The July 2nd 2022, LBC Midtown Neighborhood Association Clean Up Pics

Thanks to Frank, Mono, 6th District City Council Field Deputy Jasmine (sorry forgot the last names) and all the neighbors that came out for our July Midtown Neighborhood Association clean up. We set up a kid zone, but didn't end up using it. Still like the idea. We passed out 500 flyers, so we had the dumpster filled within one hour. Next months will be at the same location. This is the clean up someone kept telling everyone that it wasn't happening. For a clean up that didn't occur, we filled that dumpster fast!

Those Tools Aren't Trash

Lots of Seating

Half Full by 8:30

There Was A Line

Happy Easter: To The Neighborhood

BBQ April 16th, 2016: 3pm - 6pm in MacAthur Park

Wednesday Safety Watch: Early Trends/ Downtown Trends

This map matches what I saw on Tuesday. Downtown is where things are most concentrated right now and most of the activity there appears to be trending East. There was a community walk. patrol tonight. Here's the path we took and what we noticed.

 

The Big Vision Board

Using the Vision Boards We Love Long Beach provided for the 2nd annual City Wide Breakfast, we wanted to compile a graphic of all the suggestions that various neighborhoods gave more creating more of a community bond between neighbors. The fonts/ colors represent the various neighborhoods that took pictures of their vision boards. Please let us know anything they left out in the comments below.

MacArthur Park's 1st City Wide Breakfast: Updated

Thank you to We Love Long Beach for the kind donations, the neighbors who came out, Wrigley Community Neighborhood Groupp for the help organizing and Tania Morales for the additional support in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood's first City Wide Breakfast.

It's hard to read but hear were the suggestions: 

• A neighborhood grocery store
• Shuttles for seniors - People with no cars
• More neighborhood events
• Speed bumps for cars turning off PCH
• Neighborhood cleaning
• Neighborhood watch
• Game day 
• Board game pot lucks 
• Neighborhood Olympics.

West Division Leadership Forum: 02/24/2016: 6pm

Please join Commander Robert Smith and his staff for this informative meeting on Wednesday February 24, 2016 at 6:00pm. at 1129 Alamitos. We will be having an Auto Theft Detective give a presentation as well as Administrator Karen Owens will be giving a presentation on the Community Engagement Division. 

Coming To The MacArthur Park Neighborhood Soon

Clean Up This Saturday 12/12/2015: 8am. 1744 Gaviota

There will be a clean up this Saturday at 1744 Gaviota. A LARGE DUMPSTER will be available, so you can get rid of items too large for regular pick up. The street tackled will be Gaviota from PCH to 15th. Clean up starts at 8am. Food and water will be provided.

Sunday Safety Update: 11/15/2015 to 11/21/2015

Disclaimer: Please note these maps are meant to show which direction crime is trending, areas to keep an extra eye on and places to remain vigilant in order for Central Long Beach residents to remain safe. That said, previous trends don't guarantee future trends will repeat in the same direction and patterns. Also, an absence of crime in one area, does not guarantee an

Within the borders of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood not much is happening. It's been very quiet around the park itself. And thanks to our neighborhood resource officers, the park itself and the alleys are spotless. When I passed by for today's clean up, the other side of 14th was worse than the park itself.

There is a weak trend of assaults at PCH and Alamitos heading northwest towards fifteen, where a slightly stronger trend of unrelated crimes dips south back into the neighborhood. Be vigilant around PCH and Alamitos by the college and by Alamitos and 15th. Also be very careful if you're in the north end of the neighborhood just to the east of us.

There is a weak trend of car thefts heading from the AOC7 around Hoffman and 11th heading North East towards Gaviota an Anaheim. In that same neighborhood last night at around 10th and Vina, the streets were blocked off and a police helicopter was in the area.  I know due to neighborhood contacts, I have not yet learned the reason. I will share as soon as I do.

Within pour neighborhood there is a lot of activity around Junipero that starts with strong trends heading East or West and weaker trends heading South East or North West. If you're in the area around Anaheim and Junipero, please keep your items locked. There have been increased breaking and enterings, which will get worse as we approach the holidays. Also, there is a strong trend of different kinds of crime around Spaulding Street. Anywhere on Spaulding west of Junipero keep an eye out for your friends and neighbors.

Because I have a few off days, there will be extra neighborhood walks, Go Long Beach Requests, and Josephine A Villaseñor and I are going to work on a more structured version of a Community Watch that would allow better communication between neighborhoods and better training on conflict deescalation, disaster preparedness and and self defense.

14th Street Clean Up: Cherry to Walnut Done

There was an announced clean up of 14th Street today in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. We started at Cherry and 14th and got as far as 14th and Walnut. Because, the original intent was to get 14th all the way to Orange, we will be continuing the clean up tomorrow. Some things I notched: #1, the neighbors seem a lot friendlier. #2, the street is much cleaner than last time.

Also, due to the recent wind storm, most of this trash is leaves and palms the city has not picked up yet. So minus that, this is the cleanest I have ever seen 14th. Thank you to Josephine A Villaseñor for plugging the clean up in the Wrigley Community Watch Facebook Group. And thanks to the neighbor on 14th who was kind enough to bring bottled water to me as this clean up was wrapping up.

Update: 14th is now finished from Walnut to Orange. Thanks to the neighbors who showed an interest in getting involved, the ones that brought me bottled water and thanks to the LBPD for dealing with an undressed/ incoherent homeless lady at MacArthur Park who was just out of the hospital and still in hospital attire for showing a level of kindness and dignity that should be a model for all police departments nation wide.

MacArthur Park Neighborhood Clean Up 11/21/2015: 10am

MacArthur Park Neighborhood clean up this Saturday 10am: Starting at 14th & Cherry heading down 14th towards Orange.

Wedensday Safety Watch: Spike Around Raymond And Anaheim

The MacArthur Park Neighborhood: Notice there is a trend of burglaries around Anaheim and Raymond in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood heading South East out of the neighborhood. Thefts from cars seems to be trending south from Rotary Centenial Park towards Orizaba. Also keep an extra eye open around Anaheim and Obispo.

Neighborhood Expansion: 
Today We're Watching Out For Wrigley

Neighborhood Expansion is when this site/ MacArthur Park will be doing three things to look out for neighboring communities including: mapping crime trends, aiding in clean ups and doing Go Long Beach Runs for that neighborhood. As of today it moves from being a response to bad things happening, to something that will happen every week. This week MacArthur Park is keeping an eye on Wrigley in support of Wrigley.

Auto thefts begin around Hill and Earl then trend South East based on the time of day. They seem to begin at 8pm, then another one happens about an hour later. From 20th Street, the there are a few more incidents trending north east based on the day, that includes theft from a car on Sunday and property damage on Monday. 

Keep an eye on 22nd and Cedar where three things happened in one night, including a breaking and entering at 8pm, another one in the same area an hour later and a theft from a car later that night. Bare in mind these incidents are from about two weeks back.


Wrigley: For more community watch information go here to the Wrigley Neighborhood Community Watch: facebook.com/wrigleyneighborhoodwatch/  or join the Wrigley Group for a Better Wrigley.

MacArthur Park Neighborhood Meeting: 11/17/2015: 5:00pm

Long Beach residents are invited to the MacArthur Park/Whittier School Neighborhood monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Neighborhood Library located at 1401 E. Anaheim St. in the Community Room.  Free parking is available at the library parking lot.

The Neighborhood Services Bureau in conjunction with the City of Long Beach Office of Sustainability will be holding an informative meeting on simple ways to conserve water, protect the environment, save a few dollars and make the most of  nature’s gifts.

Your attendance is greatly encouraged.  Not only will you gain some valuable saving tips, but you will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion by sharing some personal experiences and ideas with your neighbors.  

• Free Mulch
• CoolCalifornia City Challenge
• Save Money and Make the Most of Nature’s Gifts 

  

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Mark Twain Neighborhood Library (Community Room)

1401 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach

For more information, please call  

Bryant S. Ben at (562) 570-1691 or email bryant.ben@longbeach.gov

Translation will be provided in Khmer and Spanish

 

The City of Long Beach intends to provide reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities. Act of 1990.  If special accommodation is required or to request this information in an alternate format, Please contact Bryant S. Ben at (562) 570-1691, 48 hours prior to the meeting

Gardenia Street Is Clean from PCH to 14th Street

There was an announced cleaning of Gardenia Street starting at 1611 Gardenia. The clean up headed north and south down Gardnia. All dumped items, with the exception electronic devices such as TVs and an water heaters, were removed. In the end, the dumpster was filled in about one hour.

I have personally signed up for a large clean up on the 12th of December 2015. This will be a joint clean up with friends from the Wrigley Neighborhood. I intend to make this a slightly bigger clean up than we've don in the past. There will likely be food, prizes and other reasons for our neighbors to get involved. Stay tuned for details. #SupportJosephine

District One: Community Watch Meeting - The Break Down

Today I attended the District 1 Community Watch Forum. It was one of three 1st District Meetings sponsored by Council Woman Lena Gonzalez to help neighborhoods within the first district begin their own community watches. 

There are two more meetings in case you missed tonight's. While a lot of the information is common sense, it still applies to all Long Beach Council Districts.

In attendance was a good portion of the the police resource officers for West Division as well as First District Council Woman Lena Gonzalez. Community watches are formed when a group of neighbors come together, adopt a monthly meeting time and appoint a community contact member; that person is the one who attends police forums, and disseminates what they learn back to their community group.

For instance, as a Community Contact, I would be expected to attended the latest West Division Leadership Forum on Human Trafficking. I would take notes, collect hand outs and give that information to my neighbors. One question that was asked early was how many households should you need to start a community watch. While the police did say, it should start with at least three people, they also added it can grow from there. And some in attendance began their community watch groups with less.

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"I started my Wrigley Community Watch with just myself in April," said Sixth District Candidate Josephine Bañuelos Villaseñor. "Now I have 29 people."

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Roles of the Community Watch Contact include

•  Introducing yourself to your neighbors
• Scheduling the initial meetings
• Taking attendance/ minutes during the meetings
• Being in contact with your resource officer/ who deals in long term problems
• Disseminate crime trand Information to their community

Roles of the Community Watch Participants include:

• Getting to know your neighbor
• Reporting suspicious activity
• Identifying neighborhood issues
• Assisting community officials
• And developing plans of action where problems exist

The presentation centered on four specific areas: your own personal safety, reporting issues like graffiti and dumping [via Go Long Beach and other similar resources], literacy services and the Healthy Active Long Beach Program. Because each of these is important, we'll tackle them more thoroughly on other days.

 A lot of tonight's meeting focused on the fact that crime is like a three sided triangle. Take any one of the sides away, and the crime is less likely to occur.

In that sense, a lot of tonight's meeting focused on personal safety and taking away the opportunity to be a victim. Overall Officer Jose Flores who gave the presentation recommended that to stay safe one should always:

• Remain alert
• Avoid risky situations
• And trust your instinct - If something doesn't feel safe it probably isn't

Additional topics included street safety, vehicle safety, sidewalk safety and holiday safety tips. For instance, it is recommended you have your keys ready as you approach your car. While you are looking for them at the car door, you are giving criminals an opportunity to attack. In a later post I will cover every one of those topics in more detail. 

Street Safety/ Sidewalk Safety

• Walk in groups
• Walk with purpose
• Be aware of your surroundings
• Acknowledge people
• Carry a purse or hand bag close to your body 
• Walk in the middle of the sidewalk
• Avoid narrow openings between buildings
• Avoid overgrown hedges
• Stay in well lit areas
• Avoid suspicious people by going into businesses or crossing the street

Additionally, Council Woman Lena Gonzalez also used the meeting as an opportunity for the community to suggest which alleys needed lighting the most, as she has set aside $20,000 to light up the First District Alleyways that need lighting the most.  

The Next Meetings Are On:

Willmore Neighborhood
Thursday, November 19th
7 – 9 pm
Drake Park Community Room
951 Maine Ave

Linden-Roosevelt Neighborhood
Monday, December 7th
7 – 9 pm
Roosevelt Elementary Room A101
1574 Linden Ave 

MacArthur Park Neighborhood Clean Up: 11/14/2015: 8:00am - Noon.

There will me a MacArthur Park Neighborhood clean up this Saturday 11/14/2015, 1611 Gardenia. From 8:00 - noon. A large dumpster will be provided for anything too big for regular pick ups.

Chet's Auto on PCH Just Went Up For Sale

There is a new business for sale on PCH. For the last few years, it has been somewhat of an eye soar on PCH, never truly living up to its potential. That business is Chet's Auto, which could conveably be turned into a real gem, being situated right on the other side on LBCC West.

1520 PCH. Long Beach, CA 90813: This is an automotive use property. The list price on $1.4 million is for the land and business.  It's actually Chet's Auto: Poorly Maintained and, hopefully whoever buys it brings the place up to it's full potential. 

Don't get scared off by the neighborhood, read the Yelp Reviews to understand why the seller is so motivated.
A major reason the sales place may not be doing all that well is the signage. When looking for a mechanic, who looks for the giant teddy bear sign? The negative reviews on Yelp are not helping. They include calling their customers names, hanging up on their customers, unnecessary repairs and an inability to recognize the correct repair. The reviews alternate between one and five stars, averaging out around three.

That said, the negative reviews are really negative.

The auto repair shop is being sold for $1.4 million. Zillow does not list any information on the size of the lot or what is being sold with it. The seller simply states: 

 BRING ALL OFFERS - SELLER MOTIVATED!.

I think however, the right buyer, who recognizes the business's potential and knows how to build good customer relationships could turn it around. The business is situated between a U-Haul Station to the east and a Days In to the west. The west branch of the community college is across the street.
 

Sunday Safety Update: 08/30/2015 - 09/05/2015

You will notice that there are assaults and thefts that start at 14th and Gaviota and trend South West. While there isn't a lot happening in our neighborhood, that assault was a big incident. It happened on Thursday: 09/03/2015 at 5:47am. 

Long Beach police are investigating a possibly gang-related shooting in the MacArthur Park neighborhood early Thursday. Officers responded to a call of shots fired around 5:47 a.m. near 1400 Gaviota Avenue. Officers learned that a man was driving in the area when he was shot at by male suspects who were on foot on the street, Pratt said. The victim’s vehicle was hit by gunfire but he was not struck. There were no reports of any injuries. The case is being investigated as possibly gang-related. - Read the article

This shooting was not fatal. That said, after it happened we made plans to clean Gaviota south of 15th Street this week. We are currently half done. This is the second shooting in Long Beach this week, the first happened two days earlier St. Mary's two days earlier. A subject is in custody.

One thing I have noticed is increased activity in the neighborhood both at night and during the day. Please keep an eye on all of Gaviota from Anaheim to PCH; there was a lot of loitering, even at the north end of Gaviota last night, I have not seen in the past. Also notice, the car thefts around Orizaba and Rotary Centennial Park haven't restarted yet, but be prepared. 

Also, keep a close eye around 10th and Alamitos. There was a shooting very close to that area a few weeks ago, and there is still a lot of activity in that area, as we speak. We have also asked for no loitering signs, where there is excessive amounts of evening activity that may be unsafe as well as No Parking Over 6' on streets, like Orange and Gundry. that are currently overrun by trailers leaving their trash in the streets.

We've gotten some of the no loitering signs put up and are waiting on the parking signs. 

Hellman District Named One of Long Beach's Top Five Neighborhoods

The Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District was recently named by Moveto as one of Long Beach's Top Five Neighborhoods. The Hellman neighborhood is just south of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood within the south west end of the AOC7. The Hellman Neighborhood has always been known for it's Craftsman Style Bungalows. But this is one of the first times it has been named an excellent place to move to while citing low crime and great schools. The same list also includes Naples, Bellmont Heights and Bixby Knolls as three of great neighborhoods side-by-side with the Hellman District and East Village.