Where Are LA's 'Great Streets'? Mayor Garcetti Unveils Urban Renewal Plan
NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) — Mayor Eric Garcetti Tuesday named more than a dozen streets across the city of Los Angeles that will undergo a makeover under his Great Streets urban renewal program.
Garcetti first announced the initiative last October, as part of a partnership with the Department of Water and Power and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to focus on specific improvements for defined corridors throughout the city.
Under the program, the mayor's office chose one "Great Street" in each of the city's 15 council districts to receive improvements aimed at making them more pedestrian-friendly and livable. The thoroughfares range from San Pedro's Gaffey Street to the San Fernando Valley's Van Nuys Boulevard, and from Venice Boulevard in Mar Vista to Cesar Chavez Street in Boyle Heights.
Garcetti discussed the chosen streets during a morning news conference at Lum-Ka-Naad Thai Restaurant, located at 8910 Reseda Blvd. in Northridge.
The mayor told KNX 1070's Dick Helton the effort takes a practical approach toward revitalizing some of LA's most heavily-trafficked thoroughfares.
"We realized that you can't turn around an entire neighborhood all at once," Garcetti said. "But if you take that main street that anchors a neighborhood and revive it with great street art and trash cans, help improve the sidewalks...and help attract good neighborhood businesses like cafes and restaurants, then it will turn an entire neighborhood around."
The city budget for Fiscal Year 2014-15 contains $800,000 for the Great Streets Initiative.
The first 15 streets to be designated are located in the following neighborhoods:
-- Highland Park, along North Figueroa Street between Avenue 50 and Avenue 60, in the First District;
-- North Hollywood, along Lankershim Boulevard between Chandler and Victory boulevards, in the Second District;
-- Reseda, along Sherman Way between Wilbur and Lindley avenues, in the Third District;
-- Koreatown and East Hollywood, along Western Avenue between Melrose Avenue and Third Street, in the Fourth District;
-- Westwood, along Westwood Boulevard between Le Conte Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, in the Fifth District;
-- Van Nuys, along Van Nuys Boulevard between Victory Boulevard and Oxnard Street, in the Sixth District;
-- Pacoima, along Van Nuys Boulevard between Laurel Canyon and San Fernando Road, in the Seventh District;
-- Hyde Park, along Crenshaw Boulevard between 78th Street and Florence Avenue, in the Eighth District;
-- South-Central, along Central Avenue between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Vernon Avenue, in the Ninth District;
-- Mid-Wilshire, along Pico Boulevard, between Hauser and Fairfax, in the 10th District;
-- Mar Vista, along Venice Boulevard between Beethoven Street and Inglewood Boulevard, in the 11th District;
-- Northridge, along Reseda Boulevard between Plummer and Parthenia streets, in the 12th District;
-- Hollywood, along Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea Avenue and Gower Street, in the 13th District;
-- Boyle Heights, along Cesar Chavez Avenue between Evergreen Avenue and St. Louis Street, in the 14th District; and
-- San Pedro, along Gaffey Street between 15th Street and the Harbor (110) Freeway, in the 15th District.
Los Angeles boasts 6,500 centerline miles of roadways that cover 13 percent of the city's overall land area, making it the largest municipal street system in the United States, according to Garcetti's office.
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