August 13
“The Downtown Los Angeles Residents Association (DTLA RA) is a grassroots advocacy group for residents, by residents. Our mission is to create a connected, caring, civically engaged urban community that inspires new and existing residents to make DTLA their long-term home. We do this by fostering strong neighbor relationships, addressing post-pandemic and forward-facing community challenges, and increasing our voter turnout to shape our shared future.”
From an email they sent out on August 13:
“DTLA RA will coordinate resident efforts to advocate for the approval and effective implementation of:
The Skid Row Action Plan at the County informed by Skid Row resident feedback and concerns to address short-term beds, investment, mental health intervention in Skid Row;
The DTLA 2040 Community Plan Update to unlock development of mixed-income housing and broad investment in DTLA, and to create a world-class public realm including multimodal streets and green spaces;
The Broadway Streetscape Master Plan implementation including pedestrianizing Broadway and Bringing Back Broadway festival and improved streetscapes from tree planting to better sidewalks;
DTLA Inclusion in a “4am Bill” pilot specific to a portion of Downtown to ignite DTLA’s entertainment and nightlife community.”
Since I can’t picture myself being awake at 3am, I’ll set aside the 4am Bill and focus on the Broadway Streetscape Master Plan. Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles was once the cultural and commercial capital of Los Angeles. It is known for huge ornate art deco theaters.
From Wikipedia: Broadway, until 1890 Fort Street, is a thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The portion of Broadway from 3rd to 9th streets, in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles, was the city’s main commercial street from the 1910s until World War II, and is the location of the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).[2] With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States.
The Broadway Streetscape Master Plan is based on a 79 page report by the Department of City Planning sent to the Planning Commissioners on February 14, 2013. From the Project Analysis:
“Bringing Back Broadway is a ten year plan led by Council District 14 to revitalize the Broadway commercial district, promote reuse of the street’s historic theaters, reactivate vacant commercial space on the upper floors of existing buildings, encourage cultural, entertainment and retail uses to locate on Broadway, reinforce a sense of place and history through planning and urban design, and support the restoration of historic streetcar service in the corridor. The Plan was developed with the proposed operation of a restored streetcar in mind, but is independent of any streetcar project and is not dependent upon streetcar service being restored along Broadway.
The vision embodied in the proposed Streetscape Plan is the result of an extensive public process to articulate not only what Broadway’s streetscape will look like physically, but also how Broadway will function to service its many users, including visitors, workers, and residents. The proposed plan builds upon the unique history, architecture, and urban fabric that differentiate Broadway from other streets in Downtown.”
Bringing Back Broadway as an initiative led by City Councilmember Jose Huizar was called Night on Broadway as an annual cultural festival. The first Night on Broadway was in 2015 and within a few years it attracted over fifty thousand people. Activating the art deco theaters with music and live performance was a centerpiece of the festival. When Jose Huizar’s office and house were raided by the FBI in 2018, Night on Broadway began to collapse and COVID in 2020 ended it.
The Skid Row History Museum and Archive is located on Broadway.