My Favorite Local Spot Closed!  The Future of Local Commercial Places

Wednesday, November 17, 2021
12:00 PM
via Zoom

Read Speaker Bios Here

We are all looking forward to getting together in person, but where will that be and what kind of place will it be?  We have long been accustomed to identifying neighborhood shopping and entertainment districts as places to gather.  Retail and restaurant businesses, along with personal services, have been crucial anchors of public gathering areas and help provide a sense of place that give our communities their distinctive character.  However, there is no denying that retail is changing, which means our local gathering places are changing.  Throughout the pandemic, the Los Angeles metro area saw significant closures and declines in small businesses.  Long before then, however, the character of the retail and commercial gathering place landscape was changing due to the migration of shopping online.  

What, if anything, is going to fill the empty storefronts we all see, and how will this evolution impact the sense of place within our westside cities and neighborhoods?   Is this an opportunity for under-resourced local business owners and local entrepreneurs to fill these spaces and create a renewed sense of place that serves the needs of residents and stakeholders, or will this just enhance the feelings of gentrification?   What alternative concepts are taking shape to bolster brick and mortar shops competition in the increasingly e-commerce driven marketplace?

Come hear from the people on the ground doing the hard work to create retail/commercial opportunities, support existing shops, fund innovative new local businesses, and help these businesses locate in the many empty commercial spaces - and in so doing, shaping our neighborhoods and revitalizing their unique sense of place.

Panelists

Darrell Menthe, President, Culver City Downtown Business Association & Partner, Sage Law Partners

Parke Miller, Executive Vice President, LPC West

Ed Sachse, President, Kennedy Wilson Property Services

Seta Zorabian, Regional Manager, Small Business Program, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC)

Moderator

Emily Bianchi, Senior Project Designer, JERDE

Private Trees, Public Benefit: Fortifying L.A.’s Disappearing Tree Canopy

July 21, 2021
12:00 PM
via Zoom

Trees in Los Angeles are under threat – some neighborhoods have seen their tree canopies shrink by 15 to 44 percent since the turn of the century, according to a 2017 USC study. Drought, disease, construction, and sidewalk repairs are amongst the culprits that have been chipping away at our public resource. As with any major city, urban forestry in Los Angeles is vital for the health and wellbeing of our communities.  The preservation and expansion of the tree canopy is a key strategy to mitigate the impacts of urban growth and climate change.

However, the urban forest also lays bare two of LA’s most pressing societal challenges: entrenched inequality and the limits of government influence. A recent study by the LMU Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) showed that Los Angeles County has a robust urban forest, but the region’s trees are not evenly distributed among communities, reflecting decades of public disinvestment in communities of color and contributing to great variations in the social, environmental and health benefits to residents. Throughout the country, studies have observed that formerly redlined neighborhoods are the ones that experience the greatest urban heat island effect, driven by sparse tree canopy and an abundance of heat trapping surfaces.

While local government has an important role to play in the preservation and maintenance of trees on our streets and public lands, these only account for a fraction of our urban trees. Addressing inequities and bolstering the tree canopy will necessarily require the participation of private land owners as well as local jurisdictions. How might we encourage, incentivize, and celebrate private sector examples of bolstering our tree canopy, especially on the Westside where there is so much low-rise residential? And how do we ensure this happens in low-wealth neighborhoods?

Moderator:

Jerome Chou – Planning Director, Kounkuey Design Initiative

Speakers:

Scott Baker – President, RELM

Eric Strauss – President's Professor of Biology & Executive Director, LMU Center for Urban Resilience

Milan Ratkovich – Executive Vice President, The Ratkovich Company

Wister Dorta – Project, Operations & Urban Forest Management, City of Santa Monica

Eliminating Parking Requirements: Does it Help or Hurt Housing?

Wednesday, October 27, 2021
12:00 PM
via Zoom

Registration is now closed for this event.

With parking spaces for new development in Los Angeles costing $30,000-$60,000 each to build, many city planners would agree that removing parking requirements from transit-rich areas is good for housing production and sustainability—at least in concept. Recent legislation proposed in the California legislature, like AB 1401, would de-regulate parking requirements for new development near transit and allow developers to determine the number of spaces to provide. So what are the implications for housing development in Los Angeles? Rather than prohibit parking or setting parking maximums, if the goal is to provide planning flexibility and possible cost savings to lure private developers to build more affordable housing, wouldn't 'lighter' parking regulations be the way to go?  

Such proposals have their critics, and not only from neighborhood advocates concerned with traffic, inadequate parking, and overflow parking. A number of affordable housing advocates have raised concerns that such proposals may undermine affordable housing production, since parking reductions are often offered to private developments that incorporate affordable units through the State Density Bonus program and L.A.’s Transit Oriented Communities Program. Local governments also worry that decreased private sector participation in affordable housing development may impact their ability to achieve State-mandated affordable housing production targets—which have increased significantly; current levels of public subsidies are inadequate to fund the number of units needed, increasing cities' reliance on leveraging privately-subsidized mixed-income development.

Join us for a lively discussion of the pros, cons and other perspectives on parking policy, zoning requirements and lenders' points of view on the subject of parking for LA's new mixed-income and affordable housing developments.

Speakers:
Mott Smith, Chairman of the Council of Infill Builders
Amy Anderson, Senior Vice President, Social Impact Lead, Wells Fargo & Company
Mahdi Manji, Public Policy Advocate, Inner City Law Center

Moderator:
Patricia Diefenderfer, AICP, Planning Bureau Manager, City of Long Beach

Many Vacancies: L.A.'s Tourism and Hospitality Industry after the Pandemic 

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, one of the most immediate and obvious economic casualties was that of the hospitality industry. Nearly overnight, tens of thousands of hotel rooms in Los Angeles went dark. Conferences, weddings, and other gatherings -- which we would now identify as super-spreader events -- got cancelled. Airlines grounded their planes and flew many of them nearly empty. While Los Angeles's economy is diverse, hospitality typically contributes over $35 billion to the county’s economy and provides many working-class jobs. Moreover, it is a crucial element of the city's identity and, not insignificantly, a major source of revenue for local cities. 

As vaccination levels increase and restrictions begin to loosen throughout Los Angeles and Southern California, WUF convenes a panel of industry experts to discuss how hotels have (or have not) fared during the pandemic and what the future of tourism, conferences, and hospitality may look like in L.A.

Details

Wednesday, May 19^th: 12-1pm on Zoom

Panelists

Adam Burke, President & Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board

Phillip Barnes, General Manager, Fairmont Century Plaza and Regional VP, Fairmont Hotels

Ramin Kolahi, Principal, Lighthouse Investments, LLC

Garrick Brown, Managing Director of Western Region Research, Newmark

Amy Horwath, Manager, Transaction Real Estate & Hospitality - EY

The Westside Urban Forum was very proud to be a sponsor, alongside JERDE, of this important and meaningful conversation with Ted Lieu, moderated by Steven Sharp of Urbanize LA.

You can access a recording of the event here: https://vimeo.com/536430976

It's Time For A Fresh Perspective

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Hundreds of aging boulevards lined by small businesses in nondescript buildings traverse Los Angeles, the legacy of our City’s 20^th century, automobile-centric development boom. We zip through these forlorn business districts and worn-looking, single-story corridors without noting any features or patronizing the businesses. We know that cars don't activate streets - people do. How can Los Angeles transform the uses of major streets so that they connect residents and visitors with local businesses and neighborhoods, rather than serving as anonymous thoroughfares? What policies help achieve that goal, and how do we tackle the obstacles? 

A movement focused on taking action and proposing new policies to reclaim and re-engage our streets has been gathering momentum for a decade. A class in UCLA Luskin School's Urban Planning Department, taught by Gaurav Srivastava, has spent the winter quarter tackling these concerns and developing policy recommendations for LA City Council Districts 5 and 10.  Specifically, the studio lab has focused on the interplay between policies for mobility and land use, and how these policies can be implemented to reshape this timeworn boulevard and make it more pedestrian- and neighborhood-friendly.  During this event we'll hear policy recommendations from two of the class’ student groups, and our panel of professionals will discuss the policies proposed by the students, as well as other solutions to revitalize LA's aging commercial corridors.

Join us as we challenge the status quo and work together to develop opportunities to refocus LA's streets to serve not just cars, but people in neighborhoods.

Panelists
Marcelo Spina, Principal Design Director, P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, and Design Faculty at SCI-Arc.
Deborah Murphy, President, Deborah Murphy Urban Design + Planning, and Founder, LA Walks
Doug Fitzsimmons, Former President, South Robertson Neighborhoods Council
Daniel Skolnick, Planning Deputy, LA City Council District 5
Hakeem Parke-Davis, Planning Deputy, LA City Council District 10

Also Featuring
Gaurav Srivastava, Instructor, UCLA Luskin School's Urban Planning, and Senior Urban Design Project Manager, Dudek
Presentation Group 1: Noy Ramon, Paola Tirado Escareño, and Michael Van Gorder
Presentation Group 2: Ryan Caro, Irene Farr, Alexander Murray, Alejandro Gonzalez

Catching up with Christopher Hawthorne, LA’s Chief Design Officer

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Los Angeles, as a sprawling, car-dependent city predominantly made up of suburbs, has long been in need of planning and policies focused on more thoughtful and pedestrian-friendly urban design principles. In 2018, Mayor Garcetti made a splash when he appointed then-LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne as the first-ever Chief Design Officer of a major American City. Hawthorne was charged with fostering a broad public discourse around architecture and urban design in L.A. and overseeing the City’s major civic design efforts for infrastructure and public spaces.

2021 finds Hawthorne using his role to inform larger policy discussions by exploring the ways design can contribute to the evolution of a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable City, from investments in street furniture and infrastructure, to reimagining the future gas stations, and integrating more housing into the fabric of our neighborhoods. One such project, the Low-Rise Design Challenge, is asking architects to submit innovative designs for smaller-scale multifamily housing developments, including duplexes, fourplexes, and transformations of landmark homes - such as Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollywood house - into multifamily projects, with a focus on reducing a typical home's energy usage and carbon footprint.

Hawthorne originally sat down with WUF back in July of 2018 for a discussion of his initial plans in his new role. Now, nearly three years into his tenure – and in the midst of a pandemic that has potentially forever altered not just Los Angeles, but cities all over the world – how have Hawthorne’s expectations and vision for the City changed?  This month Hawthorne joins WUF for an intimate meeting and Q&A session to discuss how recent events have influenced how he sees his role in the City, and to update us on the current initiatives he's spearheading.

Respondent:  Christopher Hawthorne, Chief Design Officer, City of Los Angeles

Interviewer:   Thomas Aujero Small, CEO, Culver City Forward (CCF)

Meeting the Moment:
A Conversation with Capri Maddox, Executive Director
Department of Civil and Human Rights for the City of Los Angeles

February 26, 2021

As Angelenos work to understand and address the ways in which racism and inequality are embedded in our institutions and in the allocation of societal benefits like housing, education, jobs, and the environment, perhaps the most important question facing our city is how to effect meaningful change.

In February 2020, Capri Maddox was appointed as the first Executive Director of the newly-established Los Angeles Department of Civil and Human Rights (CHRD). The department is tasked with addressing, investigating, and enforcing regulations in response to complaints of discrimination in four broad areas – education, employment, housing, and private commerce – through implementation of the L.A. Civil and Human Rights Ordinance. The department also works alongside the City’s Chief Equity Officer, Brenda Shockley, to assess racial disparities in City employment and contracting and to help inform policy priorities, in addition to working with private sector companies through the RENEW Task Force.

Join us, on the anniversary of Ms. Maddox’s first year on the job, for a conversation on some of the most important civil rights issues facing our city.

Interviewer:

Demetra Thornton, AIA, NOMA
Senior Associate & Studio Director, Gensler
City of Los Angeles RENEW Task Force Member

Respondent: 

Capri Maddox, Esq.
Executive Director
City of Los Angeles Department of Civil and Human Rights

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

WUF is pleased to welcome Westside Mayors for the annual Mayors Forum!  This is a Westside Urban Forum signature event that brings together the Westside Mayors for a candid discussion of each Mayor’s priorities for 2021, the land use policy issues of importance to each city, and provides the opportunity to understand the different ways in which these unique cities are responding to current issues in what is already another extraordinary year!  

In 2021, our Mayors will be faced with a myriad of issues, including the central conflict of land use and social and racial equity, police reform, and housing and homelessness  - all within an environment of shrinking budgets resulting from the pandemic.  To begin to address these complex matters, what are the cities’ near-term responses to retail spaces left vacant by the pandemic?  How are cities going to change as a result of the pandemic and what temporary COVID policies would the Mayors like to see adopted permanently (such as encouraging telecommuting to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, greater diversity in housing typologies and private outdoor space, growing park space for all community members, or allowing outdoor dining to remain permanently)?  How are the cities working to address structural racial and social injustices in land use and government agencies’ operations?  What measures are cities considering to address police reform and community mental health?  What is the outlook for public transit and the extension of the Purple Line Subway?  And what does all of this mean for the cities’ plans to address climate change? 

Join us to hear directly from the decision makers on these and other topics as we consider land use policy on the Westside in 2021. 

Panelists:
Mayor Lester Friedman, City of Beverly Hills
Mayor Alex Fisch, City of Culver City
Mayor Sue Himmelrich, City of Santa Monica
Mayor Lindsey Horvath, City of West Hollywood

Moderator: 
Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Managing Partner, HR&A Advisors, Inc.

October 28, 2020

In Los Angeles, with its long history of redlining and other racist land use policies, minority communities sorely need new real estate development. However, new development may be fraught with risks for both communities and developers. Numerous questions arise, such as who defines and weighs the community needs relative to the development opportunities? What are the real effects of “revitalization” on low-income and minority neighborhoods? How can developers and community members work together to ensure redevelopment addresses the needs of existing residents?

A supercharged real estate market has made the process of answering these questions much more complicated and the stakes higher. Developers must answer to investors seeking a financial return, and yet they must also listen and respond to the specific needs of the community, lest they motivate a backlash that torpedoes their project altogether. For communities, on the other hand, a major development may feel like a hostile takeover with the threat of gentrification and displacement.

Much of the above is currently playing out on in the areas around Crenshaw Boulevard, with the pending arrival of the new Crenshaw/LAX light rail. What would equitable redevelopment in this area look like? And more generally, what have we learned about the complex challenges in redressing the structural racism that historically and currently drives urban inequities for people of color?

Moderator
Vanessa Delgado,
President, Azure Development, Inc.

Panelists
Donahue Peebles III
Development Executive, The Peebles Corporation

Ben Caldwell
Founder, Kaos Network and Leimert Park Art Walk

John Heath
President, United Homeowners’ Association II
Executive Director, New Life Economic Development, Inc.

Derek Fleming
Managing Partner, of MSDG, LLC
Senior Advisor, HR&A Advisors, Inc.

Dr. Belinda Allen
Executive Director, West Angeles Community Development Corporation