Open Space Projects Are Re-Shaping Cities

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.

The development site is currently used as a drainage canal, but the project will reimagine it as a public space for community gathering an outdoor activities. “The charge of the vision plan is to imagine a multi-use open-space corridor with pedestrian and bike paths and natural habitats and parks, and create a landscape spine that will unify disparate parts of the city. It’s likely to be implemented over a generation through a series of small-scale projects,” says Loomis.

On the coastal side of town, Santa Monica is making headway on redeveloping the local municipal airport, which is scheduled to close in 2028. “Just over 200 acres, this site was an airfield for Douglas Aircraft in World War II, but today, an airport in the middle of a dense residential neighborhood does not make sense,” says Loomis. Under the rules adopted by a referendum, when the airport closes the land can only be used for parks, education and cultural uses. But the practical financial reality of building and operating a 200-acre park suggests that Santa Monica will need to create a plan that includes regional partnerships and most likely some private development to offset the costs of such a park.”

While the redevelopment is far in the future, the city will need to move forward on plans today to get the ball rolling on what could be a massive public project that will require community support. “In the near future, Santa Monica will need to hire a team to create a master plan to guide the conversion of the airport site including parklands, housing development, capital and operating costs, and most likely a ballot measure to approve the plan,” says Loomis. “Whatever eventually comes to the airport site, it has the potential to become the Westside’s “Central Park” and one of the most important well-used parks in greater Los Angeles.”