In keeping with the recent efforts to revitalize Westwood Village, UCLA Urban Planning students last week presented 12 parklet proposals to the neighborhood's business improvement district. Parklets remove parking spots and replace them with small leisure spots with the goal of revitalizing pedestrian life; they've already sprung up in Downtown, Highland Park, and El Sereno. Westwood's BID is considering adding two to three parklets to the neighborhood, which they've already helped improve via sidewalk upgrades and litter pick-up, though the area still has problems keeping businesses in its storefronts. The simplest parklet ideas look the best, with cozy areas for sitting, plugging in phones, hopping on WiFi, and reading, though more ambitious proposals calling for public hoe-downs and a "reading room" across from a newsstand are intriguing. The concepts come from students in the Public Space Seminar course, taught by Professor Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, in UCLA's Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program.
· Parklets Archives [Curbed LA]
Loading comments...