| Wilshire Corridor (WC) sits in the heart of Los Angeles. "The real downtown of L. A. is linear, it’s Wilshire Boulevard." There can be greatness ahead for it – increased vibrancy, beauty and a more robust economy, or a nightmare of clogged roadways, stagnant businesses. To enjoy the best, we must plan carefully, and together. Wilshire Corridor 2015 Discussion provides that opportunity. The main focus is the area between Vermont and Fairfax along Wilshire Blvd. We need now to begin the discussion on how to create and promote long-term economic, ecological and social sustainability for our community.
The Discussion is a process to engage the community and others about our future. Trends, issues, problems and desires will be presented and discussed in a series of subject-specific workshops and over time produce a vision, principles and a five year action plan for the area. Currently WCBIC is working with the Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce and Tom LaBonge’s office to explore this discussion and its format. The thinking is to have an initial “issue framing” session(s) for a Wilshire Corridor Forum in October.
Questions
What are the problems/issues within the community that need to be solved over the next five to ten years, such as, security, jobs, education, transportation, environment, affordable housing, and parks?
How do we produce a quality of life that creates long-term economic sustainability?
What are the trends within WC, such as, demographics, developments, education, government, business, and transportation?
What are our assets and liabilities?
What is a sustainable, livable community based on smart growth principles?
What is an urban village concept and how to create one?
How do we get to a jobs/housing balance and reduce auto use?
How do we make use of City and MTA resources within the area?
Resources
CRA, City Planning Dept., DOT, MTA, Mayor’s L. A. Housing and Business Team and City Council members, Wilshire Center Business Improvement Corp., Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce, Local developers, Neighborhood Councils, Southern California Association of Governments,
Local Government Commission, Trust for Public Land, Los Angeles American Planning Association, Los Angeles America Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Urban Land Institute, professionals, local community organizations, residents and local businesses
The Road Map to Sustainability
Different tools support different stages of community decision-making. Below is a list of some of the different stages of a typical planning process.
Engage Stakeholders – problem identification, determine “big picture” issues and goals, establish measures of success (indicators) (by way of workshops)
Inventory Conditions – create data infrastructure to support project (data needs, available data, collecting additional data), identify existing conditions (on the web site)
Analyze Trends – uncovering and analyzing trends and projections (on the web site)
Explore Options – seek solutions to problems, form options to address identified goals and issues
Assess Impacts – direct and indirect impacts from alternative actions including: fiscal, environmental, socio-economic, traffic
Action Plan with Prioritizes – defines process for project implementation and utilizes implementation tools – CRA, MMCC, WCBIC, NC, City, MTA, Council Offices
After all Discussions: Final Report on the results of the Discussions to be published as the Action Plan that implements the WC Vision. Then monitor and update over the next five to ten years this Action Plan.
Who Should Attend?
These Discussions are designed for a multidisciplinary audience of local stakeholders (residents and businesses), local elected officials, City department officials, planning and urban design professionals, developers, school officials, local non-profit organizations and others who are interested creating long-term economic, ecological and social sustainability for the WC community.
Program Overview
How we shape WC’s growth is crucial to making our community economically and environmentally healthier, safer, and more livable. An important measure of livability is how we plan for housing, work, and shopping, plus recreational and educational opportunities for people.
The Discussions will focus on the opportunities associated with designing the built, economic, ecological, and social environment. The Discussions will also include opportunities for participants and speakers to interact and network with each other.
Discussion/Workshop Agendas
Discussion One. What is an urban village concept and how to create one? How do we get to a jobs/housing balance and reduce auto use? This discussion aims at analyzing urban sustainable development through methods, tools and technologies: concept of sustainable development at the neighborhood scale, sustainable development issues, the shared diagnosis method for sustainable development, choice of the Action Plan, etc.
Discussion Two. What is a sustainable, livable community based on smart growth principles? Livable Communities 101: Making the Multidisciplinary Connections,
This session will define livable communities’ strategies from a number of different perspectives, including planner, transportation, public health, and crime prevention. Learn the community elements that serve the overlapping needs of each of these disciplines.
Discussion Three. What are the trends within WC, such as, demographics, developments, education, government, business, and transportation? What are our assets and liabilities? This discussion will focuses on analyzing livable urban sustainable development from stakeholders' point of view and on the main role of participation in projects to ensure sustainability. Inventory Conditions – create data infrastructure to support project (data needs, available data, collecting additional data), identify existing conditions. Analyze Trends – uncovering and analyzing trends and projections.
Discussion Four. Is the draft vision and principles our guide for the WC future? Where do we want be in five years or ten years from now? Engage in a provocative exercise that will help the Community advance the sustainability agenda. Assess Impacts – direct and indirect impacts from alternative actions including: fiscal, environmental, socio-economic, traffic.
Discussion Five - The Best
This Discussion will focus on a slide show of the "best of" in pictures. The best of affordable housing, the best of TOD, the best transition, the best streetscape, the best illustration of mixed use, the best intersection, the best bike rack, etc. The presenter will also provide a context and suggest possible uses for this dynamic tool (community presentations, marketing, selling to skeptical neighborhoods, etc.).
Discussion Six – Tools to Implement the Vision and Strategy
Enhanced Transportation Session 1: presentation by MTA & DOT
New Schools Development Session 2: presentation by LAUSD and David Abel
CRA WCK Fund Session 3: presentation by CRA staff
Development Session 4: presentation by local developers of their projects (15 min. each)
Discussion Seven: Strategy
The strategy is a list of goals; objectives and policies that will help people make the community vision a reality. It will include agreement on the things we all value in our community and believe are important to preserve and protect. It will not only document these values, it will provide recommendations on the things we can do if we want to change our future.
Discussion Eight – Action Plan
What is the action plan for implementation of the Vision and Principles? The Vision begins with citizens’ aspirations for their community, and describing the goals with each other. As a result, the community responds by investigating the issues and recommending ways to achieve our aspirations. The action plan is a detailed list of specific tasks that must be carried out in order to achieve the objectives that have been agreed upon in a framework or principles. The action plan will provide citizens, local governments, and neighborhood and community groups with specific direction regarding things they can and need to do in order to make the vision a reality. The action plan will also provide the basis for evaluating our progress in achieving the vision.
Visions and Process Statement
? Visions are like maps that guide us through a tangle of bewildering complexities. Like maps, visions have to leave out many concrete features in order to enable us of focus on a few paths to our goals.” Visions, our dreams, are what could be. Dream or vision is the force that invents the future. We need to own the vision before it can be implemented. We are creating the future.
The overall process is to consist of four steps: step one - develop a community 2015 vision, step two - develop a community 2015 framework, step three - develop a community 2015 action plan, and step four - develop community 2015 - benchmarks and evaluate our progress.
Step one, the vision, begins with citizens’ aspirations for their community, and describing the goals with each other. As a result, the community responds by investigating the issues and recommending ways to achieve our aspirations.
Step two, the framework, is a list of goals, objectives and policies that will help people make the community vision a reality. It will include agreement on the things we all value in our community and believe are important to preserve and protect. It will not only document these values, it will provide recommendations on the things we can do if we want to change our future.
Step three, the action plan, is a detailed list of specific tasks that must be carried out in order to achieve the objectives that have been agreed upon in the framework. The action plan will provide citizens, local governments, and neighborhood and community groups with specific direction regarding things they can and need to do in order to make the vision a reality. The action plan will also provide the basis for evaluating our progress in achieving the vision.
Step four, the benchmarks, are specific "measurements" that describe important characteristics of our community. For instance, the average duration of a commute to work, the average amount of open space area per person, average family income, or number of years of school attained are all examples of benchmarks. Taken together, these can provide a picture of our community's "health" at a given point in time. From that point forward, they can be used to gauge if our community's health is getting better, worse, or staying the same.
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