Download - Sustainable democracy in downtown Los Angeles

Sustainable Democracy inDowntown Los Angeles BY ASHLEY ZARELLA HAND , WITH THE

SUPPORT OF GUNNAR HAUSER HAND

With municipal budgets declining across the UnitedStates, local governments (city and county) mustlearn to work more efficiently and with far fewer re-sources. The economic downturn is an opportunityto take a fresh look at how community needs are metand how cities themselves are administered. Sustain-able democracy is the incorporation of grassrootsorganizations into the decision-making process fora more comprehensive and streamlined reallocationof city services. By codifying direct involvement ofcommunity members into the betterment of theirown neighborhoods, local government can foster aself-sustaining democracy that facilitates participa-tion, empowers action to meet community goals,and offers a relevant forum of civic engagement.

A case study of the Downtown Los Angeles Neigh-borhood Council (DLANC) Sustainability Commit-tee demonstrates how a city can harness grassrootscommunity organizations and volunteerism, lever-aging resources and the principles of sustainabilityto effect a cultural and structural change to provi-sion of city services and public infrastructure. Needsare not being met, communities want change, andthe democratic process must respond or else riskleaving constituents disenfranchised. As cities growand become more complex, it is necessary to createa more dynamic framework to assess communityinput and optimize strategic decision making. Sus-tainability as a concept can refocus city departments,realign decision making to increase collaboration,enhance effectiveness, and narrow budget gaps.

Case Study: Los Angeles

With a sinking credit rating and looming budget cri-sis, the City of Los Angeles is an extreme exampleof the impact the current recession has on local gov-ernments across the United States. The challengesfaced by Los Angeles have made national headlines,and they are indicative of the diminished capacityof local governments to deliver services and meetthe needs of diverse communities citywide. We havewitnessed the demise of American urban cores, the

subjugation of the population to an automobile-oriented culture, and a slow awakening to an alter-native transit-friendly lifestyle. Depletion of naturalresources and public budgets will remain a criticalissue for generations to come. The situation in LosAngeles is not unique to California, but problemshere occur in such magnitude, thanks in part to re-gional interdependence, that best practices at the lo-cal level hold valuable lessons for all municipalities.

Background

Like many other U.S. cities, downtown LosAngeles suffered a post–World War II exodus of res-idential population from the urban core out to thesuburbs. The disappearance of a streetcar systemand other tragic forms of blight left Downtown LosAngeles on a list of zip codes “not to live in,” evenas it remained an economic and regional govern-ment center. After a decade of residential (mostlynew condos and renovated lofts) and entertainmentdevelopment (Staples Center, Nokia Live, and theDisney Concert Hall), introduction of an adaptivereuse ordinance and changes in perception of down-town areas in general have transformed this nine-to-five central business district into a twenty-four-hourcommunity.

As reported by the Downtown Center Business Im-provement District, 39,537 people lived in Down-town Los Angeles in 2008, an increase from 28,878in 2006. Researchers for Casden Real Estate’s“Multifamily Market Forecast” found in 2009 thatDowntown LA, with just over thirteen hundrednew units, accounted for a fourth of all new unitsbuilt in Los Angeles County. The residential pop-ulation is still overwhelmed, however, by a dailyinflux of more than four hundred thousand people,predominantly single-occupancy-vehicle commuterswho work in the downtown neighborhood but leaveat the end of the day. As a regional transit hub, theneighborhood sees thousands of people pass throughevery day, and more will come with continuedexpansion of public transportation and constructionof a new high-speed rail system.

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Downtown LA encompasses many smaller neigh-borhoods, including some of the region’s premierehistorical and cultural assets. The Broadway The-ater District, for instance, has one of the largestconcentrations of historic theaters located on onestreet and is a defining (albeit underused) jewel ofLos Angeles. Unfortunately, these nodes of activityare fragmented and physically remote from one an-other. Separated by freeways and unfriendly streets,these districts lack the connective tissue so neces-sary to bring them together as one Downtown LA.Although nearly all of downtown is within a two-mile walking distance, perceptions regarding safetyand comfort discourage pedestrians, effectively di-viding the community. The Civic Center is a vir-tual ghost town on weeknights and weekends,separating Chinatown from the rest of downtown,and Skid Row is a psychological hole in the map.Yet the broader community has the potential forgrowth and increased density in the coming decadesas more buildings are converted, rehabilitated, andconstructed. These land use changes (many of thearea’s barren parking lots are destined for large de-velopment projects) must be matched with upgradesto the transportation system and public right-of-way, our most valuable and plentiful open space.With significant elbow grease and creative thinking,many self-proclaimed urban pioneers have emergedto lead a significant grassroots transformation ofdowntown into a more livable environment. The re-cently adopted Downtown Street Standards is anexample of a paradigm shift occurring, althoughslowly, in Los Angeles.

Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council

The Los Angeles Neighborhood Council systemwas a solution at a time of crisis for the city.The local government was being challenged forits failed representation of neighborhood interests,and entire communities were threatening secession.With a charter revision in 1999, the City of LosAngeles created a system of self-determined neigh-borhood associations, funded (currently $45,000annually) by the city but each unique in its bylaws,election procedure, boundaries, and stakeholderdefinitions. Neighbors worked together to definetheir neighborhood councils, and the city has nowofficially recognized and funded eighty-nine organi-zations.

DLANC was incorporated in 2002 and has par-ticipated in a significant share of the recent trans-formations downtown. In keeping with its bylaws,the neighborhood council represents business, res-ident, and other stakeholder groups (e.g., artists,arts, cultural and education, homeless, social ser-vice providers, private sector workforce, public sec-tor workforce) on a twenty-eight-member publiclyelected and city clerk–certified board of directors.There are seven standing committees: affordablehousing and social services; arts; education; parks,recreation, and open space; planning and land use;public health and safety; and sustainability.

The Los Angeles budget crisis has exacerbated therelationship between neighborhoods and the cityin recent years, and the Department of Neighbor-hood Empowerment (DONE) has failed to adaptto the needs of the neighborhood councils it ad-ministers. DONE has been incapable of furnishingresources and support to the system and even en-cumbered progress with slow response time and redtape. These setbacks show the failure of the localgovernment to effectively use its human capital, butthey constitute ample opportunity as well for theSustainability Committee and its potential to ad-vance the goals of sustainability for the city andcreate a more walkable neighborhood.

DLANC Sustainability Committee

Launched in October 2008 by Ashley Zarella Handwith the support of Gunnar Hauser Hand, theSustainability Committee is empowered by volun-teerism and partnerships. Through a planning pro-cess, the Sustainability Committee has worked withthe community to identify topics of interest or con-cern, study them, and present research findings withdata-driven recommendations for consideration byother neighborhood councils and the city council.By focusing on general issues and resources that arerelevant citywide, the Sustainability Committee hasdeveloped a “resource toolkit” to help leverage com-munity needs across a variety of organizations andfacilitate community involvement in creating a tem-plate for the solution.

The Sustainability Committee is structured to sup-port and lend its name to small groups and individu-als who want to effect change in their neighborhood.In this sense, the committee is a vehicle to promote

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local leadership on sustainability issues. If a commu-nity member wants to start a tree planting projecton his or her street, help design our website, orjust participate in the development of a downtownsustainability plan, the committee is there to facil-itate any level of interest. The Sustainability Com-mittee has grown into a network of stakeholderswho act as a framework for community-based ini-tiatives that enhance the livability, affordability, andefficiency of Downtown LA.

With basic strategies for education, outreach, andadvocacy, city-supported grassroots engagementcan expand the capacity of local government to meetidentified sustainability goals. These organizationscan help the city identify needs, lend more under-standing to inform reallocation of services, and dis-seminate information for increased participation inprograms designed to meet sustainability goals.

Education

“Park[ing] Day LA 2008”—a block party spon-sored by a variety of local officials, businesses, andnonprofits to celebrate the need for more parksdowntown—was one of our first events as DLANCdirectors. As opposed to the traditional “guerrilla”nature of the event, the Sustainability Committeereceived a permit for a street closure, laid downAstroTurf, and conducted extensive outreach on cityservices at our temporary park-for-a-day. By sup-porting a feel-good event that offered the publiceducation and outreach materials on topics of inter-est (local basketball leagues, dog parks, open space,recycling), the neighborhood council served as anorganization with broad reach that passes alongvaluable information to the community—not tomention a good time with local music, live art, anda mini dog park. After the event, the SustainabilityCommittee developed a report to outline the stepsto plan a similar event, and others have used this intheir own communities elsewhere in the city.

The Sustainability Committee has emphasizedknowledge as a key asset for any community. Greenliving and open space have been pervasive themesin almost all of our projects, and our goal is to em-power the community to adopt best practices. TheUrban Garden Guide (2010) gives downtown resi-dents information on classes and workshops, localgardening supplies, and some guidance as to where

people can collect what they need to grow locally. Asa kickoff to the Skid Row Tree Planting Project, theSustainability Committee hosted a “tree fair” andinvited tree organizations to promote their programsfocused on urban forestry, fruit trees, and commu-nity gardens; it also conducted tree survey trainingfor our pilot project volunteers. Hosted in the Cen-tral Public Library, this event attracted people inter-ested in tree planting, including representatives froma local grocery store who used resources from thisevent to kick off their own tree planting project. Af-ter the success of the Skid Row pilot, which plantedthirty-one trees along the city’s industrial backbone,the Sustainability Committee developed a how-toguide on tree planting projects in Downtown LA,which has helped several other tree planting projectsget started without reinventing the wheel.

Local government can facilitate a network for neigh-borhood councils to access information and down-load best practices and consolidate their outreach atthe community level. From the onset, the Sustain-ability Committee has focused on going through allthe required steps of the bureaucracy, documentingthe process, and offering our insights for future gen-erations. Too many community-based initiatives arecrushed by the complexity of the process, and largelocal bureaucracies are difficult to navigate. Withour reports and experiences in hand, the govern-ment, bureaucracy, and people can work togetherand plan for a better, more effective procedurefor efficient implementation of community-basedinitiatives.

A primary objective has been to develop and main-tain a resource toolkit to empower and ignite com-munity engagement in sustainable best practices. Toincrease participation and ultimately meet regionalgoals for reduced emissions, for instance, it is neces-sary to create a walkable urban environment wherepeople are encouraged to get out of their cars andget some exercise by walking from home to work.By educating the community on the benefits of walk-ing, understanding issues around pedestrian and cy-clist safety, and determining what will ultimatelybenefit the neighborhood through research andinvestigation, individuals are empowered to addressa particular concern or topic of interest. The toolkitrepresents documentation of these efforts, supplyingresources for civic engagement.

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As a grassroots organization, we find it takes a littlecreativity to determine the best way to encouragewalking, pedestrian and cyclist safety, and animproved streetscape within its means (total 2009–10 committee budget: $6,000). As a professional cityplanner, Gunnar initiated revision of the DLANCPlanning and Land Use Committee’s (PLUC) “De-velopment Principles, Criteria, and Guidelines” andformally introduced the concept of “sustainable”development to the Neighborhood Council. As thecity-sanctioned neighborhood voice, the PLUC re-views downtown development projects and offerscommunity input. The revised guidelines incorpo-rate standards such as LEED, landscape and build-ing design guidelines for low-impact development(LID), and a starting point for an improved ur-ban environment. The planning committee bene-fited from a professional planner’s volunteer timeand developed reasonable community expectationsand topics for consideration with a public process.There will always be more work to be done, butthis was a positive step toward a more strategicsustainability plan for the neighborhood.

The Sustainability Committee strives to foster indi-vidual commitment to best practices at home andin the workplace, which can have a remarkable cu-mulative effect in a dense neighborhood. Educationis the first step in identifying solutions and empow-ering individual action. By creating a resource forthe neighborhood to access local educational op-portunities, whether through other organizations orsponsored by the neighborhood council, the Sus-tainability Committee has helped people understandwhat they can do to help sustain their community.

Outreach

After several months of surveying participants in theearly meetings of the Sustainability Committee, wesaw that the neighborhood had concerns and interestin issues as varied as the stakeholders represented.A 2009 introduction to place making and a commu-nity charrette by James Rojas and Project for Pub-lic Spaces (New York City) gave the SustainabilityCommittee insights regarding healthy public space.Whether on Skid Row or from the American Insti-tute of Architects (AIA), people all share the needfor more green space, hospitable open space, shade,and recreation. Because the scale of the neighbor-hood is more “human,” it can be substantially eas-

ier to identify common interests and projects to meetthese needs, and grassroots organizations can be ina position to assume the role to meet these needsmore efficiently than citywide government can.

Each volunteer brings a network of friends, as-sociations, and specialties that increase the poten-tial of the overall organization to reach more peo-ple. We have leveraged these existing networks andforged new relationships to extend our reach. Wehave partnered with stakeholders to help us under-stand sometimes complex issues. In turn, the Sus-tainability Committee has tracked and reported oncommunity feedback to the DLANC Board, citycouncil, city departments, and other stakeholdergroups while fostering a positive, inclusive environ-ment for civic engagement.

If the city relied more heavily on neighborhood-levelorganizations for community feedback, it could po-tentially eliminate departmental budgets for out-reach and public relations and focus on delivery ofessential services.

By sharing best practices with other neighborhoodcouncils, the Sustainability Committee has evolvedinto a knowledgeable resource for the City of LosAngeles and increased the efficiency of our volunteerhours. Our volunteers help us establish needs, iden-tify lacking services, and focus on increasing partici-pation in existing city services (water, energy, waste)that may address those concerns. If the city reliedmore heavily on neighborhood-level organizationsfor community feedback, it could potentially elimi-nate departmental budgets for outreach and publicrelations and focus on delivery of essential services.By representing anyone with a vested interest inDowntown LA, this grassroots organization hassuperseded traditional institutional boundaries andengaged a civic-minded population that desires im-provement where they live, work, and play.

In addition, as the Sustainability Committee identi-fies city services that are affordable and practical forstakeholders, the city can begin to eliminate redun-dant and underused programs to close their budgetgaps. If there is no demand, it should not be a city


service supported by public funds. Some needs arealso difficult for the city to address and should behandled by networks of other community stakehold-ers. In turn, the city has given outreach material tothe Sustainability Committee to help increase par-ticipation in programs in demand in our neighbor-hood (for example, the new multifamily recyclingprograms).

The Sustainability Committee has used a vari-ety of its own tools to facilitate outreach to thecommunity, among them maps, emails, a blog andwebsite, bilingual posters and handouts, and of-fice hours. In a community with a diverse pop-ulation, we cannot always rely on the Internetto get the word out about what is happening inthe neighborhood; by establishing one evening ofthe week, volunteers can set aside some time tocome into the DLANC office and work with theSustainability Committee chairs on their neighbor-hood initiatives. We have expanded our capabili-ties by developing templates for outreach to makeit easier for us to mobilize when needed. We haveoffered extensive outreach for other projects andorganizations that are addressing our mission, andmore community members are taking an active rolein spreading the word about what we are trying toaccomplish together.

Advocacy

The most significant role of the Sustainability Com-mittee is advocate for the neighborhood. Initially,we focused on bringing in expertise to enhance ourcapacity and build a reputation in the communityas a positive resource. In 2009, the SustainabilityCommittee applied for an AIA Sustainable DesignAssessment Team (SDAT) grant, which gives com-munity assistance to cities looking to establish andattain sustainability goals. The grant brought a teamof professionals from across the country to assist theneighborhood council in understanding its potentialwithin the existing framework of the city, leveragingpartnerships and existing resources, and ultimatelydriving a vision for a greener future.

With months of preparation and ongoing commu-nity projects, the Sustainability Committee broughtin a broad range of stakeholders to participate in theSDAT visit. Organizations that have traditionallydismissed neighborhood councils as misinformed

NIMBYs (not in my back yard) were impressed bythe professionalism of this process, the caliber of ex-pertise at the table, and our ability to bring peopletogether on common issues. The objective is to createa comprehensive community greening strategy thatenables us to guide future development and decisionmaking to more sustainable solutions for both ourbuilt environment and public health; the support ofthese stakeholders is critical to its success.

As a community voice, the SustainabilityCommittee has empowered individuals to raiseissues of interest by creating a forum for discussionand research. In return, we are able to accesscity leadership with data-driven solutions andrecommendations as a city-sanctioned organization.When one community member took time to researchthe impact of Styrofoam waste on our landfills,documented other municipal policies, and presentedhis findings to the committee, we wrote a letterrequesting an ordinance study to ban this material inrestaurants. Upon receipt, the Bureau of Sanitationsolicited our research to help them understand thepotential impact this might have. By empoweringone individual, a volunteer, we efficiently gave thecity a basis for evaluating existing city services andordinances.

Because we are a volunteer-led organization, we fo-cus on maximizing the time the community is will-ing to give by tapping into what already exists andmobilizing support for initiatives and ideas alreadyconceived. The Sustainability Committee recentlysupported a Car-Free Friday program meant to en-courage people to get out of their cars and ontobicycles. Developed by the LA Bicycle Coalition,the Sustainability Committee viewed this programas a great way to encourage use of public tran-sit and walkable streets and has sent letters to thecity council to encourage their support. Because theinfrastructure for this program, including businessincentives, has already been developed, the Sustain-ability Committee can focus on increasing awarenessto garner more grassroots support.

By becoming a trusted voice of the Downtown LAcommunity, the Sustainability Committee has be-gun to champion causes long neglected in the city.Using the power of suggestion, we help city govern-ment become more informed about local issues. By


generating broader awareness of some of these is-sues, we also create a more informed public thathas the tools to successfully effect a behavioral andcultural shift to a more sustainable or less wastefullifestyle.

Moving Forward

There are myriad challenges to grassroots en-gagement, and strong personalities can derail itslegitimacy and weaken potential. If structuredappropriately for its mission, however, a grass-roots organization can be accessible, engaging, andtransformative. When DLANC went through itsroles-and-responsibilities exercise for the boardof directors, everyone was invited, but it wasAshley’s leadership that produced a recommenda-tion and implemented results. In this sense, lead-ership becomes a necessary component to a qualitygrassroots organization but should be balanced withopportunity for broad participation and decisionmaking. Leaders must delegate and empower othersto work toward common objectives. If the leader isthe one who ends up doing all your work, then youprobably have not inspired many people to becomeinvolved. In fact, you have probably been takenadvantage of.

Municipal governments should seek to actively pro-mote and engage grassroots organizations in thedecision-making process and furnish resources to in-crease their capacity. By empowering these groups,whether official or quasi-official, local governmentscan extend the municipality’s effectiveness throughuse of free citizen hours. The return for these citizensis delivering on the change that they seek and feelinga strong sense of community ownership and prideas a result of their impact. With sustainability as aframework, you can engage a wide audience withvarious interests. Sustainability is an overarchingprinciple to coordinate the community’s goals andobjectives. The Sustainability Committee can act asa conduit for any individual interest in the com-munity, while the collaborative approach increasesproductivity and cost-effectiveness with the supportof multiple community partners.

Change comes from within, and nothing will changeunless we change our own behavior and thenthat of our households, families, neighborhoods,

communities, cities, regions, and states. A few sug-gestions for how you can lend sustainable democ-racy to your neighborhood:

Change comes from within, and nothing will changeunless we change our own behavior and then that ofour households, families, neighborhoods, communi-ties, cities, regions, and states.

Learn from others, and avoid reinventing thewheel whenever possible. Check out what theSustainability Committee has done in Down-town Los Angeles in only a couple of years,at www.downtownsustainability.com. Use thiswebsite as a resource for ideas and a startingpoint if you are thinking about volunteering yourtime. Local governments usually offer a lot morethan the average citizen is aware of, and theirfrustration is a result of lack of information. TheSustainability Committee has focused on pro-moting existing programs and services in a waythat strategically maximizes benefits for all.

Get involved with your community through a lo-cal chapter of a national nonprofit, business im-provement district, or home association. Thesegroups are the foundation for a coalition to pro-mote sustainability. If you think in terms of sus-tainability, you will see that all our interests areinterrelated and can benefit one another. If yourlocal government does not have a neighborhoodcouncil system, or if you are unsatisfied withit, work to change it or create a new one. Thecity department that oversaw LA’s neighbor-hood councils was just merged with another citydepartment thanks to cost-saving measures. Thisis an opportunity to promote a more efficientand sustainable neighborhood council system.

You can engage all members of the communityby recognizing individual skills and supplyinga multitude of mechanisms for engagement. Asone of the SDAT members, Jim Dier, advisedus, we need to sustain a “yes we can” attitudetoward civic engagement and avoid the pitfalls of“no.” With a little time and enthusiasm, togetherwe can change the world.


References

“2010 Casden Real Estate Multifamily Market Forecast.”Marshall School of Business & School of Policy, Planning,and Development, University of Southern California. Re-trieved June 28, 2010, from http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/lusk/casden/pdfs/multifamily-report-2010.pdf.

Downtown Center Business Improvement District. “Down-town Los Angeles: Demographic Study 2008.” Retrieved July7, 2010, from http://www.downtownla.com/files/DCBID-Downtown-LA-Demo-Study-2008.pdf.

Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. “Devel-opment Principles, Criteria and Guidelines for the Eval-uation of Proposed Projects.” 2009. Retrieved June 28,

2010, from http://dlanc.com/planning/dpluc-development-principles.

“Downtown Street Standards.” City of Los Angeles, 2009.Retrieved June 28, 2010, from http://www.urbandesignla.com/downtown guidelines.htm.

Ashley Zarella Hand currently works as an architectural de-signer for the international firm AECOM.

Gunnar Hauser Hand is currently on the board of the LosAngeles Chapter of the American Planning Association and ischair of railLA, a coalition of architects and planners workingto bring high-speed rail to California.
