Writing Shotgun

“THE STREET TO NOWHERE”

Theo DouglasThu. January 17
 

The plan to create a pedestrian zone on one block of First Street in the East Village

A plan to close First Street to vehicle traffic between Elm and Linden Avenues in the East Village Arts District–creating a so-called pedestrian zone–got one of its first airings at Wednesday night’s East Village Association meeting, and the neighborhood reaction already seemed mostly positive.

“How many people conceptually–and it may not be exactly–think this is a good idea?” asked one of the men behind it, Bixby Knolls resident John Case, who spearheaded creation of downtown’s bike station a few years back–and most of the 30 or so hands in the room immediately went up.

One man, whose hand was already raised to ask a question, kept it up and lifted his other hand in response. That really got him noticed.

“This guy’s got both hands raised,” crowed real estate developer Phil Appleby, godfather of the East Village Arts District. “We really need a lot of things, but I think this is an important one.”

That’s partly because the idea behind what they’re calling “The Street to Nowhere” is still so new. An allergic reaction now from the patient could kill the, er, proposal.

Verbally, at least, audience reaction to Case’s plans–which compared a redone First Street to Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach’s ambler’s nirvana–was subdued, perhaps because this seemed to be the first time many people in the room had heard of it.

“Does anyone know what street this is?” Case asked, thrusting a beauteous four-panel photo illustration of Pier Avenue at the crowd. The silence was noticeable.

“Do you know what I’m talking about? They closed that street about six years ago,” Case said. “This is what it turned out to be. It’s one of the most popular destinations in Southern California. I spent a lot of time there as a teenager.”

Time is the key to what he and Appleby are tentatively calling the “Street to Nowhere.” Specifically, they want your time.

“It’s a destination, a reason people can come to the East Village, a reason to cross Pine [Avenue],” Appleby said, explaining the plan: make this one block of First Street off-limits to cars, and their drivers will be irresistably drawn to the neighborhood’s businesses–like the Gallery 11/7 on Linden Avenue, Kamran Assadi’s Utopia Restaurant at Linden Avenue and First Street; and Alpha Cult toy store and Dave Hayden’s House of Hayden bar, both on First Street.

At least that’s what everyone hopes.

“I have a business down there, and quite frankly, the only thing missing is people,” said East Village Association Treasurer Larry Bott. “You could fire a cannon and not hit a customer.” Photographer Romeo Gil agreed.

“I really like the idea,” said Gil, whose business is on the East Village Arts District’s eastern edge. “I think we need to create a mall for artists who don’t have a great opportunity to show and sell their work.”

Others weren’t so sure–like a man called Sumako, who said he was a member of the Koo’s Art Center management, but that his opinions were not necessarily endorsed by the Center.

Reached this morning, Sumako questioned a sentence in one of Chase’s hand-outs on the plan. It read: “Smaller retailers drawn to the street now because of cheap rent would be replaced by more professional cafes and galleries,” and Sumako wondered if this wasn’t gentrification rearing its ugly head again.

“Is that the attitude that we’re taking? Are we going to ship people out just because we don’t like them?” Sumako asked. “You can’t build an arts district with an architect and a developer. It has to be organic, it has to be raw.”

And then there was the elephant in the room–bar owner Dave Hayden, who has already been vocal in opposing “The Street to Nowhere.” Hayden left early, but the next morning, he was quick to point out that Long Beach is not Hermosa Beach.

“You see sun, you see sand, you see trees, you see water,” Hayden said of Case’s four-panel illustration. “I know it looks like a good idea and everything, but this neighborhood and this block is not made like that. I bought the [House of Hayden] building and the property so that I could be on a street.” He still is–for now.

The officials in the room–from Appleby to Case to Second District Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal’s Field Deputy Jemie Sae Koo–cautioned that this idea is just exactly that, and it may never be anything more.

“Money doesn’t come unless people are interested,” Appleby said. “John is trying to give you a concept for galvanizing your thoughts, to take this to the City Council and maybe close the street down for a year, two years.”

Said Case: “This is a vision thing right now. Does the community think it’s a good idea? Do you? If you think it’s a negative thing, don’t do it.”

On the other hand, if you’re interested, Phil Appleby is forming a steering committee to guide the young idea forward. He may reached at 562.432.3322 or by e-mail at pappleby@applebyre.com.

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  • John Case
    I heard about the web site District article on The Street to Nowhere this morning so I looked at the article just now. A couple of things I would like to point out is there is no "developer" controlling the potential project. In my opinion the ultimate input and the way the street will look if closed to traffic has to come from the community in what is best for the retailers, property owners, and interested citizens not only in the East Village but all of Long Beach. I brought this idea forward to Phil Appleby and other interested citizens in the East Village not to make money off it, but because I am interested in improving the quality of life for all of Long Beach and beyond. I am not a big fan of strip malls, fake large suburban malls, and car only cultures our urban planners to date have given us. I am passionate about creating more "livable sustainable cities". Like some of you, I have seen successful examples of pedestrian only streets in Europe, the US, South America, and Asia. They seem to always be the most popular street in whatever city they are in. 18 months ago I finally came to the conclusion, why not here create such a street here. In my personal observation the East Village around the Street to Nowhere is the perfect place in Long Beach and one of the few places that could be implemented seamlessly. In my observation the East Village is most densely populated area along the coast between San Diego and San Francisco. Where else is there six 16 story high rises within a 3 block area. 1st Street does really lead to Nowhere as far as car traffic is concerned as there are major car moving streets one block away on Broadway and Ocean and the street does stop at Long Beach Blvd as a result of bus/light rail transit mall. The name Street to Nowhere is a "working title". It was created to be a little edgy. If I came to a city and heard of a street called "Street to Nowhere" that would be the first place I would want to check out. I also like the fact the street has continuous retail except for one parking lot on the north west corner.I personally surveyed the parking within one block of the Street to Nowhere and found about 1850 off street parking spaces open to the public. By eliminating the on street parking on 1st street between Elm and Linden would eliminate 22 parking spaces. In a handout I mentioned perhaps some retailers might not be able to pay the rent if the street is significantly more popular with foot traffic which will most likely occur if other cities around the world are any example. I do not own any property on the street nor do I have any financial interest in bring forth this idea so I can't say what a property owner will do when the street is much more successful from a financial point of view from a retailer;but conceptually it is possible when retailers make considerably more money as a result of more foot traffic, somewhere along the way the property owner will ask more rent to lease to the tenant. I think a tenant shouldn't be too worried about paying more rent if tenant is more successful. I also am not advocating turning The Street To Nowhere into some chain driven retail environment. I personally like independent retailers and admire their commitment to making a success out of their environments they create. I just think it will be a win win if the retailers are more successful as a result of much more foot traffic and the community will have a real gathering place to eat, shop, buy art, and socialize. I am envisioning a street with cafes with outdoor seating flowing into the street, a possible fountain or bandstand or place to show outdoor movies or a permanent place to have the Farmers Market and a place that embraces art by having permanent high quality art installations on the street as well as a environment to have outdoor weekend art exhibits where pedestrians can leisurely look at art, buy art, eat, socialize without having to worry about getting run over by a car.

    As a final footnote, I ate at Primes( great restaurant) on 1st after the East Village meeting on Wednesday. I showed the Street to Nowhere concept to a few waiters and showed them my painting/photo of the closed pedestrian only Pier Ave street in Hermosa Beach. Both of the waiters said they go to that street in Hermosa to hang out and spend money. Wouldn't that be nice if LOTS of young people from such places as Cerritos, Torrance, and all over over SO CAL came to the East Village to "hang out and spend money" because it is the place to be. In the cities I have visited in many parts of the world, the real organic pedestrian only streets are "the place to hang out and shop and eat and be seen". In my opinion that is win win for everyone.

    As a final final note, the article also mentioned I spearheaded the Bikestation effort "a few years back". If interested, check out www.bikestation.org. A few years back is 17 years to be exact. I along with my wife Georgia advocated the Bikestation concept in 1991 to help encourage a bike commuting culture based upon successful examples of bike parking facilities in the US and Japan. The Bikestation opened in 1996. It was the first of its kind in the USA. 7 live TV cameras and CNN showed up for the opening. Since then the Bikestation non profit effort has helped 7 other communities in the US open bike parking facilities(Palo Alto, Berkeley, 2 locations in SF, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Chicago) and as well as soon to be opened in Washington DC($4 million budget) and Tempe in 2008. I have never made a penny off the Bikestation effort in 16 years.

    I don't know if anyone reads comments on web articles but I am glad to have the opportunity to comment on a article as often times something is written where the journalist misinterprets or leaves out or focuses on something that doesn't really mean what one is trying to get across. If anyone wants to email me about the Street to Nowhere good bad or indifferent just email me at johnhcase@gmail.com. Regards, John Case
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