The Brief

The Mojave National Preserve was known for being home to the world's largest and densest Joshua tree forest. Then in the summer of 2020, a wildfire sparked by lightning torched through more than 43,000 acres of Cima Dome in the desert, and with it an estimated 1.3 million Joshua trees — about a quarter of its population.

Scientists knew restoration was going to be an uphill battle because of how much time the plant takes to pollinate and grow.

"Joshua trees seeds don't spread very quickly," said Debra Hughson, deputy superintendent at the Mojave National Preserve. "They don't move very fast or they don't move very far with just small mammals around."

The Dome Fire burning ‎in August ‎2020 along Cima Road near Kessler Springs.

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Courtesy National Park Service

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The scorched earth of Cima Dome after the Dome Fire in 2020.

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Courtesy National Park Service

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Ancient and slow-growing plants face steep odds

During the Ice Age, giant ground sloths that have been described as looking like "fuzzy Volkswagen Beetles" would feed on Joshua trees and spread their seeds far and wide through their excrement. Since the animals became extinct, wind and rodents have taken up the job — with decidedly less success. One scientist told Cronkite News that out of 1,000 Joshua tree seeds, only three or four of them sprout. Even then, the plant grows just half an inch to 3 inches each year.

Against those odds, Cima Dome's recovery felt particularly urgent, since its higher elevation was supposed to shield the plant from hotter, drier — and increasingly inhospitable — weather.

"This is an area where Joshua trees may be able to survive in the face of climate change," Hughson said.

To jump start the process of recovery, Hughson and her colleagues decided to try something different — planting seedlings in the Dome's burn scar.

Joshua tree seedlings sprouting in a greenhouse.

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Courtesy National Park Service

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"What we thought we would do is try to plant Joshua trees in a more spaced-out pattern so that it would accelerate the recovery of the entire area because you would have distributed seed sources. That was generally the idea," Hughson said.

Volunteers replant Joshua trees.

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Courtesy Nance Fite

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But the process was arduous; the hike to the designated planting spots alone took volunteers several hours.

"It's designated wilderness, so there are no roads. You don't get in your Jeep and drive there with a tank of water in the back or on a trailer. It has to be carried in," said Hughson. "Then once they got there, the actual planting probably took an hour — to erect the cage around it, to dig the little hole to put the seedling in, and to give it its first splash of water. Then you gotta walk all the way back."

And that's where Herbie, Sully and Chico came in.

Where the camels came in

"Camels helped to survey Route 66 — a little part of it," said Nance Fite, a longtime volunteer at the Mojave National Preserve.

Fite has kept big animals all her life: horses, water buffalos, camels. The 70-year-old Norco resident said the latter have had a long history in the United States.

"The government brought camels into Texas in 1856, and they came across the desert from Texas to Los Angeles in 1857."

Fite replicated that experience by riding her camel along that same portion of the trail through the Mojave in 2007, deepening her link to both the animal and the land. When she heard about the Joshua tree restoration project at Cima Dome, she convinced the park service to let the camels pitch in and help.

"Prehistoric camels were in the Mojave Desert, and the camels came through in 1857," said Fite. "They leave even a smaller footprint than a mule or a horse."

Volunteers and their camels during a replanting session.

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Courtesy Jennifer Lagusker

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Courtesy Jennifer Lagusker

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Fite recruited her friend Jennifer Lagusker, who trailered Herbie, Sully, and Chico from her Sylmar home to the Mojave.

"The job was to pack them and have them carry these things into wherever the park service had us go," Lagusker said. "When Nance told me about this, I thought, 'Well, what better way to advocate for the camel than to show the world, hey, they can pack, they really like it, and honestly, they need that kind of a job.'"

Leading the pack is Herbie. "He is my biggest one, my smartest one. He is my go-to when it comes to doing projects we've never done before, like this project," said Lagusker.

Sully is one of the camels helping the National Park Service plant Joshua trees in the Mojave.

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Courtesy Jennifer Lagusker

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Next is Sully. "He doesn't like to be in the front of the line. He likes to keep his nose right next to Herbie's butt — like a security," Lagusker said.

Rounding out the pack is Chico — the smallest of the three — short for Chiquito. "He's very vocal. He has an opinion for everything. When it comes to the three of them, he's the one that tells the others what to do," she said.

Since 2021, the trio has been involved in most of the plantings, with Herbie and Sully carrying the seedlings, and Chico transporting the water on miles-long hikes through the desert.

Nance Fite (baseball hat), Jennifer Lagusker (cowboy hat) and other volunteers posing with the camels.

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Courtesy Jennifer Lagusker

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This year's planting

As soon as a couple months from now, volunteers like Fite and Lagusker and the camels will gear up again for another expedition to Cima Dome. But after 2024, seedling restoration will come to an end for that area.

National Park Service's Hughson said some 3,500 young Joshua trees have been planted since the the project started in 2021, but estimated that the survival rate is just about 20 percent.

"Our goal is to protect natural systems and natural ecosystems — all the plants, all the animals, but then some animals and some plants wind up being just a little bit more 'charismatic' than other ones," said Hughson, meaning that some species command more attention than others.

"The Joshua tree is charismatic, the desert tortoise, the desert bighorn sheep, and so if we can get support and resources to save [them], then everything else comes along with it," Hughson said.

After Cima Dome, the park service will turn their focus to a different fire-scorched area in the Mojave, where another million or so Joshua trees were destroyed by the York Fire in 2023. Hughson said that active restoration — the planting of the seedlings — would likely be undertaken.

If so, Lagusker said her camels are ready to report for duty.

"It's truly incredible to see." said Lagusker. "You pack all of this weight on them, and to see them get up with such ease and just walk. It's like they get in a zone and like a light switch that turns on when you see them caravaning out in the desert."

Community colleges in California will be required to offer abortion medication through campus health centers starting in 2029, under a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday.

Through the Community College Student Right to Access Act, California will extend the reproductive health service already required for public universities in the state. No specific dollar amount is mentioned in the new law, only that the implementation of abortion medication at community colleges will rely on the Legislature appropriating funding.

Community colleges were left out of Senate Bill 24, a law that was signed in 2019 and took effect in 2023, requiring University of California and California State University campuses to provide on-campus abortion medication at their health centers. The new law, authored by Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, a Democrat from San Francisco, will require abortion pill access at community college campuses with existing health centers. Today, 92 out of 115 community college campuses have health centers.

“We are closing a critical gap by ensuring that community college students, one of the most diverse and economically vulnerable populations in our state, have the same access to care as their peers at four-year institutions,” Stefani said during the Assembly Health Committee hearing in April.

Students at UC, Cal State and community college campuses on the Pro-Abortion Student Advisory Board supported the bill as part of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, a national advocacy and reproductive justice organization. The student board works to expand education outreach for reproductive healthcare across the state.

“The system is clearly moving towards the better,” said Angelica Campos, a San Francisco City College student and advisory board member, in response to the governor’s signature.

Implementing the law

Medication abortion can be taken 10 to 11 weeks after the day of a person’s last period. It accounted for more than half of all U.S. abortions in 2023, according to Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health.

Community college health services leaders were initially concerned about implementation due to the locally controlled model of the community college system. For this reason, community college health centers do not operate in the same way as university health centers.

While the law requires community colleges with health centers to start offering abortion medication, it does not require that it happens on campus, unlike the law for UC and Cal State campuses. Instead, community colleges have multiple options. They can prescribe the medication onsite via a licensed provider on staff or telehealth. The health center can utilize partnerships with an offsite provider who can prescribe abortion medication. Or, they can offer a “warm handoff” directing students to resources off campus, with follow-up care on their campus. Implementation cost will depend on the model community colleges choose to adopt.

Some community colleges, like El Camino College in Torrance, already have a “robust” healthcare system, according to Susan Nilles, faculty coordinator of El Camino College Student Health Services and a nurse practitioner. While the campus doesn’t currently offer abortion medication, Nilles said she does not anticipate challenges to comply with the law.

“We’re fortunate enough to where we can handle something like this. It’s nice to know that legally, we’re backed,” Nilles said.

College of the Redwoods, located in the Northern California coast city of Eureka, is one of the 23 community college campuses in the state without an on-campus health center. That campus relies on telehealth services, community partnerships and referrals to local healthcare organizations. Students can currently access medication abortion services through referrals from their telehealth provider, TimelyCare.

Stephanie Freyermuth, manager of Basic Needs, Housing Insecurity & Wellness at the college, said due to campus size, rural location and lack of medical community resources, she does not believe College of the Redwoods will adopt in-person services, including abortion medication, in the immediate future.

Dr. Rosafel A. Nogra, who serves as director of De Anza College's Student Health Services in Cupertino, said the law is an opportunity to expand their health center’s reproductive healthcare. The campus doesn’t offer abortion medication onsite currently. Instead, it offers services through the Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment Program provider that offers confidential reproductive health services at no cost to students who meet certain requirements.

Service costs may vary among colleges

The previous law requiring medication abortion services at public universities established the College Student Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund with private funds, which provided a $200,000 grant to each campus student health center to implement services. Community colleges were left out of that law because there was not enough capacity to extend funding to them all, Connie Leyva, a former Democratic state senator from Chino and the author of that bill, told CalMatters in a phone interview.

The cost for abortion medication at UC and Cal State campuses varies. Some Cal State campuses give it to students for free. For UC students, medication costs are covered by the required on-campus UC Student Health Insurance Plan.

Cal Poly Humboldt's costs are free due to grant funding from the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, while Sonoma State covers the cost with mandatory student health fees and part of the implementation funding. Cal State San Marcos charges students $20 to $28 for the prescription.

Sonoma State listed their cost as $50 on their health center website but Tim Grace, director of the student health center, told CalMatters in an email it was free. After CalMatters asked about the cost, the college confirmed the medication is free and the website was updated.

The cost for abortion medication at community colleges will depend on how much the Legislature appropriates in the state budget for 2029 and may vary among campuses.

Bringing awareness to students

The law will require all campuses, both community colleges and universities, to inform students that abortion medication services are offered at their health centers. This was another component left out of the previous law.

Four years after she left office, Leyva said that she still receives calls from people frustrated by the lack of advertising about reproductive health services on campuses.

“That part of the bill is tangible and I think that can make a big difference for a lot of young women,” said Leyva, who is now the executive director for KVCR public media in San Bernardino.

The new law will require all campuses to post about medication abortion availability on their websites. Currently, all UC campuses have abortion medication listed on their websites. All Cal State campuses have it on their websites except Chico State, which does not explicitly mention abortion medication and instead highlights birth control and “comprehensive care tailored to specific gender-related health needs” for men and women. Chico State Media Relations Coordinator Michael Drummond said the school will comply with the awareness requirements outlined in the law.

Cal Poly Humboldt student Kaylee Luna works as the Sex, Health and Body Educator at the Women’s Resource Center at her university. Luna connects students to sexual health and reproductive resources on campus. While she was aware abortion medication was provided on campus, she didn’t know it was free until she researched it for her job. From her personal perspective, she feels abortion medication and reproductive resources aren't talked about enough.

“I don't think that students on campus are really aware of that. I mean, no one's really talking about it or, you know, making (social media) posts or flyers,” Luna said. “I feel like it is still a touchy subject for some folks but I don't think there's much awareness and I think there should be.”

Faith Chinnapong says in her work alongside college students as a California-based organizer for Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, she sees the knowledge gap across campuses.

“It's common to meet a student who is completely unaware of the services on her own campus," Chinnapong said. “When campuses especially are in these rural areas, it makes it more difficult for these young people to be able to go and seek these services, especially when they're working multiple jobs and taking care of their family.”

Students like Campos working on the Pro-Abortion Student Advisory Board have heard student concerns first-hand. According to her, access can make all the difference, and going offsite can be a deterrent for some seeking care.

“Comfort is really important, and I think students sometimes feel more safe going to somewhere they're more familiar with, and oftentimes that's campus,” Campos said.

Moving forward 

The new law won’t take effect for more than two years, and only upon appropriation of funds by the state Legislature.

“Even if we’re not gonna see the changes potentially overnight, it’s really good that we’re here doing the foundational work,” Campos said.

Now, groups like Pro-Abortion Student Advisory Board will work towards bringing more awareness about the law to students and campus health centers.

“Students should have the option to whatever they choose to decide on how to care for their bodies and having that access would just make it all the better on campus,” said Vanetta Godinez, a San Diego City College student and board member.

Noelle Doblado and Skylar Stock are contributors with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Throwaway vapes will be illegal in California under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed this week that’s aimed to reduce the risk of battery fires at landfills and recycling centers.

Retailers and distributors found breaking the law would be fined $500 for the first violation and as much as $2,000 for subsequent violations.

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, a Thousand Oaks Democrat, introduced the bill to curb the proliferation of hazardous waste — particularly the highly flammable lithium batteries inside e-cigarettes, which can ignite at trash facilities and put workers at risk.

The batteries “cannot easily be removed, so they pose costly and hazardous safety issues at every point in the waste stream,” she said during a June hearing. “We do not throw away our phones or our laptops after one week of use, and we should not treat other lithium devices any differently?”

About 12 million disposable vapes are sold nationally every month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2016, a lithium battery started a fire in a San Mateo County recycling facility, costing it $8.5 million and driving up its annual insurance cost by almost $3 million. In addition to anti-smoking and healthcare groups, waste management authorities and environmental advocacy organizations supported the measure.

“The growing vape crisis is posing an existential threat to our waste and recycling system,” said Nick Lapis of Californians Against Waste, a co-sponsor of the bill. “Even if managed responsibly, this is a staggering waste of the finite natural resources that go into making them.”

Residents also end up absorbing the cost of the fires e-cigarettes cause in garbage facilities, through higher garbage rates and taxpayer-funded cleanups, Lapis said.

Law enforcement groups, business groups including the California Business Roundtable and the California Chamber Of Commerce and an industry group representing convenience stores and gas stations opposed the measure.

Referring to a June report from Zurich Insurance UK, an insurance company, that found that fires originating from vapes are still rising in the United Kingdom despite a 2025 ban on disposable vapes, Alessandra Brichetto of the California Fuels & Convenience Alliance said that disposable vapes that are already illegal are the source of most of the litter and fires the measure attempts to curb.

Banning the limited number of legal disposable devices would also push consumers to buy illicit vape products, said Brichetto.

“That’s the fundamental flaw in this bill,” she said. “It assumes eliminating the legal market eliminates the problem. It doesn’t.”

Most Republican lawmakers also voted against the bill. In her opposition to the bill, state Sen. Shannon Grove said that the true issue is burning batteries, like the 2025 fire at the Moss Landing battery storage facility, which “cause catastrophic health impacts to communities.”

“We need to start to make a real difference in the issue of climate change, contamination in our air,” said the Bakersfield Republican during an August floor vote. "So let's take on real challenges, colleagues, and not just banning vapes.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

I yelped out loud twice this week; first while watching Jeopardy! — there was a clue comparing Shohei Ohtani to Babe Ruth (here for it!) — and the second while wistfully wishing I was in Dublin watching U2 serenade a crowd on Grafton Street when they launched into a tribute to the late Glen Hansard.

Closer to home, I checked out the new karaoke venue Mic Drop (in celebration of our Licorice Pizza host Lyndsey Parker’s birthday). Fun fact: The space used to be Larrabee Studios, which was originally owned by Carole King.

Elsewhere on LAist, you can visit late indie icon Elliott Smith’s haunts, check out the Sunshine Skate Center in Inglewood or get all the info for the Downtown Santa Ana ArtWalk on Oct. 3.

Music

She & Him reunite for two nights at The Orpheum.

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Chantal Anderson

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Here are the music picks from Lyndsey at Licorice Pizza. Don't forget that Saturday and Sunday there’s the big Neverender Festival at the Observatory Festival Grounds, featuring Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive, Sunny Day Real Estate, Pup, Thursday, Destroy Boys and many more.

Wednesday

• Jazz guitar great Bill Frisell and Harmony Five featuring Petra Haden at Zebulon
• Darkside featuring renowned electronic musician Nicolas Jaar starts four consecutive nights at the Lodge Room

Thursday

• Social Distortion, with Descendents and The Chats at the Palladium (they’ll be there Friday, too)
• DeVotchKa: A Celebration of the Music of “Little Miss Sunshine” at the Ford

Friday

• Osees at the Bellwether
• Hiss Golden Messenger at the Troubadour
• She & Him at the Orpheum — they’ll be there Saturday too.

Saturday

• Michelle Branch at the Wiltern
• Tech house star Max Styler at the Shrine
• Soulection Experience: With Kaytranada and friends at Reframe Studios

Sunday

• Tristen with Sharon Silva at Permanent Record Roadhouse
• Jessie Reyez at the Blue Note

Monday

• Mama's Broke — Reunion Album Release Tour
• Kylesa with Habak and New Skeletal Faces

Tuesday

• Jesse Welles at the Wiltern
• ivri at the Echoplex

Saturday and Sunday, the big Neverender Festival is at the Observatory Festival Grounds with Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive, Sunny Day Real Estate, Pup, Thursday, Destroy Boys and many more.

Events

David Lynch: L.A.

Through Wednesday, Dec. 23
Pace Gallery
1201 S. La Brea Ave., Mid-Wilshire
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

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David Lynch

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Pace Gallery

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David Lynch helped to define modern-day Los Angeles through his influential films, his daily weather report on KCRW and his visual art in painting and photography. It’s that last part that’s explored at the Pace Gallery's new exhibit (their La Brea space is one of my favorite new galleries in the city), with a spotlight on the space between Lynch’s films, his photography and his paintings. Lynch understood the darkness and the light of L.A. like none other — do a Mulholland Drive rewatch and then head here.

The Longest Table

Sunday, Oct. 4, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. 
Pampas Ricas Blvd. (between Sunset and Chapala), Pacific Palisades
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

The Palisades is making its way back after the fires, and a big part of that is the community spirit that has always fueled the beach cliff enclave. Join neighbors at The Longest Table, a free community potluck at some VERY long tables with chairs and tablecloths on Pampas Ricas Blvd. between Sunset and Chapala. Bring your favorite dish to share and pull up a chair.

Hola México Film Festival 

Through Saturday, Oct. 3
Various locations
COST: VARIES; MORE INFO

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Roberto Girault Facha

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Hola Mexico Film Festival

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The 18th annual Hola México Film Festival includes films from across Mexico, including a closing night screening of the new rom-com Amarte outside at Plaza de Culturas y Artes, featuring a performance by Spaghetti Cumbia. The full film lineup is here.

Montana Avenue Art Walk

Saturday, Oct. 3
Montana Ave.
Between 6th St. and 17th St., Santa Monica
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Art pop-ups, interactive displays, food, music and more will take over the swish Montana Ave. shopping district in Santa Monica. It’s all part of Santa Monica's celebrations commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Historic Route 66.

Sword Yoga with Weapon Up

Monday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m.
Clark Building 
861 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach
COST: $45.67; MORE INFO

Do you fantasize about being a swashbuckling hero in a swordfight? Or the maiden who gets rescued? It’s all as-you-wish in this romantasy-themed sword yoga class that blends elements of kung fu, yoga and sword fighting — props provided.

America(!) the Beautiful(?)

Saturday, Oct. 3, 8 p.m.
The Ford 
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., Hollywood 
COST: FROM $35; MORE INFO 

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Courtesy For Freedoms

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Art activism collective For Freedoms brings together a night of soul, jazz, hip hop and poetry exploring what being American means today (it’s complicated!). The night includes a DJ set by artist-storyteller Kai the Universe, Xochimilco recording artist and activist Xiuhtezcatl, curator Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and a performance by surrealist blues poet Aja Monet. This is one of six events developed by Joseph that aim to create “a shared story of who we are and who we are becoming.”

Joey Clift: We’ve Been Here the Whole Time 

Saturday, Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.
Elysian Theater
1944 Riverside Drive, Silver Lake
COST: $19.61; MORE INFO

Native American satirist Joey Clift is celebrating his new book — We’ve Been Here The Whole Time! A Not So Sacred Guide to All Things Native America — with an all-Native comedy show at the Elysian. The night features stand-up from Brian Bahe (Ghosts), Kristin Chirico (Buzzfeed), Jim Ruel (Showtime's American Indian Comedy Slam) and more — plus a live book talk between Clift and Julie Fiveash (The Froggy Librarian), moderated by Darrell Dennis (Just For Laughs). The show benefits ChapterHouse LA.

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares 

Thursday to Sunday, Oct. 1-4 
The Wallis
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills
COST: FROM $53; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Nobody Cares Is a Comedy

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Broadway star Laura Benanti is mixing her big voice with a stand-up comedy show — and it works. If you follow her on Instagram, you’re already familiar with her hot takes on perimenopause, accompanied by song. The Tony-winning Supergirl actress performs at the Wallis this week, followed by a short run at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa from Oct. 8-11.

Pacific Air Show 

Friday to Sunday, Oct. 2-4
5252 Bolsa Ave., Huntington Beach 
COST: FROM $20; MORE INFO

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Courtesy Pacific Air Show

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Whoosh! That’s the sound of dozens of planes flying high, doing Top Gun-style acrobatics overhead at the annual Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach. Of course, it’s free to see the planes (they are in the sky), but snag a seat on the beach for direct vantage points, live commentary, access to food and drink venues and more.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

An empty lot at the southwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard could soon transform into nearly 200 affordable apartments.

Abode Communities, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, is developing the Koreatown-adjacent project in partnership with Metro, which owns the property. The development would include 194 income-restricted apartments and two manager units for households earning between 30% and 60% of area median income.

Construction is projected to begin in 2028 and continue through 2030, with apartments expected to begin leasing that year, according to the project’s current timeline.

The project will include 69 one-bedroom, 76 two-bedroom and 49 three-bedroom apartments, along with a 6,200-square-foot flex-use transit plaza connecting two bus stops, a shared community room, landscaped open space, a community garden, play areas and bike facilities. 

The proposed 196-unit affordable housing development at Wilshire Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard.

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Rendering courtesy of Koning Eizenberg Architecture

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Plans also call for two bus shelters and extended bus bays. Residents would park along Crenshaw Boulevard, with more than 100 parking spaces planned in an underground garage.

The site is located in Windsor Village, within the Park Mile Specific Plan area, just outside Koreatown.

Rick Kim, Koreatown Youth and Community Center’s director of economic development services, said their organization will provide its knowledge of the surrounding community as a development partner. KYCC also plans to connect future residents with its programs as a service provider. 

“We have services for kids and family services around a wide range of social needs — after school programs, preschool programs, mental health resources and personal financial literacy, so we figured it just all made perfect sense,” he told The LA Local. “We are trying to figure out exactly how and what type of resources would most benefit the residents.” 

Metro acquired the property in the 1980s for potential future transportation projects. It was later used for construction staging for the D Line subway extension. The development is now part of Metro’s effort to build 10,000 homes on agency-owned property by 2031, including at least 5,000 income-restricted homes. 

Metro received eight proposals for the property in 2025 before selecting Abode Communities to develop the site.

The project is subject to planning rules for the Park Mile area and additional historic-preservation review because of its location in Windsor Village, a designated historic district.

The buildings would be taller along Wilshire Boulevard and gradually get lower toward the single-family homes to the south, according to Troy Fosler, a principal at Koning Eizenberg Architecture. 

At a recent community open house, residents left design suggestions, including requests for bulky item pickup, pet washing stations, additional setbacks near neighboring single-family homes and limiting the Wilshire frontage to six stories.

Tracy Park lives about two blocks from the site, which is currently an empty lot. For her, the development would bring new activity to a property she has watched for years.

Park, 43, attended the September open house at the Korean Resource Center with her husband and their two children. 

Tracy Park, 43, and her husband, Ben Bowes, 49, at the Sept. 23 community open house for the proposed Wilshire/Crenshaw development.

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Hanna Kang

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The LA Local

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“I’ve been seeing that lot for a very, very long time,” she said. “I was really curious what was going to happen with it because it’s in such a prime location and it’s so central to our little community.”

“We want our children here to also see that there’s planning like this going on,” she added. 

Park said she supports adding affordable housing to the area, which she described as densely populated. She sees a sharp contrast between the wealthier neighborhoods north of Wilshire and people experiencing homelessness along the boulevard.

“We see these rich, huge mansions right in Hancock Park, just north of Wilshire, and then walking along Wilshire every single night, we hear our homeless neighbors struggling or sort of asking for food or suffering in the heat,” she said.

Kim said more community meetings are planned before construction.

“We’ll continue to have more engagement sessions between now and the groundbreaking because we want everyone who lives and works in the area to be aware of the situation and have a say in how we can best move forward,” he said.

Residents with questions about the project can email wilshirecrenshaw@abodecommunities.org or sign up here to receive project updates and notices about upcoming meetings.