LA River

LA County’s Mark Pestrella @ULI: A Public Works’ LA River Projects Update

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Mark Pestrella

The LA River is 50 miles long of, mostly, undeveloped land which touches 17 different municipalities. Many interested constituencies, for years, have hoped to take advantage of the potential opportunities of the waterway. In 1996, LA County developed its first master plan to address these opportunities. The plan, which was last updated in 2022, includes many goals, among them flood control, more parks and recreation, affordable housing and river access. VX News presents this excerpt from a ULI panel moderated by SOMOS founder Alfred Fraijo, featuring Mark Pestrella, the director of LA County Public Works, who updates the Plan’s buildout, the history of the waterway, civic engagement of stakeholders, governance issues, and the sheer amount of potential to be found along the LA River.

DC’s 11th Street Bridge Park Planning Fully Engaged Affected Communities

Issue: 
Scott Kratz

VX News interviews Scott Kratz, Senior Vice President of Building Bridges Across the River and 11th Street Bridge Park Director, on the decade-long project as it is about to break ground early next year. Kratz talks of the importance of fully engaging with affected communities early and often to create community-centered civic spaces. Kratz also opines on civic lessons learned & applicable to repurposing and extending the life of other federal infrastructure investments, e.g., the Los Angeles River Revitalization project.

SMMC’s Joe Edmiston ‘Jazzed’ by Newsom Spending & Open Space Priorities

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With generous surplus state funding included for climate resilience in Governor Newsom’s 2022-23 budget request, VX News caught up with Santa Monica Mountain’s Conservancy Executive Director, Joe Edmiston, to elaborate on how the influx of federal and state infrastructure investments will impact Southern California conservation and open space projects.

New LADWP Commissioner Mia Lehrer on Environmental Design, Systems Planning and Resiliency

VX News shares an interview of renowned LA landscape architect, Mia Lehrer, the newest appointee to the LADWP Board of Commissioners. Mia reflects on her firm's mission of advocacy by design as a process for making places that are environmentally significant and culturally meaningful to people and communities and helping implement projects—funded through bond measures and policies brought forward over time, whether on water, water conservation, shade, trees, or walkability.