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The Chinese-American geographer Yi-Fu Tuan said, “Place is security and space is freedom; we cling to the former and long for the latter.” This tension between safety and opportunity is at the core of our challenge with the Los Angeles River.
My personal experience as a child was defined by the duality of having lived in both rural and urban environments. From ages 5 to 9, I lived in the Pacific Northwest, where I attended elementary school on an island. Surrounded by the great outdoors, I was able to run wild, within a safe community. As a ten-year-old, I moved to Los Angeles and was fascinated by this city that was hosting the summer Olympics but shocked by all the concrete. I remember asking my mom on the first day of school, “How am I supposed to get in?” I had never been to a school with a fence around it.
Public space is a critical resource, particularly in urban environments. The Los Angeles River is an audacious opportunity to reconnect 51-miles and 2100-acres of public space which is why I’m so committed to the work we do at River LA. This is an improbable journey of uniting 17 cities, countless organizations, and millions of people.
To understand the opportunity before us, we must fully appreciate the paradox the river presents, and our history wrestling with it. In 1781, the Pobladores decided to build in this area, which is near to today’s downtown, because of the freshwater of the Los Angeles River. In 1938, our LA River flooded, taking the lives of more than a hundred people. As a response, the concrete channel was built, ensuring safety for the inevitable next flood.
Today, this concrete channel is the public space we have to reckon with, like the fence from my youth. To tear up the concrete
would leave us vulnerable to floods. To leave the space as is would waste access to preciously needed open space. To allow for rampant development in the areas around it would miss an opportunity to serve the greater public good.
For decades now, the river has been a major discussion of ‘what ifs’ by nonprofits, politicians, government agencies, and neighborhood activists. Last year we used these ‘what ifs’ as a starting point to explore ‘what’s possible’ by creating the LA River Index with architectural firm Gehry Partners, landscape design firm OLIN, and water engineers Geosyntec. This index offers data around:
- Flood control,
- water quality,
- parks, transportation,
- social equity,
- public health,
- mitigating climate change,
- cultural and recreational programming of the river and that’s just the start.
We must battle the temptation to see the future of transforming this river as inevitable. Instead, we must accept that there is an incredible possibility before us, but nothing is given.
This project is going to require everyone’s participation, which is why I’m so glad you’ve decided to join us. We need people like you to support us, follow our work, attend our events, and share what this river could mean for greater Los Angeles with your networks.
As we look forward, it’s exhilarating and humbling to think how far this work has come. What’s even more exciting is the fact that the power of our combined energy continues to strengthen.
Thank you for being with us and for sharing our commitment to the river and each other. Your support creates the power this work requires!
Want to learn about the river? Click the link below to see a LA River Welcome infographic: