What's Your Vision for York Boulevard?

The design of Councilman Jose Huizar’s “new York” vision project will continue Wednesday, with community members invited to provide their creative input.

The meeting will be held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at 5320 York Blvd.

This is the fourth in a series of workshops hosted by Councilman Huizar’s office and Living Street’s L.A., which is a project of the Green L.A. Transportation Working Group.

At previous meetings, local business owners and stakeholders have collaborated to narrow down a list of potential immediate projects to be completed along York Blvd. between Ave. 50 and Ave. 56 and have also worked to refine a long term vision plan for the area.

In January, the construction of several small street-side gathering places comprising art and decorated benches was chosen by a steering committee of volunteers to be the vision plan’s first along York Boulevard.

The plazas would resemble mini-patios, complete with benches, tables and padded Astroturf, where pedestrians could gather after an afternoon of strolling along the developing business district.

Instead of occupying sidewalk space, though, the pocket plazas would be seated in city-owned vehicle parking spots.

In February, Steve Cancian Rasmussen of Living Streets L.A. told Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch that the steering committee’s plan to immediately implement the pocket plazas had been by the Department of Transportation, which is responsible for permitting the project.

However, Cancian Rasmussen said that the DOT were excited by the pocket plazas and hoped to use the eventual construction process as a pilot project for similar work done throughout the city in the future.

"They couldn't say yes to doing the project right way, but the alternative they offered, only because of the push we've all made together,  they said 'yes we can do this, something that's never been done in the city before,'" Rasmussen-Cancian said. "They agreed to come out and see the sites with us and make it as expedited a process as possible."

In the meantime, Living Streets is hoping community members will use tomorrow night’s meeting to help them devise a new plan for an immediate project.

Local Business owner Cathi Milligan, who runs the on York Blvd., which has been home to many of the York Boulevard planning meetings, said those interested in the development of York Boulevard now needed to focus on other short-term projects that could be completed in advance of the pocket plazas in order to keep the community engaged in the redevelopment process.

"While we're waiting on this, we've got to be able to tell the community, we've got these plans for sidewalk benches, or new trash cans in the works," Milligan said.