Category: Press

South Robertson selected as one of the LA’s Great Streets!

South Robertson selected as one of the LA’s Great Streets!

Earlier this month, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced South Robertson (SORO) as a recipient of a GREAT STREETS grant, with specific focus on the area between Cadillac and Kincardine.

The Great Streets initiative aims to revitalize Great Streets around the city with thriving economic corridors, enhanced neighborhood character, and more closely connected communities using their local public spaces to their best advantage. The grant provides funds to conduct community-wide outreach to garner input from stakeholders, together with with technical assistance and expertise from planning consultants and City partners. The goal is to create a vision that is driven by the community and viable for implementation.

“I am thrilled the Mayor selected Robertson Boulevard as a recipient of the Great Streets Challenge grant,” said Councilmember Paul Koretz of CD-5, who shares representation of the project area with Council President Herb Wesson of CD-10 . The border between their two districts runs down the middle of South Robertson. “I’ve been working with the South Robertson Neighborhoods Council to come up with creative ways to turn this major thoroughfare into a safer, more walkable, artistic and vibrant center for everyone. The grant money will allow us to further our goals of creating, attracting, and providing more community access, reducing commercial vacancies, improving parking while enhancing safety for those by car, foot, transit or bike.”

Doug Fitzsimmons, President of the South Robertson Neighborhoods Council (SORO NC) added at a press launch today:

“On paper, SORO is a community of borders. We have a border to the south with Culver City. To the north, Beverly Hills. We are in four community plan areas, three police Divisions. The border between Councilmember Koretz’s district and Council President Wesson’s district runs down the very middle of this street.

“As we’ve seen, these man-made lines can have real world consequences. And so too, in many small ways over the years, they’ve affected us. For us, Robertson—this Great Street—is not a border. This Great Street is not a passageway to somewhere else. This Great Street binds this community together.

“Today, we start a community-led change to Robertson. The end result will take time, and effort, and co-ordinated commitment from homeowners and renters, businesses and city staff. In the coming days and months, we’ll hold meetings within SORO stakeholders. We will share ideas, debate solutions, and together arrive at consensus.

“We are grateful to the Mayor and his staff for their vision of a City driven from the neighborhoods up, driven by the homegrown creativity this City is known for (Barbara Mendes’s beautiful and moving mural is an example of that). We are grateful to Councilmember Koretz and Council President Wesson for their unflagging leadership, co-operation, and belief in this community—and for together, helping us erase our own paper borders. ”

This process is in its earliest stages and will culminate in August 2018. Soon, you’ll be hearing much more about your opportunities to be part of the process and share your vision.

If you are interested in the transformation of South Robertson Blvd, and would like to stay on top of developments and learn about community input meetings that will be held over the next few months, please sign up for email updates here  and follow SORO NC on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We need to hear your voice!