Photo by timsamoff via Flickr

Last night, approximately 120 Eco-Village neighborhood residents, friends and family gathered at Virgil Middle School for the LAUSD's 4th site selection meeting and to hear the District's final recommendation on the location of the new school.

In a stunning tribute to the Eco-Village's reputation as "problem-solvers" the LAUSD site selection representatives announced that they would be recommending to the School Board that the Eco-Village proposal be accepted, which means that the new school would be built without any homes being bulldozed.

The original LAUSD recommendation was for a site on White House Place which would have meant bulldozing approximately 40 homes resulting in a loss of housing and a total disruption of the Eco-Village community.

The Eco-Village not only fought the proposal but countered with a site recommendation that satisfied the LAUSD standards for the proposed school, avoided any loss of housing and also provided for even greater recreational space.

Before the victory had much of a chance to settle in, the LAUSD engaged in a bit of "Good News, Bad News" and explained that the District's White House Place Primary Center property was going to be converted into a parking lot for use by the school teachers and staff.

To the Eco-Village community's credit, they lined up to speak and proceeded to thank the LAUSD for sparing their homes, for working with the neighborhood and for selecting site #11, the site proposed by the Eco-Village.

They then gently pointed out that it required a bit of a disconnect for the LAUSD to propose building a parking lot in the Eco-Village Neighborhood. (One also said that they would fight the parking lot plan "tooth and nail" but it was said gently!)

One speaker diplomatically thanked the LAUSD for their site selection and then suggested that proposing a parking lot for the neighborhood indicated that the LAUSD didn't quite understand the Eco-Village, "an internationally recognized demonstration project committed to creating and supporting a sustainable community in an urban environment." He invited the LAUSD team to take a tour of the Eco-Village. "Please, come have Sunday dinner with us. Meet us, then you might understand why we have an issue with building a parking lot in our neighborhood."

The tremendous irony here is that the news of the proposed parking lot comes on the eve of the Bimini Place Shared Street Dedication.

Today at 10 am, City Council President Eric Garcetti will join the neighbors of White House and Bimini Place along with reps from the MTA, Street Services, Dept. of Transportation, the Bresee Foundation, the CRSP, the LA Eco-Village Community and the Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust in a ceremony to dedicate Bimini Place as a Shared Street.

This is the first of the East Hollywood Shared Street Projects and it features increased green space, pedestrian improvements and better access to public transportation, reduced traffic speeds, permeable pavement to sink storm water and food producing macademia trees. It does not include enhanced parking for automobiles.

Through it all, the Eco-Village Community looks for the silver lining, envisioning shared use and mixed use applications for the proposed parking lot and challenging the LAUSD to join them in creatively exploring ways to work together.

The Eco-Village is located one block east of Vermont Ave. and just south of First Street. Convenient to Metro #204, #754, #14, #714, #16, #316, #201 and the Beverly-Vermont Metro Subway Station. It's also the most Bike Friendly place in town.