Dear Friends and Colleagues, Join us in reading August's issue of The Collaboration. The Transportation and Land Use Collaborative is happy to announce the addition of a new team member and continued progress on our work in the City of South Gate. This month's newsletter follows important local and regional planning and policy issues affecting the quality of life for Southern Californians. Sincerely,
TLUC on the MoveOn Saturday, August 18th the Transportation and Land Use Collaborative held the sixth large scale community meeting as part of the City of South Gate "General Plan 2030". The theme for the Community Update 2007 was "Improving the Future of South Gate Together". The event was a huge success, more than 150 local residents and stakeholders participated in the community update and information fair. At the meeting, participants had a chance to learn about how the General Plan update process, improvement projects current underway, and future plans, programs and projects the City is pursuing. The meeting also featured a community information fair, which included more than 20 booths representing city and county institutions and local nonprofit agencies. Participants were encouraged to attend upcoming meetings, where the public will have a chance to review and comment on the Draft General Plan. For more information visit www.tluc.net. TLUC Welcomes New Outreach Director
In August, Samuel Filler joined the Transportation and Land Use Collaborative (TLUC) team as Community Outreach Director. Sam will lead TLUC's community planning projects, advocacy programs, and civic engagement efforts. VOLUNTEER WITH TLUCTLUC is seeking enthusiastic and energetic volunteers to assist with civic engagement, community planning projects and administrative work. If you are interested in earning college credits or building your resume, consider volunteering with TLUC. Volunteers will obtain an excellent understanding of community engagement strategies, transportation and land use issues, the general plan process, as well as gain hands-on experience with TLUC methodology.Please contact Sam Filler, Community Outreach Director sfiller@tluc.net to confirm your participation. TLUC works with the California Community Foundation on a Community Building Initiative in El MonteThe Community Building Initiative (CBI) is a 10-year effort to revitalize the El Monte community by investing in the physical and social environment. The Initiative is a pilot project of the California Community Foundation that seeks to document and measure the success of the foundation's multiyear, multimillion dollar investments and partnerships in improving the quality of life in a targeted community. The Transportation and Land Use Collaborative assisted the California Community Foundation, in developing the Community Building Initiative (CBI) Investment Report, which outlines the programs major goals and objectives. Join TLUC and Help Plan the 2008 APA ConferenceFollowing a July Kick Off Meeting by the American Planning Association, The Transportation & Land Use Collaborative began working with the Los Angeles APA Conference Committee to help plan the 2008 California APA Conference, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, CA. TLUC along with representatives from METRO and CRA-LA are leading the volunteer effort to address Transportation issues at the 2008 Conference. We will be working with the Los Angeles APA Host Committee to identify panel discussions and speakers. We invite you to join us by attending the next brainstorming meeting where we will discuss local, regional and statewide transportation issues and identify conference panelists. Transportation Brainstorm and Brown Bag Lunch For more information or to participate, please contact Monica Villalobos at mvillalobos@tluc.net. "Transportation planning in the 20th century was about getting people from here to there. In the 21st century, the challenge will be about getting there here." -Carl Hosticka, Councilor, Metro Portland. NewsNew Ordinance Passed to Promote Density Downtown This past month, the City of Los Angeles passed a new ordinance which will bring several new zoning guidelines into effect in the Downtown area. Most notable is the fact that these new guidelines would allow developers to build smaller, denser units, some of which can be reserved for affordable housing. The ordinance also allows for relaxed parking requirements for these new developments. One of the primary goals of these combined incentives is to encourage the development of lower-cost housing in downtown, since developers will be able to build more high-quality housing at a lower cost. This would also help to ensure the building of downtown communities that can take advantage of the existing and proposed public transportation infrastructure in the downtown core. One important aspect is that developers who take advantage of the ordinance and choose to build affordable housing will be required to pay a fee earmarked for the development of public parks and/or streetscape near the new development. This will help to marry the downtown building boom with human scale street design, parks and other community amenities so desperately needed downtown. "Great cities are not like towns, only larger. They are not like suburbs, only denser. They differ from towns and suburbs in basic ways, and one of them is that cities are, by definition, full of strangers." -Jane Jacobs CA Social Services Grind to a Halt As Senators Spar over Transportation, Medi-Cal Fund In the latest chapter of the state's continuing budget impasse, California Democrats have refused to submit to a nearly $840 million cut in spending that would effectively slash aid to the poor and push back statewide transportation improvements, including proposed mass transit in the Los Angeles region like the Expo Line. The deadlock has thus far forced the state to cut off nearly $227 million in funds to hospitals and nursing homes, as uncertainty over the state's future forces austerity measures on Southland medical care facilities. "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." -Alan Kay. Boyle Heights Redevelopment A $70 Million Opportunity Oscar De La Hoya's recent purchase of a 22-acre Sears Warehouse in Boyle Heights, just east of Downtown, is shaping up to be one of the biggest redevelopment opportunities East LA has seen in a long time. Making sure the parcel is developed to its full potential is vital for the area if it is to take advantage of its new position as a transit hub along the Metro Gold Line, the rail line planned for the Eastside area. In Boyle Heights, however, there is a renewed opportunity for successful TOD to take root and enrich a community that is already transit friendly and active. The key to the success of De La Hoya's investment efforts will be to engage the community, as well as policy makers in ensuring the project has a lasting and beneficial impact. "68% of the growth in California this decade will be Latino, 75% next and 80% after that…The future of the state is Latino growth." -Los Angeles Times Price at the Pump, slows signs of slowing motorist New statistics show that California residents are burning less fuel than they were a year ago, despite nationwide figures that show an increase in gasoline use. Experts link the decrease to a sustained rise in gas prices statewide, and point to California residents being on the fore front of a trend to curb driving habits, which experts hope will spread across the country. "The United States uses as much gas in one day as the next 25 highest gas-using countries combined."-the Economist. In the News:
Calendar of EventsEvents:
August 30, 2007 September 19, 2007 September 21, 2007 September 25, 2007 Conferences: September 30- October 3, 2007 San Jose, CA October 31-November 3, 2007 Miami Beach, Florida November 02, 2007 |
