The LA River Revitalization Master Plan

[Calsonic]

Nothing actually gets done in LA

[klamedia]

True on so many levels. And what gets done seems by chance. But the city has had lots of lucky chances.

[Mojeda101]

Status?

[PinkFloyd]

from: dailynews.com

Unleash the L.A. River?
By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/13/2011 01:00:00 AM PDT
Updated: 10/13/2011 10:16:05 AM PDT


The Los Angeles River has a more natural look in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area. (Michael Owen Baker/Daily News Staff Photographer)

It took John Long a dozen years to stop the stream of condoms, beer bottles and garbage dumped by his house near the headwaters of the Los Angeles River.
So the Canoga Park homeowner wasn't thrilled to learn of plans to transform the massive concrete flood channel into a sylvan urban river park.

"To add park areas and benches is the stupidest thing they could do," said Long, 43, admiring the sheer convergence of Bell Creek and Arroyo Calabasas, so imposing it resembles the bow of a battleship.

"The last thing we need is to create another place for partygoers and vagrants."

But while Long lauded the massive flood channel that paved the way for nearly 75 years of San Fernando Valley development, officials met Wednesday to discuss plans to undo its blight.
At a state hearing in Studio City, lawmakers joined local, state and federal officials, community groups and river buffs to discuss ways to restore the city's greatest waterway.

At the heart of the three-hour hearing was the stark, mostly concrete 51-mile-long river that bisects the Valley, and the cold concrete tributaries tying it to surrounding hills.

Plans call for tearing out tons of concrete and replacing it with terraced tree-lined banks that link bikeways, parks and neighborhoods from Canoga Park to downtown.

"This could not only be an amazing recreational resource for the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles," said state Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, co-chair of the joint legislative hearing. "It's a cost-effective solution to our water supply and quality."

Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Arleta, who also co-chaired the event, put it another way.

"There's an old yarn about Los Angeles: That it's the only city in the world where its river is paved and its streets aren't," he said to a packed room at CBS Studios. "Few can imagine the transformation of the L.A. River.

"And I realize we have a long way to go," he said.

To envision a regreening of a once-wild river that teemed with steelhead trout, engineers recounted the reason for its mostly concrete straightjacket.

In 1938, catastrophic floods killed 76 Angelenos, prompting the Army Corps of Engineers to turn it into a flood-control channel.

For decades, the trapezoidal channel was better known for graffiti-lined movie car chases than its potential as an L.A. Seine.

Then the Friends of the Los Angeles River held its first river cleanup in 1989, drawing 30 earnest volunteers. This year, an estimated 4,000 people turned out in the interest of reclaiming the river.

Governments followed suit, with county and city plans devoted to an all-new Southland waterway in the interest of capturing, storing and re-using its 330 million gallons a day of untreated water that flows out to sea.

And to create economic and recreational opportunities like redeveloped riverfronts in Denver or San Antonio.

"It's a dream come true, to see the layers of work and progress," said Councilman Ed Reyes, one of the largest L.A. River advocates. "The L.A. River is one of those elements that not only nurture life, but will lead to a rebirth of our city."

Full article: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_19101666?source=rss

[VZN]

From Curbed L.A.

City Passes Plan to Start Un-Paving and Spiffing the LA River

Big news for you river rats who are ready for the Los Angeles River to return to a more enjoyable state: yesterday, the City Council approved the Los Angeles River Implementation Overlay, meant to encourage good river-centric development, reports the Daily News. The LA-RIO creates a set of design guidelines for developers looking to build along the river's edges, and it's a crucial step in finally removing some of the concrete currently lining the river. According to city planner Tom Rothmann, this is the first plan for actually making changes along the river, unlike the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, which provided more of a vision exercise. Rothmann told Curbed today that the overlay "requires changes along the river and a quarter-mile buffer around the river."
Some neighborhoods didn't want to see any changes>>

Those requirements include drought tolerant landscaping and more strategic positioning for the less desirable uses, such as dumpsters and parking. According to Rothmann, "There are no zone changes--up zoning or down zoning. The LA-RIO implements design standards and guidelines." The design standards would only apply to new construction or major remodels; except for the drought tolerant landscaping, they won't apply to single-family homes.

According to the LADN, the LA-RIO identifies "areas where the concrete could be removed to increase public access to the river, while not creating any flooding problems," and not every neighborhood along the river will see the same kinds of development. Councilmember Ed Reyes tells the paper "there are commercial areas where we are going to them to say, 'You can do more here than have a back of a building facing the river'...We want them to look at other possibilities of having parkways and bike paths."

In residential neighborhoods, however, some people worried about people cutting through to get to the river, according to Reyes: "There were areas, primarily in the San Fernando Valley, that are heavily residential and they didn't want to see any change, where people would be trying to get to the river."

Rothmann also told Curbed that for now, the LA-RIO will apply to the LA River, but that eventually the design standards implemented by the overlay could also apply to other watersheds in the city, such as the Tujunga Wash and Ballona Creek. The City Council is hoping that the LA-RIO will be sufficient to convince the Obama administration to fund an Army Corps of Engineers study on getting rid of the concrete.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by VZN

From Curbed L.A.

City Passes Plan to Start Un-Paving and Spiffing the LA River

Rehabing the river is a fine idea; but this is pretty useless.

Drought-tolerant plants? That's what's already growing there. The point of landscaping is to make it attractive, not to minimize water usage. After all, it is along the edge of a RIVER. If there's no water for a few trees and an occasional bougainvillea, how can it be a "river" project? Needs rethinking or re-explaining.

Removal of concrete without creating flooding problems isn't very exciting either. Wasn't the concrete put there specifically to reduce flooding? What other reasons were there?

And telling operating businesses to add and maintain bike paths behind their buildings? That's not the city doing anything. The govt. orgs. should make a single standard and act as a single manager, not push the costs onto a few hundred private locales and then sit around and hope they do it fairly consistently and maintain it.

[klamedia]

You've finally gone off over the edge. Tea Party hat and all.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by klamedia

You've finally gone off over the edge. Tea Party hat and all.

Glad you're back but please don't get into name calling.

In any event, I'm just saying that that isn't a plan: it's a few platitudes cut and pasted from somewhere.

Did the San Antonio river project consist of putting in some drought-tolerant plants and removing a few pieces of concrete and telling some warehouses to put in some kind of bike path? This is more like a few sound bites to give the impression something is happening.

[PinkFloyd]

LA Daily News (Feb. 9th)

L.A. River development plan approved

By Rick Orlov, Staff Writer


A far-reaching plan to control development and landscaping along the Los Angeles River received approval from the City Planning Commission on Thursday, setting the stage for a testy debate as it heads to the City Council.

The Planning Commission voted 5-0, with four members absent, to forward the L.A. River Improvement Overlay to the City Council.

"I'm a champion of this," Commission President Bill Roschen said, after an extensive public hearing. "I think as people review this it will get more and more support. To create a park of this size is unbelievable."

The city plan follows the 32 miles of the river within Los Angeles as it snakes from Canoga Park through the San Fernando Valley and into the Griffith Park and Atwater area.

The zone would include all property within 2,500 feet of the river, and would require that new projects meet design standards, such on setbacks, fencing and native landscaping.

Claire Bowin, the city planner who oversaw the project, said it was important for a number of reasons.

"It is critical to start thinking about the area around the river corridors as places of ecological habitats and species," Bowin said. "There are a number of species that migrate through the area and play a large role in the health of our community."

read more: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_19933543?source=most_viewed

[pesto]

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd

LA Daily News (Feb. 9th)



read more: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_19933543?source=most_viewed

Not a plan. Not even a wish list. Just a rationale for more bureaucracy.

If the river were already gorgeous, then requiring standards around it makes a lot of sense. Telling Jerry's to get a permit if they want to improve their parking lot, DISINCENTS them from making improvements. When the LA "river" behind it is a concrete, weed-infested ditch with barbed wire fencing, how does this help anything? Just noise from the "public servants".

[Mojeda101]

Updates

[Marco Polo]

Great stuff. Thanks for the info.
It is just a small beginning but a nice and positive one. I will go and check it out.

[Mojeda101]

Originally Posted by Marco Polo

Great stuff. Thanks for the info.
It is just a small beginning but a nice and positive one. I will go and check it out.

It's a start, and once a small pebble falls, so will the the giant pile behind it. That's what I believe is going on in Downtown. Once Farmers Field and the Courtyard are underway, other projects such as LA Central will come back with all the life in the area. Hopefully Grand Ave gets brought back to life once Civic Park is done and Wilshire Grand is underway.

[MegalopolisNow]

Nice post!Very interesting!I'm a new blogger and I've just written a post about THE LOS ANGELES RIVER. I would like to know what do you think and to share my passion for megalopolis with all of you. This is the link, it's about megalopolis and the first one is LOS ANGELES:

http://megalopolisnow.wordpress.com/...evitalization/

Bye!thanks!

[MegalopolisNow]

A Bridge to reconnect Los Angeles to its river

The LOS ANGELES RIVER must be reconnected to the city of Los Angeles ( about The Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan) and The Art Bridge, designed by Why Architecture in association with Judith Baca of SPARC ,could be an interesting example of a sustainable infrastructure because of the smart use of recycled materials. It could became a symbol of regeneration. In fact the bridge structure is built from trash salvaged from the river itself : concrete, plastic bottles , shopping cart and recycled cans, glass and tire. Moreover Photovoltaic panels on the canopy will generate electricity during the night.

From the bridge it will be possible to admire the the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural by artist/muralist Judith Baca , and ,walking across this bridge, visitors may experience in a different way the Los Angeles River and read about the history of the city. This mural is one of the most spectacular murals in Los Angeles and it portrays the history of California from pre-history to now, placing more emphasis on the history of minorities and civil rights.

Not a simple bridge but an absolute symbol of sustainabilty and an example for the challenges that MEGALOPOLIS like LOS ANGELES have to face.

[pesto]

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/0...rtheast_la.php

This is "almost Glendale" and my old stomping grounds. The development should be interesting and may justify looking at LRT or trolley through the 'hood.

But some serious police work is going to be needed. This has been Toonerville Rifa territory for 80 years and they don't give up ground without a fight. Walking in areas which the rifa claims is not advisable.

[klamedia]

If they're not planning on making the LA River look like this why waste our time and $$$!!!!!!!!!!

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by klamedia

If they're not planning on making the LA River look like this why waste our time and $$$!!!!!!!!!!

You just have to try.

[pesto]

klam: now you know that those bridges and towers were probably built by guys making the equivalent of $1/hr. and the funding came from the French govt. courtesy of their colonies. For the same kind of reasons, LA will get drought-tolerant, local weeds instead of magnificent trees.

And, of course, we don't really have that much water.

[klamedia]

Ok, so I'll just settle for the Eiffel Tower.