South Park Neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles Partners for Greener Alleys

The landscape of Downtown Los Angeles is changing at a rapid pace. With major steps in adaptive reuse, the building of a large central park, and a huge influx of residents, the historic center of the city is coming alive. The South Park neighborhood in downtown is seeing particularly extensive growth—which makes it the perfect time to implement new techniques in urban revitalization.

South Park is a downtown neighborhood exceptionally well suited as a case study for concentrated urban growth, and ripe with potential for creative new projects in the public realm. Anchored by entertainment venues Staples Center and L.A. LIVE to the west, supporting mixed-use residential to the east, and hosting a wealth of new civic and private projects, South Park is being called the “final frontier” of the DTLA Renaissance. Interest in the previously quiet district began prior to the 2008 recession and has exploded over the last two years.

In addition to the influx of development, the South Park Business Improvement District (BID), a non-profit entity set up by local property owners to manage the area, recently introduced a number of new local initiatives. The BID’s basic duties involve keeping the district clean and safe, but in recent years it has also focused on enhanced beautification, livability, business curation, and district identity. The BID is now partnering with various city departments and council offices, landscape architects and non-profits on a variety of projects for the build environment. These include fixing sidewalks, planting and enhancing the tree canopy, constructing a parklet, and curating public art in South Park.

Among the BID's new projects and partnerships is the “Green Alleys in South Park-Visioning Report,” created for the community by the BID and the Los Angeles Sustainability Collaborative (LASC). The report details the potential for green alleys in South Park, with the goal of providing a roadmap for local developers, city departments, and third party groups to work together with the community in cultivating this new form of open space.

The report addresses a concept relatively new to Los Angeles: the notion that alleyways can be more than just the space behind buildings. Green alleys are utilized around the world as activated, regenerative places where vehicles and people can share the space. In older cities and neighborhoods, this activation has happened naturally—but in many neighborhoods, where alleys are used primarily for trash and deliveries, and often ignored, reforming perception and use is no small task. While this will not be the first green alley network of its kind, this pioneering report is somewhat unique in its strong community support, local backing, and history of external partnerships to bring projects to fruition. The hope is that not only will the BID be able to collaborate with the necessary entities to make the green alley program a reality, but inspire other communities to come together like this as well.

Green alleys infuse green and open space into an area—without necessitating the cost of a large-scale park and while spreading the cost and commitment of the park-like land over more places and entities. With the initiation of programs like the People St. Program at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, many in Los Angeles are considering untraditional spaces for the public’s use. Looking at the spaces in between and behind the buildings, Los Angeles is exploring a shift toward a variety of scales and typologies beyond the traditional city park, and the BID wants to continue along that path.

The South Park action-plan looks at design concepts, location criteria, implementation strategies, and potential partners that the South Park BID (and others) might use to cultivate green alleys in the local community. In suggesting a tiered approach for the 22 alleys in the district, the report recognizes that different circumstances call for different interventions, such as rainwater paver infiltration systems, planted walls, public art, and even outdoor café seating for restaurants and bars. In addressing concepts that range from basic resurfacing to programming, typologies were created that fit every circumstance found in the district. These include concepts for three land uses, as well as scaled back versions that could work with residential or commercial zones. Additionally, the report recognizes that many of the alleys will need to retain space for vehicle access—full vacation of alleys in such an urban area is not a realistic solution. However, even those that must retain full vehicle access are viewed as part of a future walkable street network. Though current city standards would require extra approval for changes to the alleyways such as these, the time is ripe for rethinking the alleys and open space on a larger scale, especially as the Central City Community Plan and city zoning code are currently being re-written.

The green alleys report is a follow-up study to an Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) study of South Park, which was completed in Fall 2013 and initiated by the BID, and the Urban Alleys report on the EaCa Alley project in Hollywood. The TAP study suggested green alleys as a way to better connect people across South Park’s long urban blocks, as well as a way to create more flexible-use space. From enhanced connectivity to increased more eyes on the street, green alleys were recognized as an excellent tool for making a place more safe, livable, and sustainable, especially in a situation where large scale parks are unlikely in the near future. Taking these initial studies into consideration, the Green Alleys Report moves a step further, judging the feasibility of alleys as connectors, and considering land use types in relation to design considerations. While the TAP suggested utilizing east-west alleys as connectors, the new report found that those reaching north-south were in fact more easily accessible. The Green Alleys Report also begins to address the necessary policy considerations for a network like this to be implemented. In moving from a theoretical concept to the first steps of an action plan, this new report is instrumental as the district and local developers consider green alleys on each block.

The South Park BID and the LASC initiated the creation of the Green Alleys Report this year, which was written by graduate student Fellows Alexander Jung of UCLA and Clare Eberle of USC. The Fellows presented the report at the South Park BID Urban Design Task Force, a group consisting of local developers, city departments, and design firms interested in the future and success of South Park. Well received by the group, the South Park BID plans to facilitate a green alley program beginning in January 2015.

Jessica Lall is the Executive Director of the South Park BID, where she has run the organization for the past two years. Previously, she worked for Mayor Villaraigosa’s Office on economic and business policy for Downtown Los Angeles. 

Amanda Irvine is the Director of Planning and Communications for the BID, and focuses on all elements of both the built environment and community outreach. Both are highly involved in the evolution of Downtown Los Angeles, both through the BID and other local efforts.