Some Nicer Landscapes Around MacArthur Park

Tree/ Fence

Today I traveled through MacArthur Park Neighborhood with a camera.  The idea was to find some of the more creative things people have done with landscaping. Some of what I found was done for aesthetics. Some was done for function. Most were done for both.

For instance one practical trend was flowering ivy on the sides of fences. That made them look more like a garden and less like a gate. Also, from a practical point of view, that makes tagging the gate much more difficult. And if you rip the flower off, you're technically picking flowers.

How much of a gangster does anyone look picking flowers?

To the upper left is one older example of landscaping that stood put very well. It's a 30 foot fence built of end to end pine trees. Obviously, that took some time to create, but today it really stands out.

Simple Desert Landscape: Less Maintenance

Below are some more examples of more creative landscaping ideas. Some would take more time than others.

Flower Bush/ Rose Combo

To the right you see the flowering bushes lining Rose Street along the metro station. The rose bushes scale the wall. And a smaller white flowering plant lines the sidewalk to the fence. One thing that stands out is how little trash there is along the street. This is probably beacuase you'd really look like a jerk messing this up and the white flowering brush does not leave much room to dump your trash.

Below you see a simpler layout done by a resident. This is a simple line of trees lined by a small flower bed on the north end closest to the driveway. It looks nice, simple and symmetrical. Additionally, it would save the resident a lot of time mowing an extra patch of lawn.

In the near future, I will add to this list and find examples of what residents are doing with the landscapes in the 90813 zip outside of MacArthur Park.

Simple Symmetry

Uanaounced Cleanup Gaviota Anaheim to 15th Street

There was an announced clean up of Gaviota from Anaheim to 15th Street. Next Sunday there will be an additional unannounced cleanup beginning around 8:00am. Attend the cleanup this coming Saturday on Rose Street starting at Anaheim to find out where. The clean up of Rose Street shouldn't be that bad; the residents actually attend to Rose Street pretty well. Beginning next week I will start posting pictures of before and after to show more clearly how this will make a difference. I will also begin highlighting some of the more creative things people have done with the space between the street and public sideway, to give residents ideas and encourage neighborhood beautification.

Cambodia Town Revisioning: Kick Off Meeting

From Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia via Facebook:  One of my commitments during my campaign for Mayor was that the city would invest to make Cambodia Town on Anaheim more walkable and livable. Today we kicked off the first community visioning meeting to talk landscaping, sidewalks, and lighting. Join us at the next meeting on Saturday April 18 at 2:30 at the Mark Twain Library.

Since I moved here in 2004, I have rarely frequented this area of my community. The idea is to turn Anaheim into more of a destination than a way of getting somewhere else. In other neighborhoods this has been accomplished by adding seating, widening sidewalks and adding awnings for shade. There would also be a focus on better lighting and the kind of overall design that would make Cambodia Town function more as a collective place to pass your time rather than a collection of individual shops.

I would also personally recommend the city incorporate as many suggestions as possible from it's own assessment of MacArthur Park. This would include better bike paths, repaired sidewalks, a renewed attention to neighborhood parks as well as giving local residents a better selection of healthy good often not found in poorer neighborhoods.

Suggestions on the Mayor's post honoring the campaign pledge to make Cambodia Town more walkable and livable included: waterwise landscaping, bus shelters and less ridged architecture such as rounded edges and tiered domes.

I personally would like to see all businesses in on Anaheim, Orange and Cherry take the city's pledge to keep the city clean.  I also think it would be nice to have the kind of medians that you find in Wrigley and Bluff Heights which welcome you to the neighborhood while also slowing down the car. The next meeting for this project will take place on Saturday April 18 at 12:00 noon - 2:30pm at the Mark Twain Library.

17th Street Clean Up Orange to Gardenia

Today there was an announced clean up on 17th street. The clean up began on 17th and Orange. It ended where 17th Street ends at Gardenia almost exactly two hours later. Because there were volunteers, the clean up went much quicker.

Next week's clean up will take place on Rose Street on 04/04/2015 at 10am. I will be starting at the south end of the neighborhood where Rose meets Anaheim. The clean up will finish at PCH. Any person who wants to see a cleaner MacArthur Park Neighborhood is encourage to attend.

Below is how much more you can get off the street if you have help.

Help Launch Anaheim Corridor Design Visioning Process

The community is invited to attend a special kick-off event to launch the Anaheim Corridor Design Visioning Process. The free event is on Saturday, March 28, at 11:00 am, at the Homeland Neighborhood Cultural Center's Manazar Gamboa Community Theatre at MacArthur Park, 1321 E. Anaheim St.

In order to attend, I am moving cleaning of 17th street this Staurday up to 8:00am. That way it will be mostly finished by the time the meeting begins. 

The official news release: http://www.longbeach.gov/civica/press/display.asp?layout=4&entry=5044

Welcome To The MacArthur Park Neighborhood Page

Over the last two weeks, I have been trying to bring some positive change to my neighborhood. I created this blog as a place where I could collect all that effort and present it in a nice and neat package.  I have tried to keep the layout simple and useful for my neighbors in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood.



The purpose of this blog is to

1. Keep the neighborhood clean
2. Support neighborhood businesses
3. And keep the neighborhood safe

So far I have been focused mostly on cleaning the streets up.  I have been doing the clean ups alone. I intend to keep going until the neighborhood joins in. Once that happens, I can get some additional support from the city such as dumpsters for larger items. 

On 03/28/2015, I will be starting a clean up of 17th street, starting at Orange. Click the clean up tab to see where I will be any Saturday. Everyone is encouraged to join in.

In addition, I have created Facebook groups for the MacArthur Park Neighborhood and the 90813 zip code. I'd like to see some positive things associated with both the zip code and the neighborhood. 

Finally, to support businesses in the neighborhood, I created a map of businesses that have agreed to keep the neighborhood litter free. I also contacted every business with an email address in this neighborhood and asked them to take that pledge.

More is coming soon.

Unannounced Sunday Clean Up On Gaviota

I held off cleaning Gaviota. Since it's my street, I thought that may look a little selfish. Anyhow, I don't care to live on a dirty street so every now and then there will be an unannounced street cleaning early Sunday. In the future to find out where those cleanings will be, if they will happen at all, show up early for the scheduled Saturday cleanings to find out where. 

There will be things to give away to MacArthur Park residents, or anyone who pitches in, on those days.

The two pictures show how much trash was on my side of Gaviota, from PCH to 15th street. I am a little surprised actually as I had o go down 3/4ths of the way down the major street Walnut from PCH to Anaheim yesterday to approach that much trash. 

Neighborhood Boundry Map

Walnut Clean Up from PCH to Anaheim

It's hard to see from the pic but this is how much trash one person can clear from their neighborhood in about two hours even without any help. Walnut is a little cleaner, next Saturday: 03/28/2015 from 10am to noon, I'll do the same for 17th starting at Altimos/ Orange..

This is the second clean up. The first was a week earlier on 15th street from Cherry to Orange. Between the two neighborhood clean ups, about 64 gallons of trash were removed from the MacArthur Park neighborhood.