Kristopher Fortin
Streetsblog California contributor, covering news in Orange County.
Recent Posts
Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council Wants More Barriers to High Density Developments
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The Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council approved a motion to craft a policy geared towards limiting high-density development projects. The Planning and Land Use Committee’s recommended motion aims to preserve the “existing character of the community,” by demanding traffic data, allotting parking space for automobiles and limiting high density developments. “Boyle Heights of 20-30 years ago was mostly […]
Boyle Heights News Round Up: Wallgreens opening up on June 4th, Mural Gets Buffed on 1st Street, Memorial Day Celebrations at Cinco Puntos, New Bike Lane on Lorena Street
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Opening June 4th: Wallgreens on Cesar Chavez Avenue A Wallgreens will open on the corner of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Breed Street on June 4th, making it the first big box store to open on the iconic street. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:00 A.M., and activities will take place from 10:00 […]
After 30 Years, a Boyle Heights Intersection Gets a Traffic Light
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After 30 years, and five different councilmembers, community members from Boyle Heights finally got a traffic light at the heavily congested intersection of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Fresno Street. Councilman Jose Huizar, District 14, and local community members gathered Saturday morning to turn on the traffic light, and recall the work that it took to […]
Bike to Work Day: An East Los Angeles Bike Pit Stop
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Since there were no bike pit stops in Boyle Heights for Metro Bike to Work Day, I took a break from the neighborhood and checked out the one in East Los Angeles. Staff and students from La Causa Youth Build, a charter school that serves 16 to 24 year olds that are pushed out of […]
Eastside News Roundup: Liquor Store Inspections, a Teen Pregnancy “Hot Spot,” Publicly Opposed Wyvrenwood Development Gets Award
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(This is the first in a series of regular news updates on Boyle Heights Streetsblog will publish. For those not familiar with this slice of the city, we hope this news round-up will help provide more flavor and background for our Boyle Heights writing.) Last week, I was kicked out of my house for fumigation. […]
Active Transportation Discount at Boyle Heights Pan-American Restaurant
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Un Solo Sol Kitchen, a Boyle Heights restaurant that specializes in Pan-American dishes, but adds an eclectic and healthy twist, is offering a 25 percent discount Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to people that arrive to the restaurant by bike, public transportation, or on foot. Basically, if you want the best deal at Un Solo Sol […]
Psyco de Mayo, Super Luna Ride
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Cinco de Mayo is often celebrated in bars, with people donning red, green and white apparel, and drinking tequila. While people miss out the meaning of Cinco de Mayo – the Battle of Puebla anyone?- the best party this Cinco de Mayo can be found tomorrow night on a bike, and looking up at the […]
CicLAvia Heading Deeper Through the Eastside, but When?
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For CicLAvia, figuring out how, when and where to expand has been its biggest challenge. While CicLAvia is free to attend, it costs a lot of money to push past the current 10-mile route, closing streets to cars, providing police support and re-routing car drivers who find entrences and exits from the freeway blocked. Despite […]
The Spontaneous Activities on 4th Street During CicLAvia
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In Boyle Heights, CicLAvia is sometimes the first chance for people in the neighborhood to venture off the sidewalk and onto the streets on a bicycle, or provides local businesses an opportunity to get creative in the way they get involved in the ten and a half mile “open street” block party. One example came […]
Boyle Heights Guide to CicLAvia
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Though Hollenbeck Park is the jumping off point for many people in the Eastside to experience CicLavia, there are organized bike rides starting out on the eastside, and parties in the street itself, and intersections that will be teeming with activities both on and off the route. At the park itself, CicLAvia has a merchandise booth […]
Fixing Bicycles in a Garden: Ovarian Psycos’ ResuWRENCHion
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When Rey Veitia works on people’s bicycles at Bici Libre, he’s used to the sounds of traffic outside the co-op. Volunteering at last Saturday’s ResuWRENCHion at Proyecto Jardin in Boyle Heights was a nice change of pace. The car horns of Downtown Los Angeles were replaced by the sounds of children laughing and bouncing a […]
Precaución a tu familia: Spanish PSA Inspired by Day Laborers, Goes Up in Bus Shelters Across the City
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At the press conference to announce the fourth CicLAvia, a Spanish-language Public Service Announcement for bicycle safety, the first of its kind in L.A., was also introduced. “PRECAUCIÓN: Tu Familia También Usa La Bicicleta” or Precaution: Your family also uses the bicycle was a message resulting from a collaboration with City of Lights Volunteers and day laborers. The […]