Mayor Garcetti’s State of the City: Six Great Streets Announced

Mayor Garcetti gave his first State of the City speech yesterday. The mayor touched on a number of transportation issues. He pledged to “bring rail to LAX” and to open the 405 Freeway’s new billion-dollar carpool lane “next month,” a bit earlier than its October 2014 projected completion date. The most detailed transportation news was a peek into some of the specifics of Garcetti’s Great Streets initiative.

Garcetti named six of what will be 15 selected streets: Crenshaw Boulevard, Figueroa Street, Gaffey Street, Reseda Boulevard, Van Nuys Boulevard, and Westwood Boulevard. Apparently the focus for now is entirely north-south streets.

Here’s the mayor’s description of “Great Streets” from yesterday’s address:

Here’s how it works. We’ll saturate your street with services. We’ll make your street accessible to pedestrians, wheelchairs, strollers and bicycles–not just cars. We’ll create an environment where new neighborhood businesses can flourish. We’ll pave the streets and make them green streets — clean and lush with plant life, local art, and people-focused plazas. I know this works because I did it in my old council district — in Atwater Village, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Hollywood. Focused improvements attract new cafes, help local businesses expand, and give people a great place to gather without getting in their car. I’m pleased to announce today that the first 15 Great Streets will begin to roll out this spring. On Reseda Boulevard next to Cal State Northridge, we’re going to create a place for town and gown to come together. On Gaffey Street in San Pedro, we’re going to join forces with its burgeoning creative community. We are going to bring back the glory days on our storied Crenshaw, Westwood, Figueroa and Van Nuys Boulevards.

There’s a lot of potential on the mayor’s initial six streets, but many of these have also been host to livability struggles. This comes as no surprise, because great commercial streets are popular. Everyone – from pedestrians to drivers – wants to be there, so there’s competition for space.

Here’s Streetsblog L.A.’s quick preview of these six streets.

SBLA looks forward to seeing how the mayor’s intiative translates into on-the-ground livability improvements in the coming months.