Thursday, July 25, 2013

Why Leaving Downtown Los Angeles Out of the Master Plan for the LA River Is Good for Downtown


One of the most important projects in the city's history - the restoration of a critical part of the Los Angeles River is about to take a giant step forward.  Yesterday's story in CurbedLA has the details.  And whichever plan is approved, will have a major impact on Downtown even though the project starts just north of the heart of Downtown.

The main reason the plan skips Downtown is that the river's channel in Downtown is narrow and steep and will require a much different plan.  And that's ... good news.

Because now we can starting talking about what is really needed to re-imagine and rebuild the LA River between Union Station and Vernon.  And to do that, we need a plan that is far more radical and far-sighted than any of the current proposals - and it will need to have a built-in business plan to pay for it.

The good news is our new Mayor, Eric Garcetti, is exactly the type of person who can get this type of project done. And soon - he will have a proposal on his desk on how to do it.

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