Destination Little Ethiopia - Signature Streetscapes & Green Alleys Outreach

Green Space, Park Access, and Trees

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

Since 2002, Little Ethiopia has been LA's only East African cultural and business hub. However, there is a real risk of this enclave being displaced--LA could lose this unique treasure. To help preserve our community, Destination Little Ethiopia recently won a federal grant of over $2 million to make our blocks of Fairfax Avenue more beautiful, walkable, and unique. But physical improvements alone will not make Little Ethiopia a more vital part of Los Angeles. We believe the planning process for this infrastructure upgrade offers a once in a generation opportunity to energize the Little Ethiopia community and to create vital links between our community and residents of surrounding neighborhoods, who ultimately support the businesses and benefit from their presence. By building a larger community, we can make Little Ethiopia a more vibrant asset for the entire City of Los Angeles. This grant will allow us to host a series of interactive events that will engage and inform the community.

As part of the Los Angeles Mayor's Great Street Initiative, community outreach was performed in 2018 and 2019. Since then, not only was the pandemic a disruptive setback, but the project has secured more funding for design and construction costs. Given this award, we believe it is our duty to re-engage the community to provide engagement on the coming infrastructure improvements. The funding awarded as part of this grant will include project costs not originally programmed in previous pursuits of funding. This award will directly and only apply to the Community Engagement and Outreach programming as part of the Signature Streetscapes & Green Alleys Project. The signature improvements will include the addition of brand-new Gateway Signage above Fairfax Avenue welcoming the community and Ethiopian-themed pedestrian lighting along Fairfax Avenue which will provide much needed late-night visibility. The Green Alleys scope of work includes re-imagining the alleys behind the properties on Fairfax Avenue to allow for stormwater infiltration and transformation of underutilized public space into a safe, attractive, and functional social environment.

If these improvements get implemented, it will create staying power and show that this is a community worth saving. As a nonprofit organization, it is difficult for us to contribute to the solution to the problem of displacement in more direct ways, since that would require a lot of capital to purchase properties to allow the existing tenants to remain. Los Angeles County would lose a gem of a community and the only concentrated, city-recognized community if we don't act by showing everyone how important this community is to us. Some of the Ethiopian Restaurants in the neighborhood are known for constantly receiving top honors on LA Times Best Restaurants List.

Outreach and engagement are becoming more and more important for communities in our area. It is important to listen and incorporate how a community will react to an incoming project. Not only will the community live with the outcome of the improvements, but they can provide essential information that can lead to a successful outcome. Outreach and engagement events and workshop allow for immediate feedback to ensure the intention of the forthcoming work is received as intended. The project success will be shaped by these vital interactions. Our community-driven effort will rely on the relationships established with neighboring organizations including the Pico Neighborhood Council and the collection of neighborhood associations including Carthay Square, Wilshire Vista, South Carthay, Carthay Circle and others. Outreach Materials will also be produced in a variety of languages allowing for greater accessibility for communities not historically considered.