-find recreation space.

They say the portion of the freeway that passes beneath Sunset and Hollywood boulevards near the heart of Hollywood is perfect for what is known as a "freeway cap." Traffic lanes there are below the level of neighborhoods on both sides.

Although urban planners in the past informally discussed a Hollywood tunnel, the current proposal got its start by accident at last year's Hollywood Christmas Parade when a Hollywood Chamber of Commerce director drove over the freeway on his way home.

"I was bemoaning the fact that the freeway cut a giant scar through Hollywood as I crossed over it on Hollywood Boulevard," board member Don Scott recalled Tuesday. "Over Christmas I did some research on the Internet and came up with a proposal."

Scott, an investment banker who lives in Pacific Palisades, discovered that similar freeway-spanning parks have been built in Seattle; Cincinnati; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Phoenix; and Hartford, Conn. Charlotte, N.C., is designing one. Locally, a small park extends over the 210 Freeway in La Cañada-Flintridge.

Other chamber leaders were quick to embrace Scott's idea.

"We have a 150-acre park deficit in Hollywood," said architect Ed Hunt, a parks supporter who for years has advocated using freeway airspace. "Taxpayers own it. Caltrans is the custodian," Hunt said.

In recent weeks the chamber proposal has won support from the Southern California Assn. of Governments (which is considering it as a possible demonstration project), four Hollywood-area neighborhood councils, the redevelopment agency and Los Angeles City Councilmen Tom LaBonge and Eric Garcetti, who represent Hollywood.

"Hollywood had a Brown Derby. Now it can have a real lid on the Hollywood Freeway," said LaBonge. "The city grew so fast that they didn't originally put enough parks in. The neighborhood parks we have there now are postage-stamp size."

Hollywood chamber President Leron Gubler said preliminary estimates suggest that the 24-acre freeway-top greenbelt could be built for about $200 a square foot. "That would be cheaper than buying land, and there would be no eminent domain proceedings involved," Gubler said.

State highway officials who operate the Hollywood Freeway say they have taken note of the community support for the park.

But "this is very early in the process. A feasibility study will determine if it's viable," Caltrans spokeswoman Jeanne Bonfilio said Tuesday.

Study costs will total about $250,000, said Kim Sudhalter, a spokeswoman for the city redevelopment agency. That agency's board is considering contributing $100,000 toward the study; the Chamber of Commerce has obtained commitments for about $30,000 and tonight will ask the business community to help finance the rest, she said.

The study would examine uses for the proposed swath of parkland as well as design requirements. Hollywood and Sunset boulevards would extend through the open space, which would link the eastern and western sides of Hollywood and serve as a scenic frontyard for a new public high school being built next to the freeway on Sunset Boulevard.

Those who live and work near the proposed park say recreational space is greatly needed for children and families living in crowded neighborhoods on both sides of the freeway. Thousands of dwelling units are under construction nearby as a redevelopment boom continues in the historic Hollywood district.

"They don't just need open space here; they need places for organized sports," said Tasha Busch, a counselor at Grant Elementary School — which has been on Wilton Place for 103 years. "But it would have to be supervised; a park can have a lot of bad along with the good."

Resident Juan Ramos said he would welcome the freeway conversion. "It would be very good. Kids need a place around here to play," he said, pointing to his 3-year-old daughter, Daniella.

Freeway users were a bit more cautious about the park plan, however.

Motorist Sona Basmadjian wondered about the claustrophobic feel the half-mile tunnel might have for commuters inching through the area during morning and evening rush hours.

If it wasn't properly maintained and well-lighted, "it could be creepy," said the TV history curator, who lives in Glendale. "And I wouldn't want to be in there in an earthquake."

Michael Ben-Levi, a psychologist who lives in the Fairfax district and was shopping Tuesday at a Home Depot next to the proposed park site, said creative design could help remedy the tunnel feeling.

"It's a good idea. But they should construct it with sufficient openings so daylight and air can get in and you wouldn't feel so enclosed," he said. "The openings could be landscaped and properly fenced. It wouldn't take that much away from the park."

The Hollywood reaction is more positive than that of downtown Los Angeles, which 17 years ago gave a lukewarm reception to a plan to build a $33-million monument sculpture over the Hollywood Freeway between Olvera Street and the Civic Center. The "Steel Cloud" was supposed to become the West Coast's answer to the Statue of Liberty. But it never got off the ground — or over the freeway.

"Maybe with a new lid on Hollywood they can finally put a hat on the downtown slot too," Councilman LaBonge said.

thats the biggest counter argument they could find. "it would be creepy"

seriously, what are the nay sayers saying about this one because it seems it will benifit everyone

but even the ones who say it MIGHT be creepy are still in favor of the park

and who doesn't want a cool tunnel to go along with the park. i mean, might as well right?

thats the biggest counter argument they could find. "it would be creepy"

seriously, what are the nay sayers saying about this one because it seems it will benifit everyone

Oohh CreeEEepy! Happy Halloween! LOL

As for earthquakes and road tunnels, we have the Pasadena Freeway tunnels and the 2nd and 3rd street tunnels Downtown. Never heard any problem during the earthquakes we've had since they were built.

The only valid counter-argument anyone would have is the cost, but it is a valid investment for everyone, especially communities that were torn up and divided when the freeway was built. There is less opposition to the park in Hollywood because it's hard to find someone here that doesn't want more park spaces.

The whole "Hollywood Central Park" name is just a working title. I will bet my life savings they'll name it after some person.





^^Richard M Nixon Recreational Center............

why dont they make part of this elevated carpool lanes like they have on the 110 south of downtown. I can tell you if they bridge the 110, you will have 2 lanes of freeway and a park on either side. We have that out here in lancaster, sept its a 6 lane freeway (the 14) on either side of a park. THat way fedral transportation funds are getting used as well.

^^Richard M Nixon Recreational Center............

I wouldn't mind that, I mean, he was a way better president than the one we have now...at least Nixon took responsibility for his actions!

Little known fact: Richard Nixon's dad was a motorman (trolley operator) for the old Pacific Electric Railway. As president, he also helped fund BART and Washington DC's Metro.

why dont they make part of this elevated carpool lanes like they have on the 110 south of downtown. I can tell you if they bridge the 110, you will have 2 lanes of freeway and a park on either side. We have that out here in lancaster, sept its a 6 lane freeway (the 14) on either side of a park. THat way fedral transportation funds are getting used as well.

Sorry, no. Hollywood is NOT Lancaster.

why dont they make part of this elevated carpool lanes like they have on the 110 south of downtown. I can tell you if they bridge the 110, you will have 2 lanes of freeway and a park on either side. We have that out here in lancaster, sept its a 6 lane freeway (the 14) on either side of a park. THat way fedral transportation funds are getting used as well.

when pigs fly. trains are the wave of the future, havent you heard?

im torn here... i would love to see double deckered hovs lanes like on the 11o. but i want my fucking sliver line... i dont know...

The whole "Hollywood Central Park" name is just a working title. I will bet my life savings they'll name it after some person.

The problem with working titles is that sometimes they just keep it if the project is so popular that people just know it from the working title and they're too lazy to call it something else. That's what happened with "LA Live" and "The OC Great Park." If every media source mentions it as Hollywood Central Park, there is a very good chance they won't change it.

I wouldn't mind that, I mean, he was a way better president than the one we have now...at least Nixon took responsibility for his actions!

Little known fact: Richard Nixon's dad was a motorman (trolley operator) for the old Pacific Electric Railway. As president, he also helped fund BART and Washington DC's Metro.

Interesting Nixon file fact, hmm........i think any president who is about to be impeached would "take responsibility for their actions." And yes, he was a much much better president than the one that we have. He was a much better liar.

Interesting Nixon file fact, hmm........i think any president who is about to be impeached would "take responsibility for their actions." And yes, he was a much much better president than the one that we have. He was a much better liar.

Nixon also supported and signed into law a lot of government programs that today's Republicans/Neocons would oppose. Also, Nixon pulled us out of a war, instead of bringing us into one (or even two...).

The problem with working titles is that sometimes they just keep it if the project is so popular that people just know it from the working title and they're too lazy to call it something else. That's what happened with "LA Live" and "The OC Great Park." If every media source mentions it as Hollywood Central Park, there is a very good chance they won't change it.

I beg to differ. Here's some things we know of today that have since changed their working title:

Working Title - Current Name
L.A. Downtown Arena - Staples Center
Pasadena Blue Line - Metro Gold Line
San Fernando Valley Metro Rapidway - Metro Orange Line
Arroyo Seco Expressway - Pasadena Freeway

what about l.a live as times square of the west think that will ever change??

what about l.a live as times square of the west think that will ever change??

TSOTW wasn't even a working name, more like a concept.

Nixon also supported and signed into law a lot of government programs that today's Republicans/Neocons would oppose. Also, Nixon pulled us out of a war, instead of bringing us into one (or even two...).


But that's like saying that Reagan ended the cold war.

^^ or even saying clinton brought up the economy

ok..on another note...does anyone have that picture that was posted on SSP that shows the 101 fwy in the middle, the new high school on the right and the Cathedral on the left side? I think that would be a cool place to build a park over the fwy. can someone post that pic? i'd like to do a rendering

that whole section on the edge of downtown would be very nice to put a large park

tennis you not talking about this one are you?

welcome to los angeles...

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f269/janus020/PICT0038.jpg

^^ no..it's another one...but that'll work too..thanks

Where's "Htown?"

Where's "Htown?"



Duh?......Houston!

Hollywood is inner city so have to pay for its consequences, if someone try to have good life quality in Hollywood better move to suburban OC or Inland Empire.

...what?
so your saying oh you grew up in a less then stellar area, so you can rot in hell?

The O.C., Inland Empire? better? NOT!!!!

Hollywood is inner city so have to pay for its consequences, if someone try to have good life quality in Hollywood better move to suburban OC or Inland Empire.

lol...:ohno:

h-town = houston

Hollywood is inner city so have to pay for its consequences, if someone try to have good life quality in Hollywood better move to suburban OC or Inland Empire.

I'm born and raised in Hollywood and constantly strive for a better quality of life here. I'm involved in my community. What the fuck did *I* do to "pay for its consequences"? Hollywood can be anything it can be. So fuck the suburbs...

...and fuck you too.

And get English lessons, please, fool. "If someone try to have good life quality?" What kind of sentence is THAT? Even Borat has better English grammar skills than you.

well said, though i think hes gone and not coming back... nice first post in the la forum

Inland Empire!? Palisades must be the mayor of Riverside or something *falls over laughing*

$100,000 approved for a study for a park over the 101 Freeway.

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10706463/detail.html

A project of this type is greatly need for Hollywood. Grififth park is too inaccessable. Why not call it the Ronald Reagan Hollywood Regional Great Park and then enlist all the rich right wing wackos who want to put him on Mount Rushmore to contribute to the funding?

didnt know about this element of the proposal:

...In addition to the many obvious benefits of creating new park space, by placing a “cap” over one of the world’s most congested freeway system, the necessary ventilation system would be required to clean the air before re-circulating it back into the environment - creating a positive improvement in the air quality in Los Angeles...
http://www.hollywoodfreewaycentralpark.org/

^^Oooh, aaah.

But I haven't heard anything about this for a while.

there doing calls for proposals now

That's because it's a dead proposal man...

That's because it's a dead proposal man...

Wrong you are. Southern California Association of Governments is funding the study. The southern part of the park will be in my neighborhood council boundary! :banana:

According to Curbed LA, they are looking for ideas for the park. Since a lot of it is in your territory El, what do you think the finished park should look like?

^ What's your source?

^^Curbed LA.

curbed la is also getting there information from the organizers of the project.

^^Curbed LA.


How reliable is it?

...i give up

According to Curbed LA, they are looking for ideas for the park. Since a lot of it is in your territory El, what do you think the finished park should look like?

Actually most isn't, but in the neighborhood council system, a park can a shared resource that can belong to more than one NCs equally.

I'd like to see it have:

- A soccer field
- A bike/rollerblade path
- A couple ponds
- A stream or two
- Picnic grounds with BBQs

The usual park stuff, it's gonna change the Hollywood area forever. Housing would inevitably be developed around the park.

^^No baseball field? What would Takashi say?

They should also include a mini arena for those world famous L.A. outdoor concerts to enjoy our yearly beautiful weather. Or maybe another protest since we all know how much we love to have them in this city.

^^No baseball field? What would Takashi say?

lol...if there's room, sure.

Actually most isn't, but in the neighborhood council system, a park can a shared resource that can belong to more than one NCs equally.

I'd like to see it have:

- A soccer field
- A bike/rollerblade path
- A couple ponds
- A stream or two
- Picnic grounds with BBQs

The usual park stuff, it's gonna change the Hollywood area forever. Housing would inevitably be developed around the park.

I don't disagree with your choices but I would like to see something special in the park, to let everyone know, natives and tourists alike that they aren't in Kansas anymore. In addition to your choices I would like to see some tributes to hollywood history and to the people who live and who used to live in the neighborhood.

How about......
...a cooling fountain modeled after Gene Kelly's umbrella dance in "Singing in the Rain"?

...or maybe a musical clock like they have all over Europe except with a Hollywood theme? At 7' o'clock, it could play the theme from the "Magnificent Seven; at 10 o'clock, the theme from the Ten commandments and a model of Moses could split the Red Sea; at 11 o'clock "Ocean's Eleven", the original version with Sinatra and the rat pack; and at 12 o'clock...High Noon (Do not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling).

...Maybe a few statues of Hollywood Icons? Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, the Marx brothers, etc?

...Space for a memorial commemorating the Armenian Holocaust, since the park is right in Little Armenia?

...an outdoor cafe, like they have in Parisian Parks and the Millenium Park in Chicago.

...A monument to L. Frank Baum with the characters from the Wizard of Oz? Not a lot of people know that Baum lived in Hollywood and was an early booster of the place. This statue could be as iconic as the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park.

...Some spaces for outdoor concerts to give local performers a venue?

...Maybe make the park lights in the shape of the lights the use to light movie sets?

...A kid's playground with imitation cameras and a field center where they could dress up in costume and pretend to make movies?

...Maybe a Shakespeare theater as a space for the LA Shakespeare festival?

...How about a place to buy discount tickets for plays and other performances like in Times Square?

...Maybe a Thai barbecue?

I agree that it could change the neighborhood forever. I hope it turns out special.

I don't disagree with your choices but I would like to see something special in the park, to let everyone know, natives and tourists alike that they aren't in Kansas anymore. In addition to your choices I would like to see some tributes to hollywood history and to the people who live and who used to live in the neighborhood.

How about......

...Space for a memorial commemorating the Armenian Holocaust, since the park is right in Little Armenia?


Technically it's on the outside edge of Little Armenia, but that would be an excellent idea, especially if the park gets built by 2015 (centennial of the Genocide).


...an outdoor cafe, like they have in Parisian Parks and the Millenium Park in Chicago.

...Some spaces for outdoor concerts to give local performers a venue?


...Maybe a Shakespeare theater as a space for the LA Shakespeare festival?




Good ideas too. As for the Cheesy Schmaltzy stuff, I'm sure that would be there but they really shouldn't take it too far. I'm sure the park will be named after some famous classic Hollywood celebrity. That doesn't bother me, but the park is for the benefit for the people who live in the area, not for tourists. There are already tons of amenities for tourists in Hollywood, but not for the people of the Real Hollywood.

If you're concerned about tourist draw, I think the fact that it's a park built on top of a freeway is enough to draw the curiosity of the tourists. Also it might give a relatively unobstructed view of the Hollywood sign for photo ops, I think that's good enough.

The reality is you have a dense community that's dealing with transition, and children playing literally out in the streets because they have no other place to play. I'd rather see a plain jane park with all the recreation center facilities than some cheesy tourist draw that the locals wouldn't want to use. The Hollywood community has less recreation space than South Central L.A. and to make it like another Disneyland would totally defeat its purpose. Sorry, but this really hits home for me and I have strong feelings about this, being that I was born, raised and still live in the Real Hollywood.

They should also include a mini arena for those world famous L.A. outdoor concerts to enjoy our yearly beautiful weather. Or maybe another protest since we all know how much we love to have them in this city.

I like that idea, itd be cool

Neat idea.