Los Angeles is a singularly vivid expression of urbanity that has been captured in potent prose and verse for decades, and this attempt to turn the river centering it into a parkway will be worth watching, and writing about.
Nature amid the concrete
L.A.'s idea of nature shows itself in the plan to restore its urban river.
By D.J. Waldie, D.J. WALDIE is the author of "Where We Are Now: Notes from Los Angeles." He is the public information officer of the city of Lakewood.
February 11, 2007
A few days ago in Lakewood, a crowd of 300 gathered on the west bank of the San Gabriel River flood-control channel to take a walk. First, there were a few speeches. Afterward, a park supervisor showed slides of native California shrubs and trees. Then the audience — awfully patient 6- and 7-year-olds in tow — started out on the mile-long trail that city officials had just formally dedicated to the enjoyment of nature.
But what nature is that? The answer will determine if a vastly more ambitious plan for nearly 32 miles of the flood-control system in Los Angeles will restore it to something resembling a river. The parks, residential units, offices and bike paths in the restoration plan outlined by city officials and the Army Corps of Engineers earlier this month could take as long as 50 years to complete and cost $2 billion.
It might be said that with enough money and passion, much of the riverside in L.A. could one day look like Lakewood's mile of green and pleasant land. In the process, we would redefine what nature means in Los Angeles.
In Lakewood, both banks of the river's channel have become 80 acres of parkland. The new trail — on a strip of power-line right of way — meanders on the west bank. The city's equestrian center and a park with picnic shelters, baseball diamonds and bridle paths fill the east bank. Most of that is under power lines too.
