Infrastructure

The LA River is 50 miles long of, mostly, undeveloped land which touches 17 different municipalities. Many interested constituencies, for years, have hoped to take advantage of the potential opportunities of the waterway. In 1996, LA County developed its first master plan to address these opportunities. The plan, which was last updated in 2022, includes many goals, among them flood control, more parks and recreation, affordable housing and river access. VX News presents this excerpt from a ULI panel moderated by SOMOS founder Alfred Fraijo, featuring Mark Pestrella, the director of LA County Public Works, who updates the Plan’s buildout, the history of the waterway, civic engagement of stakeholders, governance issues, and the sheer amount of potential to be found along the LA River.

The I-10 freeway, which stretches from California to Florida, passes through the U.S. Sun Belt and, along its way, many of the United State’s largest and most impactful urban cities, among them Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, and New Orleans -- cities which are simultaneously facing record homelessness, unprecedented weather, and housing crises. VX News recently interviewed Wellington Reiter, founder of 10 Across, a thought network committed to fostering sun belt city collaborations along the Interstate-10. Reiter elaborates on: an upcoming Los Angeles 10 Across Summit (Dec 5-7th); as well as ASU in DTLA; and of the obvious need for civic minded people addressing the nation’s challenges: water, climate mitigation, energy transition, resilience, affordable housing and governance.

VX News interviews Scott Kratz, Senior Vice President of Building Bridges Across the River and 11th Street Bridge Park Director, on the decade-long project as it is about to break ground early next year. Kratz talks of the importance of fully engaging with affected communities early and often to create community-centered civic spaces. Kratz also opines on civic lessons learned & applicable to repurposing and extending the life of other federal infrastructure investments, e.g., the Los Angeles River Revitalization project.

As the process to begin pulling together the City of LA’s yearly budget moves forward this fall, LA’s City Council is also beginning efforts to seriously explore a Capital Infrastructure Plan (CIP), a document that provides a long-term, unified direction for investment in a city’s infrastructure. VerdeXchange News spoke with Investing in Place’ Executive Director, Jessica Meaney, on how the city’s budgeting could better address the needs of the city, improve equity and be more transparent. Meaney opines that the current way of doing things is failing to serve residents and why her organization’s work to push for a Capital Infrastructure Plan for the City of Los Angeles has been so important.

With California’s energy transition well underway with broad public--and now, federal-- support, how is the state transitioning from ambitious goal setting to the “Age of Implementation?” V

With an award of $25.6 million from the US Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets For All program, the City of Seattle recently doubled its available funding for safe streets infrastructure improvements. TPR followed up with Greg Spotts—former CSO and executive officer at Streets LA—to update readers on his recent move north to serve as Director of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

In his 2023 State of the Port address, POLB Executive Director Mario Cordero announces ZEERO—the Zero Emissions, Energy Resilient Operations Program—to invest in projects aimed at reducing the impacts of operations and improving air quality.

VX News excerpts Mayor Richardson and President Weissman's remarks highlighting the nexus between zero-emissions infrastructure investments at the port and the success of the City of Long Beach's 'Opportunity Beach' agenda.