With the upcoming installation of a Metro Train Station in the Leimert Park Village, the train has left the station for community involving in deciding just what our community will look like come 2020. The goal is the implement business and economic development strategies that will result in the revitalization of the Leimert Park Village Plaza and surrounding areas.  Towards that goal the "20|20 Vision Planning Charrette" took place on Saturday January 25, 2014 at the Vision Theatre. That meeting comes on the heel of a planning survey in which over 300 respondents, the majority of which who live in this community, gave their input.  The Charrette (a fancy word for the collaborative session in which a group plans activities) is one of the first meetings by which members of the public can have input into the community redevelopment process.   

The six objectives to be addressed between now and August of 2014 are:

Objective 1:  Create Building Design and Cultural District Guidelines

Objective 2:  Develop Pedestrian Oriented Infrastructure and Façade Enhancement Parameters 

Objective 3:  Propose Transit Oriented Development Concepts for the Public Parking Lots in the Village area

Objective 4:  Asset Map Leimert Park Village Development and New Business Opportunities 

Objective 5:  Develop a "Leimert Park Village" Brand Marketing and Business Development Strategy 

Objective 6:  Create an Integrated Fund and Resource Development Strategy

To put it mildly, change is gonna come!  Stakeholders are jockeying for positions with some allegations that "obstructionist politics" have impeded past development.  To be successful with this endeavor, it will be important that "the politics sync with the economics". Comparisons were made to other redevelopment projects from Old Town Pasadena to South Park in Downtown.  Leimert Park was designed by an eminent landscape architecture firm, the Olmsted Brothers, and in it's heyday was a model city served by three train lines. It is expected with community input and cooperation, Leimert Park can be returned to its glory days.

Handouts with various links were handed out at the Charrette.  The four most prominent links for information would be:

Leimert Park Village Organization

www.leimertparkvillage.org

Leimert Park Village/Crenshaw Corridor Business Improvement District

www.villagecorridorbid.org

Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Council (ECWA)

www.ecwandc.org

City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

www.culturela.org

Other links for information include:

Crenshaw Corridor Specific Plan

http://cityplanning.lacity.org/complan/specplan/pdf/CrenshawSP.pdf

West Adams-Baldwin Hills-Leimert New Community Plan

https://sites.google.com/site/westadamsncp/

Concerned parties should monitor the Leimert Park Beat and the above websites for information about future public meetings and participate.

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