On April 14, Design Collaborative members Leigh Christy, Ben Feldmann and Marc Salette presented PBy to 50+ MGBC audience members interested in “Informing, Inspiring and Mobilizing Our Regional Network for Sustainability.”  The presentation focused not only on specific on-site design moves, but also how those moves might impact the City as a whole and encourage sustainable urban development within our existing fabric.  In this light, PBy was described as a multi-scale, integrated endeavor by a sovereign, collaborative group working not only on urban regeneration but also on strategies for implementation in order to “give legs” to the proposal.

Dozens of audience members stayed after the presentation to participate in a lively discussion on community outreach and implementation.  The need for additional public involvement as the project moves closer to implementation is indeed crucial in order to ensure that “place-making” serves as a community uniter and not another neighborhood divider.  Audience members encouraged us to continue to focus on the single human experience amidst the multi-acre planning.  The scale of this proposal is large enough to encompass multiple facets and still maintain cohesiveness; it isn’t whether soccer or habitat restoration or urban farming should occur, but how can these programs be designed, allocated and placed to best coexist?  Ultimately, the users of the spaces can and should take part in answering these more specific questions. 

On the other hand, the intent of the PBy work thus far is to demonstrate in a convincing manner that change at this scale is not only possible but necessary in order to create the sustainable urban environments individual Angelenos want and need.  Just as important, the intent of PBy is to spark discussion (virtual and otherwise) on how to bring about this process.  We hope our readers are participating in this critical dialogue as well…

ROBERT GARCIA THINKS ABOUT COMMUNITY

You have variously described some of the goals of the Piggyback Yard as water detention, open space programming, and the connectors between parks and neighborhoods, I recommend in the strongest possible terms is that there also be a goal , a theme that explicitly talks about people – focusing on four areas: Jobs, Housing, Heath and Culture. (more…)