Masters students from the UC-Santa Barbara Bren School of Environmental Science & Management have taken on a research project focusing on the environmental advantages of transforming our "interstitial" spaces into more livable open space. The team is using Harlem Place as a pilot and will begin working full-time in Fall 2009 to analyze the potential of this space. In late 2009, the Sustainability Committee began surveying the neighborhood and the students met with members of the community to better understand how Harlem Place is currently used, what the neighborhood concerns and ambitions were for green space, and the potential function of a green alley for Downtown.Then in January 2010, the students partnered with AECOM to create a few physical scenarios to help us better understand what the potential benefits are of using this space more sustainably and some of these visuals will be presented to the community to provide some "food-for-thought" as to what a Green Alley can really look like.
At a final community presentation of the Harlem Place Project, the graduate student team discussed the impacts of transforming small-scale open space on both a local and regional level. With more than 900 miles of alleys and many park-poor neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles, the DLANC Sustainability Committee is interested in understanding more about what can be done to enhance our urban environment, improve stormwater quality and quantity, air quality, reduce heat island effect, and create a more livable neighborhood. Click here for a full update on the project and copies of the reports from the Bren Team.Check out the summary from the Harlem Place Project
Take a look at the hand-out provided by the Bren team.
Check out the full report from the Harlem Place Project.
A very special thank you to the team of graduate students who have provided our community with a valuable resource in understanding our urban space and the benefits of integrating small-scale open space into our neighborhood. See the full report below.
Check back soon for a video of the presentation.
We look forward to creating a working group to continue investigating how we can advocate for green alleys Downtown. If you're interested, check out www.downtownsustainability.com and sign-up for email updates from the Sustainability Committee. OR stop by one of our regular meetings or office hours to get involved.
Project Website & Resources
The Bren team will be updating their project website with the final report and other resources for the community. Check back here soon for more resources and links on Green Alleys.
What can you do?
Let us know what you think - complete this survey. We are starting a working group to understand and advocate for green alleys Downtown. Let us know if you are interested by emailing sustainability@dlanc.com or come to our office hours.
