San Vicente Park: Feasibility and Formalization

Green space, park access, and trees

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

As Angelenos are encouraged to swap personal vehicle use for alternative modes of transportation, and encouraged to live closer to work and leisure, our urban landscape requires amenities to support this transition. The current San Vicente Boulevard - a former red car line - is an oversized diagonal street that creates several confusing and dangerous vehicular intersections. By eliminating cross traffic at major intersections the road can be substantially narrowed to create 3.2 miles of converted public space. The park would be 80-110 feet wide and include recreational components that would complement adjacent community needs along the proposed route. The new park space and bicycle paths will provide substantial health and environmental benefits while encouraging safer, more enjoyable neighborhoods across every demographic. More than 2/3 of the proposed park area is within 0.5 mile of a proposed Metro station, encouraging walkable communities and transit use.

Project Lead and park visionary Michael Wacht began the outreach process in January 2023 as a pro bono project led by his Architecture firm IntuArch. To build awareness, he built a website, constructed graphics, and met with affected stakeholders to gain insight into community needs and concerns. Residents, neighbors, business owners, nearby institutions, and government representatives have proven consistently to be in favor of the concept for San Vicente Park. However, political entities have reserved public support and sponsorship pending researched documentation about the design and impact of the proposal. With this feedback from our ongoing outreach process, we hope to utilize LA2050 Grant Funding to (1) bridge this "information gap" by carefully studying project feasibility, and (2) provide further funding opportunities by continuing outreach and establishing a nonprofit. Mission-Aligned nonprofit Destination:Pico will provide administrative support. IntuArch is the prime consultant to carry out the Grant award, providing mission guidance, design management, continued community outreach, and deliverables for a published Feasibility Report. IntuArch will be engaging with consulting firm Alta Planning + Design to conduct a detailed engineering analysis, including: existing condition documentation, environmental engineering, transportation engineering, demographic studies, cost estimating, planning/legal contexts, funding sources, and project delivery strategies.

Investments in infrastructure are ultimately investments in people and community. Our work will lead to the future implementation of a generation-defining recreation space for Angelenos to rest, play, travel, and convene. San Vicente Park offers a unique opportunity for Central Los Angeles to grow with ecological sensitivity and amenities to match other great world metropolises. The Park's proximity to major tourist attractions, substantial investments in mass transit, job centers, institutions, and the center of substantial regional business activity, endows the project with county-wide impacts. The proposed park would also become a harbinger for other linear park projects envisioned for other parts of Los Angeles County. Simultaneous to the sociological impact, environmental improvements to the regional ecosystem include: decarbonization incentivization, water infiltration/hydrology, encouragement of biodiversity, and densification inducement.

We envision success to be measured in our growing coalition of stakeholder endorsements, professional collaborators, and institutional support. The initiative already has unanimous approval from the Mid City West Neighborhood Council and a growing newsletter distribution list. Though continued momentum can be difficult to quantify immediately, the grant funding will steer the vision for the next decade with a solid foundation of analytics, graphics, and context. We will continue to catalog our outreach to the growing list of conversations, which already includes: Metro, Mayor's Office of Infrastructure, CD5, CD10, City of Beverly Hills, Rec and Parks, Little Ethiopia, and StreetsLA. A major precedent for our work has been the Ballona Creek Bikeway Extension initiative. Led by one of our endorsing nonprofit partners, Streets for All, a conclusive Feasibility Report was able to position that project for multiple funding and delivery methods moving the project closer to reality.

We have endeavored to include the consultants' work within the submission questions.
IntuArch's Mission: "Our company name is short for “Intuitive Architecture,” stemming from our consistent belief that users have intuitive perceptions of space. We utilize design strategies that encourage and respond to how occupants perceive their spatial environment, bringing added value to users, clients, and all project stakeholders." LGBTBE Certified
Alta's Mission also provides a clear concept for the purpose of SVP itself: "Alta works to mitigate climate change and advance safety and social justice through sustainable mobility. We connect people to places by providing solutions across the disciplines of planning, design, engineering, education and encouragement programs, and community engagement."