Big Green: A request for Support for the LA Eco-Village

Sun Mar 16 20:58:46 EDT 2008

Though I haven't posted to this list in quite awhile, I read it as often as time allows. But when I read this message about the Los Angeles Eco-Village and their request, I thought that this would be a very good place to share this information. I encourage any of you who might be interested to support their efforts to convince the LA Unified School District about adopting a far better neighborhood-developed plan for siting a new school that will otherwise have devastating effects on the LAEV and the surrounding neighborhood. Instead of just objecting to what was being proposed, they have come up with a neighborhood plan far superior to the LAUSD plan and are seeking support for it. It's worth noting that the LA Eco-Village is a LEED ND Pilot project. 

I have known LAEV founder Lois Arkin for many, many years and she and her friends and colleagues have done extraordinary things in the heart of LA for decades. There is an online petition you can sign and space for a brief comment and I encourage you to take a little while and look at the information below, follow some of the links, and  then register your support for an amazing community of people demonstrating what is possible in an urban setting with brilliance. 

Of course, I would encourage any of you live in the region to consider attending the meeting in person if possible. 

Thank you.

Warmest regards, 

David Eisenberg
www.dcat.net

-----Original Message-----

From: Institute for Urban Ecovillages -  Los Angeles <crsp at igc.org>

To: strawnet at aol.com

Sent: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:22 am

Subject: Events: Wed 3/19 at 6 pm to save LAEV neighborhood from LAUSD
bulldozers; and Thur 3/20 at 10 am Council President Eric Garcetti
dedicates new Shared Street 

Two Exciting Events this week March 19 and 20
concerning Los Angeles Eco-Village.
For details, please see www.laecovillage.org

===============================
L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT COMMUNITY MEETING.
Your presence makes a difference to save the L.A. Eco-Village neighborhood
from LAUSD bulldozers.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 6 pm
at
Virgil Middle School Auditorium
152 N. Vermont Ave
(auditorium is at Vermont & First St.)
Los Angeles 90004

At this 4th, and we hope last, LAUSD community meeting, the LAUSD Facilities
staff will announce their "preferred" site" for new elementary school #20.
This school that would destroy one-third of the L.A. Eco-Village
neighborhood IF LAUSD  designates the site, known as Site #1, as
"preferred." Please be there to make your voice count for the alternative,
site #11. If built on site #11, the project would not destroy any housing.
The new school would be built on primarily vacant land.  See more details
below.

How you can help:  please spread far and wide:  write a note and/or be
there!
http://www.laecovillage.org/lausdlaevhowhelp.html

Sign the electronic petition to save the LA Eco-Village at:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/la-eco-village

===============================

CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT ERIC GARCETTI WILL
DEDICATE THE NEW SHARED STREET IN L.A. ECO-VILLAGE

Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 10 am
at the intersection of
Bimini and White House Place in L.A. Eco-Village

Everyone is invited.

See details here http://www.laecovillage.org/UseUpcoming%20events.html
===============================
More info follows for writing School Board President Monica Garcia to save
the LAEV neighborhood:
Dear Friend of L.A. Eco-Village,

You can help the Los Angeles Unified School District do the right thing
and not tear down people's homes to build a new elementary school.
Instead, the Los Angeles Eco-Village and its neighbors urge you to
convince the LAUSD authorities to adopt an alternate plan that builds on
primarily vacant land owned by the school district.  See map link below.

The neighborhood between First and Second Streets and Vermont and So.
Madison Avenues is a vibrant, stable community featuring the Los Angeles
Eco-Village and the Bresee Foundation, among others. The Eco-Village
community on White House and Bimini Place is demonstrating healthier and
more sustainable urban living patterns known throughout the world.  It
would be a tragic loss for our city to sacrifice this neighborhood for a
school building program that, while long overdue, has better optionsAOL Sign In
that do not destroy much-needed affordable  housing and the educational
aspects of the Eco-Village itself.

Add your voice to those of the residents of White House Place, Bimini
Place, and South Madison Avenue, the Los Angeles Eco-Village, the Bresee
Foundation, and City Council President Eric Garcetti. They all agree
that the school district's original plan to raze homes is not in the
best interests of the community. Let the LAUSD know that when it comes
to building new schools, people's homes mean more to a community than
parking lots.  Please do two things:

1. Please contact the office of LAUSD Board president and District 2
representative Monica Garcia (and cc your message to the rest of the
board) and let her know you support ALTERNATIVE SITE #11 for the
construction of Central Region Elementary School #20. "Site #11 for
ES#20" is what LAUSD is calling the proposed alternative building site.
 It uses parking lots rather than the White House Place, South Madison,
and Bimini Place neighborhood. See contact info below.

2. Please attend a community meeting at Virgil Middle School Auditorium,
152 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90004, on Wednesday, March 19,
at 6 p.m. and let your voice be heard. The school district seems to be
starting to listen. Your voice makes a difference.

Learn more about this issue at the websites below:

http://www.laecovillage.org  (the Los Angeles Eco-Village home page)
http://www.bresee.org/ (the Bresee Foundation's home page)
http://laist.com/2008/02/28/bulldozers_at_t.php (blogger's story about
this debate)
http://www.historicechopark.org/id91.html (the 9A site story)
http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=56.40074
(the district's building project)

Contact Mónica García, Board President and Dist. 2 representative,
monica.garcia at lausd.net, 213-241-6180.

marguerite.lamotte at lausd.net      tamar.galatzan at lausd.net

marlene.canter at lausd.net      yolie.flores.aguilar at lausd.net

julie.korenstein at lausd.net      richard.vladovic at lausd.net.

Please also email a copy to:  crsp at igc.org

Let them know you support ALTERNATIVE SITE #11
for the construction of Central Region Elementary School #20.

SITE #11 - the better alternative for the construction of Central Region
Elementary School #20.  Click here to see map:
http://www.inspirationteas.com/Viable_Alternatives.php

See Joanna Lin's story on this topic in this week's "L.A. CityBeat,"
http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/degree_in_devastation/6808/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.biggreen.org/pipermail/biggreen/attachments/20080316/19b3aa11/attachment.html