Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Frank Gehry Will Help Make Over The L.A. River, But Not Everyone Is Happy
A river runs through it (Photo by Tom Fassbender via the Chicagoist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
()
Architect Frank Gehry is helping to create a new plan to redevelop the L.A. River, but not everyone is thrilled about his involvement.
Gehry is now working with L.A. officials to broadly revise the L.A. River Revitalization Master Plan. The original plan, which aims to convert the concrete-encased river into an ecologically-sensitive and accessible urban oasis, was approved in 2007 after public input. While no specific details, costs or renderings of the new master plan have been released, sources that have seen it tell the L.A. Times that it includes changes to the design for the entire 51-mile stretch of the river from L.A. down to Long Beach. Gehry's involvement and international clout are expected by many to bring momentum and a bold artistic touch to the river project. However, a group of activists that have long worked to improve the river are not so convinced.
This week, the non-profit Friends of the Los Angeles River, which has long argued for environmental restoration of the river, expressed their concerns about Gehry's involvement in a letter to the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corp. The group explains that the secrecy surrounding Gehry's involvement and lack of public input for the master plan revisions would "undermine our efforts and create confusion among the public and political leadership." The letter expresses their concerns that a top-down approach to land-use planning is the same type of planning that caused the once-freely flowing river to become an unsightly and neglected drainage channel in the late 1930s.
"Last time there was a single idea for the L.A. River it involved 3 million barrels of concrete," explains Lewis MacAdams, environmentalist, poet and leader of the Friends of the Los Angeles River. "To us, it's the epitome of wrong-ended planning. It's not coming from the bottom up. It's coming from the top down."
Support for LAist comes from
The group also worries that the sudden change in plans for the river redevelopment could jeopardize federal funding for the more than $1 billion plan to restore an 11-mile stretch of the river from Northeast L.A. to downtown.
Gehry, who lives in L.A., famously designed downtown's swooping and gleaming Disney Concert Hall, as well as many other recognizable structures from around the world, such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance. -
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars.
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
Best of LAist