Open space projects are re-shaping some Los Angeles cities. Santa Monica and Glendale both have significant open space projects in the pipeline, according to Alan Loomis of Placeworks, who says that these long-term projects will fundamentally reorient each city.

Glendale and Santa Monica are already interesting counterparts. Located on opposites sides of Los Angeles, they make a great case study for broad market growth. Looking at their open space development plans adds a layer to that case study.

Glendale recently engaged a landscape architecture firm to create a vision plan for the Verdugo Wash, a nine-mile-long tributary of the Los Angeles River that ends near Griffith Park and extends upwards into the mountains past downtown Glendale, Glendale Community College and multiple neighborhoods," says Loomis.