Final Report: Celebrating Great Streets: Connect the Dots | Van Nuys

On Saturday February 20th, more than 200 people convened for free outdoor design workshops, bicycle clinics, and a street fair celebrating a vibrant future on Van Nuys Boulevard.  As part of Mayor Garcetti's Great Streets Initiative, Connect the Dots | Van Nuys brought together water-conservation science, design visioning, and the people of Council District 6, represented by Councilmember Nury Martinez.  For a full report of the program, click here.

 

Children, families, high school students and their teachers, business owners, environmentalists, bike advocates, public agencies, artists, musicians, and elected representatives convened for a day of hands-on creativity.  Workshop leaders asked participants, What is the future of your boulevard? Can bikes, cars, strollers, skateboards, and rapid transit all share it?  And can it be designed to help solve LA’s water supply needs?

 

Led by the Arid Lands Institute in partnership with Pacoima Beautiful, LA County Bicycle Coalition, Council District 6 and the Mayor’s Great Streets office, workshops challenged residents to imagine the Boulevard performing at its fullest potential: serving as engaging 24/7 public space; a healthy, active transit corridor in a lively economic zone; and a strategic groundwater-recharge asset. Van Nuys Boulevard between Sylvan and Erwin was partially closed for the day’s activities.

 

Councilwoman Nury Martinez and Van Nuys Neighborhood Councilmember Quirino de la Cuesta kicked off the event discussing the importance of transportation, pedestrian safety, and environmental justice for the future of Van Nuys. Led by Connect the Dots Creative Director Aja Bulla Richards and her design team Tamarind Rossetti, Anne Trumble, and Stephanie Newcomb, workshop participants gathered around large-scale maps and drawings to reimagine the Boulevard. Van Nuys High School students, many of them students of environmental science instructor Ms. Lucy Garcia, helped deliver the workshops and test a new teaching tool, the Hazel Table, with Stephanie Newcomb. They then spread into the streets to realize their vision. Armed with chalk, paint, and dozens of native trees and plants loaned by Valley Crest and Bureau of Street Services, they transformed the Boulevard temporarily into a bike- and pedestrian-friendly zone, lined by shade trees, drought-tolerant shrubs and grasses, and stormwater absorption zones. 

 

LA County Bicycle Coalition led fifty cyclists on a Tour de Van Nuys "feeder ride," visiting sites of historical interest before arriving at the Civic Center. Local businesses RetroXpress and Walk-n-Rollers introduced young riders to bike safety and maintenance. Wearing free helmets provided by the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council, riders paraded down the temporarily transformed street.  Representatives from LA DWP, Metro, DOT, Friends of the LA River, WeTap, TreePeople, WaterLA, and Greywater Corps offered practical resources for water and energy conservation, from rain barrels and greywater systems to lawn removal and river restoration.

 

As dusk fell, the Boulevard and the Marvin Braude Plaza were transformed by lighting designers of Production Resource Group. Empty storefronts came alive with projected images by public artist Tamarind Rossetti. Her softly glowing video installation, “The Beginning of Water,” provided a visual meditation on California’s precious water supply: where  it comes from, the sensuality of our semi-arid landscape, and the central role water plays in our society’s most basic rituals.

 

On the plaza, Tai Chi instructor Alan Chang offered a lesson in the healing flow of energy and water through our own bodies. Guests were treated to acoustic guitar and vocals in English and Spanish, and a special appearance by members of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. Three generations of performers shared a selection of Bird Songs honoring the creator, creation, and creatures of earth, air and water. Slides prepared by the Arid Lands Institute served as backdrop and provided a glimpse of water-harvesting architecture of the future.  

 

What does the future of Van Nuys Boulevard look like? According to CtD participants, its a street of high-precision stormwater capture, culturally rich public space, a cooler urban environment, safe bikeways, and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.  Enjoy a gallery of images here.

 

Los Angeles is entering an era of major public investment in its Great Streets, shifting from a carbon-intensive, auto-centric 20th-century streetscape into a diversified, low-carbon public domain for the 21st century and beyond. Connect the Dots supports the City in reaching its sustainability goals by integrating stormwater capture with transit alternatives for a low-carbon future, robust local economies, and a resilient local water supply. 

 

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