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June 20, 2008
Will LA's 'Central Park' be a Downtown Freeway Park?
Vaughan Davies of EDAW, an urban planning and design firm, has a good idea: to cover up an 100 acre portion of the 101 Freeway, or as he calls it, the "Big Trench, in downtown:
On top of the "Big Trench" -- that unsightly two-thirds of a mile of the 101 Freeway, just east of the 110 interchange between Grand Avenue and Alameda Street -- that brutally slices through the historic heart of Los Angeles. The Big Trench separates some of our most prized and appealing landmarks -- Olvera Street, Chinatown and Union Station on one side; Disney Hall, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and City Hall on the other -- creating isolated pockets of activity rather than what we need: a livable, walkable and unified downtown district.
He's right, there's nothing more boring than that "dead zone" walk between Chinatown/Olvera St./Union Station and the rest of downtown. It's like exiting a nice cool jungle into a hot desert of pollution and noise.
Work has already begun to explore the idea: twenty-five urban design students from around the country have been studying the project for the past week and next Friday, the best ideas will be displayed at Caltrans' downtown building's plaza across from City Hall.
See Also: Hollywood's Freeway Park (Part I, Part 2)
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"nice cool jungle"?
are you refering to that refreshingly cool feeling one gets after a sip of king cobra with the homeless?
that is the only cool / jungle connection i see in that neck of the woods.
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yeah, drink it with Rick the Pirate, he hangs at Bar 107.
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This was initially proposed, in some form or another, decades ago. Remember that weird-ass multimedia thing that was planned int he '80s? boy THAT would have looked embarrassingly outdated these days had it gone forward.
The potential is amazing; El Pueblo would be THE "town square" of Los Angeles (again). The Cathedral plaza area would be an actual plaza, and the roaring river of cars down below would be muted immensely.
But the Hollywood cap park needs to be built first. The need is there. It's further along in the planning stages. In fact, the Militant has a pic of one of the latest concept drawings on his current post.
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The key words here is "historic heart of LA". Even though it's historic I think the same idea would be neater (if not more impossible) to put a park over the 110 through downtown. Not like either idea will ever see the light of day but while we are dreaming...