Kristopher Fortin
Streetsblog California contributor, covering news in Orange County.
Recent Posts
Four Years Later, City Reboots Community Planning in Boyle Heights
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After a four year hiatus, the City of Los Angeles held its first public meeting on the stalled Boyle Heights Community Plan last week. “If they feel their voice wasn’t heard earlier in the process, they can come back,” said Valentina Knox, one of the two city planners assigned to the Boyle Heights Community Plan […]
Highland Park Parklet Not in Front of Restaurant? Attempts to Create Public Space For All
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The first of Los Angeles’s four parklets opened up Saturday on York Boulevard in Highland Park. While its the second of its kind in Greater Los Angeles, it may be one of the few parklets across the nation that isn’t tied to any one business as it sits adjacent to a crosswalk, and is in […]
Business Corridor Study Finds Law Enforcement Out of Touch With Boyle Heights Businesses
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Inactive city services in Boyle Heights was a general theme in a recent Boyle Heights business assessment study. Business owners described roads and sidewalks having been in disarray, and trash is regularly dumped on the street. But the researches most surprising find was the disconnect between the Los Angeles Police Department and Boyle Heights businesses. “While […]
The Ovarian-Psycos Documentary Kicks Off its Kickstarter
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The Ovarian-Psycos bicycle brigade knows how to start off their year right. After skyrocketing last year into the minds of cyclists and women as one of the premiere female-only bicycle groups in Los Angeles, and even now in the nation, The Ovarian Psycos – A Documentary Film has launched its Kickstarter campaign yesterday. Filmmakers Kate Trumbull, Joanna Sokolowski […]
Boyle Heights Residents Get Gift of Bike Lights
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[smooth=id:12;] Volunteers and organizers of Operation Firefly, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition bike light distribution program, made their sixth stop last night. This time they visited Boyle Heights, specifically the corner of Soto and First Streets, waving down passing cyclists without lights. Volunteers gave out 40 sets of lights in little more than an hour, […]
Sides Agree Wyvernwood Living Conditions Intolerable, Divided on “Right” Solution
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Maria Mendez, a Wyvernwood resident, has asked for improvements at the Wyvernwood Apartments, saying she takes the bus to wash her clothes instead of using the washrooms at the complex. “I’ve asked for things to be renovated, I have not received a response,” said Mendez in Spanish through a translator. Fed up with the conditions, […]
Bike SGV’s First General Meeting of 2013
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Bike San Gabriel Valley’s goal is to serve the communities within the SGV and we are determined to do that. We do our best but we want to try to encourage the residents of the various San Gabriel Valley communities to work with us in making the change we want in our communities together. We […]
The Week in Livable Streets Events
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City departments are starting to shake off the holiday rust and there’s a lot of important meetings on the agenda. The city’s progressive Bike Parking Ordinance finally gets a hearing at City Council, the controversial Wyvernwood complex holds a public hearing and the end might be in sight for the Ara Najarian re-nomination to the […]
EIR Public Hearing for Wyvernwood Apartments/Mixed Use Project
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A public hearing scheduled for Jan. 9, 2013 at 10:00 am will discuss the recently released Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Wyvernwood Mixed Use Project. The entire report is available in Spanish and English and can be read at one of these four libraries. Central Library 630 West Fifth Street Los Angeles, CA 90071 […]
Cafe de Olla With The Boyle Heights Beat News Team
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Community members like you have helped produce five editions of Boyle Heights Beat! Join us for a cup of cafe de olla at our next community meeting from 10 to noon January 12 at the Boyle Heights Technology Youth Center- Room 137 to share your perspectives. What should Boyle Heights Beat cover this year? What […]
Planning and Land Use Committee – Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council
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Boyle Height’s monthly neighborhood council meeting. Relevant agenda item: Committee’s relevant agenda item: Presentation from the Eastside Transit Oriented Development Sites Update (MTA) A brief presentation regarding the four sites available for development, and to share the information we heard from the December 6th Community meeting, and to receive the Committee’s input on the list […]
East Bike Ambassador Meeting
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East Bike Ambassador’s monthly meeting, and the first of 2013. With the Neighborhood Bike Ambassador program we will have the ability to develop, train, and empower new advocacy leaders in the City of LA and expand our membership capacity to build long-term support for safe and healthy streets citywide. The Bike Ambassadors ability to advocate […]