Sustainability Planning at the Grassroots Level - Hosted by the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council

Community members, steering committee, and other neighborhood councils are invited to the Public Presentation of the Preliminary SDAT Report. The SDAT will present their initial proposal and plan for the community and will provide a finalized report in early 2010. Your feedback is encouraged!

Friday, December 4, 2009
Starting at 6:00pm
Ronald F. Deaton Civic Auditorium
LAPD Police Administration Building
100 West First Street

Reception to follow.

Harlem Place Project - Community Meeting

Harlem Place is one of many interstitial spaces in our Downtown community that could potentially be transformed into active open space for our neighborhood to use. How might you use this alley? Would you walk your dog here? Does your business access it for deliveries? Is this a potential park space for our community?

Harlem Place Project Community Meeting
Thursday, November 19 6:30pm-8:30pm
LATC - 514 S. Spring Street

There is a team of students from Bren School for the Environment (UC Santa Barbara) working to develop a tool to allow us to understand the environmental impact through transformation of this space. As part of their final project, they will present three scenarios - and your input at this meeting will help them understand what the community wants. For more information on the project, check out the project website. Join us!

If you can't make the meeting, please complete this survey and let us know your thoughts.

LADOT needs public feedback in light of budget shortfalls

LADOT has begun a comprehensive analysis of its transit services to respond to a projected $23M shortfall in fiscal years 2010-11. It is critical that riders provide input so that LADOT can determine how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its services while minimizing impacts on transit riders. Fare increases, service reductions, and elimination of LADOT transit services are real possibilities unless additional funding is identified.

Please notify riders and interested non-riders and encourage them to submit their comments using one of the following methods:
1. On the Internet at http://ladotlbl.tmdinc.net
2. By telephone at (213) 978-9779
3. US mail to LADOT at 201 No. Los Angeles Street, #18B, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Harlem Place Project - Integrating Small-Scale Urban Greenspace into Downtown

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.

Join us Monday, May 3, 2010 at 7:00pm at Lost Soul's Cafe for a community presentation of the research and "tool" the Bren graduate student team has developed to help Downtown Los Angeles become a more sustainable neighborhood.

We want to know what you think about urban greenspace and Harlem Place. Complete this survey today! If you are interested in helping us gather information or community feedback, please contact us at sustainability@dlanc.com

For more information, including their project proposal, please check out their website: http://fiesta.bren.ucsb.edu/~greenla/Homepage.html

Meeting Agendas:
1. 2009.10.18 Post-Summer Regroup at NC Office
2. Harlem Place Project Community Meeting

What do you envision for a sustainable downtown?

I have had several conversations with people from around our neighborhood about sustainability and how it might impact their daily lives. Now I'm asking for your feedback too -- what would you like to see? What can the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council do to help you meet your own sustainability goals?

One of the first items on my list: RECYCLING.