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Why Is This Park In Jail? The Fight To Free 'Bundy Triangle'
Like holding a candy bar just out of reach of a 6-year-old on Halloween is the open-space-locked-behind-bars scenario of 'Bundy Triangle Park' to the nature deprived city slickers of West LA.
Last week, Carter Rubin and writer Joel Epstein took to the YouTube with some videos shot at the corner of Santa Monica and Bundy of a traffic island that might otherwise be called 'Bundy Triangle Park,' if in fact it was a park open to the public and not a gated mini-oasis taunting local green seekers.
Notes LA Streets Blog:
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Nestled in the northeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Bundy Drive is a rare piece of open space on the Westside. Benches dot a brick pathway and a dozen trees sprout up from grass lawns. This could be a nice pocket park for the people of West L.A., butbecause of a rampant homeless problem and a dead body found in the lot in the 1990′s, the park is behind a fence. Open space behind bars. When people discuss “West L.A.,” the picture that comes to mind is of a Caucasian middle and upper class community. However, the census data for the zip code surrounding the park paints a different picture. Sixteen percent of the population is Latino, and nearly twenty percent are Asian. Just under sixty percent of residents are Caucasian with African- and Native- Americans making up the rest of the population.
Opponents believe the park is "a magnet for bad activities" and given city budget constraints it would be tough to ensure a clean and safe area for people who live or operate businesses nearby.
Supporters feel that transit access is another plus for opening the park. "Metro runs two bus lines that board on the north border of the park. Across Bundy Drive is a stop for the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus. 7.2% of commuters from within the zip code commute to work by bus, either Metro or Big Blue," notes LA Streets Blog.
The duo will continue their effort to gain support from community businesses, residents, officials and authorities.
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