Over the weekend, I held Los Angeles Neighborhood Dreams summits for the Echo Park/Historic Filipinotown and East Hollywood communities. I would like to thank all the community members who came out to share ideas on how to make our neighborhoods better.
At the Echo Park/Historic Filipinotown summit, dozens of community members joined in a constructive conversation around topics such as beautification, economic development, arts, transportation, safety, and community capacity building. For Historic Filipinotown, LAND participants were particularly interested in promoting the neighborhood's identity through increased marketing, signage, and tours of the community. Participants ranked beautification as their number one priority for Echo Park -- more trash cans, a streetscape plan, tree planting and maintenance, street furniture, and conversion of empty lots into green space were among their biggest concerns.
In East Hollywood, economic development, neighborhood beautification, public safety, arts, and green space topped the list of participants' priorities. Ideas that were raised included attracting more restaurants and small businesses to the area, beautifying storefronts, and bringing more lighting to the neighborhood. Stakeholders also said they would like to see a community garden in East Hollywood as well as youth centers and fields.