The Urban Village Issue-2

8300 Santa Monica Boulevard,
at Sweetzer. Behind
City Hall is the “robo garage”
opened in 2016, one of
the few automated parking
garages in operation on the
West Coast.
Parking is an issue throughout
the city, but nowhere
is there a greater shortage
than in Center City. The
“robo garage” is providing
much needed parking for
the businesses along Santa
Monica Boulevard, but it has
done little to ease the severe
parking shortage in the residential
areas.
Stacey Jones explains that
many of the older apartment
buildings do not have
enough parking for all their
tenants. Consequently,
many residents are forced to
park on the street. In fact,
some residents say when
they find a good
parking space,
they are reluctant
to leave because they
might not be able to find
parking in the area when
they return.
“THE ABILITY TO
WALK EVERYWHERE,
BE IT THE SUPER-
MARKET, RESTAU-
RANTS OR STORES,
IS WHAT IS SO GREAT
ABOUT THIS AREA,”
says longtime Center City
resident Cynthia Blatt. “And
if I need to drive, I’m halfway
between everything I
need to do.”
While many businesses along
Sunset Boulevard seem designed
for the tourists, those
along Santa Monica Boulevard
seem oriented toward
the residents. With lots of locally
owned, mom-and-pop
type shops and restaurants
such as Marco’s Trattoria,
the restaurant at 8200 Santa
Monica, and Hector’s Tailor
Shop at 8278 Santa Monica,
this stretch of the boulevard
feels like the city’s “downtown”
especially with the
presence of City Hall.
“Center City is where you
truly support local businesses,”
notes Nadia Sutton.
“And I hope it stays local.
We don’t need chain stores
there.”
Carvalheiro wishes the sidewalks
along Santa Monica
Boulevard were a bit wider
to “enhance the pedestrian
experience.” Others would
like to see more neighborhood-serving
businesses,
such as a tailor or shoe repair
shop.
Residents would also like
to see speed bumps added
to some of the residential
streets to slow down traffic.
They also want the city
to install more street lights
on residential streets, or at
least put in brighter bulbs
and trim the trees near the
street lights since some
parts of the sidewalk can get
very dark.
CYTHIA BLATT
As Cynthia Blatt, who has
lived on Kings Road since
1993, explains, when she
leaves from visiting a friend
who lives two blocks away,
the friend always advises,
“Walk in the middle of
the street so no one
can jump out and
grab you.”
While the low-income housing
is no longer a consideration,
exactly what the city
will do with Laurel House
has yet to be decided. At preliminary
public meetings
held in 2013 and 2014, residents
seemed to favor making
it into an arts center for
art showings, author readings,
music recitals, lectures,
meetings, etc.
In the meantime, the city
opened Laurel Park in the
property’s front yard and it
quickly became a favorite
gathering spot in the neighborhood.
Carvalheiro reports
that he and other dogowners
in the area gather
there nightly to catch up.
West Hollywood City Hall
is located in Center City at
That forces a lot of people
to walk in the area. But for
some, that walkability is
what drew them to the area.
And if they live near Sunset,
they get a good workout
walking up the hill back to
their apartment.
“I really wanted to have
that walking experience,”
says Carvalheiro.
“I didn’t want to have to
get in my car to do everything
and living on Laurel
[Avenue] provided that.”
30 THE URBAN VILLAGE: WINTER 2017/2018
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