Neighborhood activists have banded together in South L.A. to express their desires
for their communities before the L.A. Department of City Planning finalizes it plans
for the area. (Photo by Callie Schweitzer)

Members of the South Los Angeles community walked from 23rd Street to Exposition Boulevard, making notes along the way.

But what was unique about this trek is that they stayed in the exact same place.

At St. Mark's Church on West 36th Place and Vermont Avenue, more than 30 people took a virtual tour of the surrounding neighborhood. The area is one under review for the new South and South East L.A. Community Plans, and the group gathered for the launch of Visions for Vermont, a project aimed at increasing neighborhood representation in redrafting the city's development plans.

People scribbled their hopes for an improved community on blank pieces of paper below photographs of the area, listing their desires for more affordable housing, better schools, repaved sidewalks, improved roads, bike lanes and more grocery stores.

Participants mentioned what they love about the neighborhood: its "little gems," its diversity, the ability to walk everywhere, the sense of culture among businesses and restaurants and the proximity to USC, which some called a "love/hate relationship."

"We really want to reach out to the community at large in the Vermont area and talk to them about what they feel like they need," said Tafarai Bayne, a coordinator for Visions for Vermont. "We want to figure out a way to help boost the amount of public input and ensure that a lot of public concerns are represented."

One of the main goals of the project, nicknamed the People's Planning Project, is to create a document that outlines community requests for consideration by the L.A. Department of City Planning in its revision of the South and Southeast L.A. Community Plans.

Both plans are in the second year of a three-year process to revise the current community plans in each area, said Faisal Roble, senior city planner for the South L.A. and East L.A. regions. The plans were last updated and adopted in 2000, he said.

The drafting of these plans has long been a source of contention for community members who are uneasy about the changes--and for good reason, said Ava Bromberg, coordinator of the People's Plan and a doctoral student in urban planning at UCLA.

"That's a part of town that has been given the runaround on multiple levels from different parts of city government in the history of Los Angeles," she said.

The university's inability to accommodate its growing population has led students to look for housing in the neighborhood, residing in what were once community homes and paying rents that have skyrocketed.

Roble said community members voiced their frustration with the effects of the USC student body's encroachment on the neighborhood. He said people have stressed the need for USC's University Park Specific Plan to take into account the wishes of the community.

There has been dialogue in the past, according to Nancy Ibrahim, executive director of Esperanza Community Housing Corp., a nonprofit that works to provide affordable community housing for the Figueroa Corridor neighborhood, and organizers are hopeful that it will continue.

Bromberg called Saturday's event a "dress rehearsal" for the project's official launch on Oct. 10. Many participants attended to learn more about what was actually happening in the community after hearing rumors of displacement, homelessness and the uncertain future of local resources.

Rubi Llamas, who attended the event with her sister, Reyna V. Delgado, said the sisters recently received a notice in the mail that they would have to move in a few years because their complex would be turned into USC student housing.

The sisters, who have lived in an apartment building at 27th Street and Budlong Avenue for 18 years, said they could not remember who sent the letter, but the fear was enough for them.

"We were scared," Llamas said. "We don't want to leave."

The women, who live in the same building as their sisters, brothers, parents and members of their extended family including aunts, uncles and cousins, said their family members "all feel the same way."

Brian League, a member of the USC Master Plan Advisory Committee and director of entitlements for USC Capital Construction Development, said the university did not send the notice.

Numerous calls to the apartment building's management went unanswered.

Residents provided event organizers with feedback, answering questions on a survey, including what the best and worst features of the community are and what priorities for improvement should be.

Roberto Buseillo, an organizer at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), who has worked in the community for nearly 20 years, said he wants a more inclusive and fair process for community development.

"The way new development is taking place is people versus profit," he said. "One of my hopes is that we are more aware about working together. It's very important that we start talking the same language about developing the community."

Members of the planning department have met with community groups and individual organizations numerous times, Roble said.

"We meet as needed and requested and required," he said. "The process is open until we go to the planning commission," which he anticipated might be in December 2010.

Bayne said it's a very common practice for neighborhoods to develop their own community plans and have cities adopt them.

Visions for Vermont has also enlisted help from outside the direct community.

Approximately 32 students from two urban planning classes at California Polytechnic State University will be creating the community plan. Researchers from UCLA Urban Planning, Occidental and USC will also be on board for the in-depth planning process, Bromberg said.

Bayne said a challenging aspect of writing community plans is using the wording and language of city planners. The need for professional expertise is key, he said.

"We want to make it as clear, as legitimate, as similar to what they already do, so the recommendations we make can be seen as as legitimate as possible," he said.

Monic Uriarte, a community organizer who is involved in United Neighbors in Defense Against Displacement (UNIDAD), Esperanza and the Figueroa Corridor Community Land Trust, said the soft launch was exciting but there was still work to be done.

"We need more community involvement," she said. "We need to expand our efforts. We need more outreach."

Ron Samore, co-owner of the True Value hardware store on the corner of 30th Street and Vermont Avenue, whose family has owned the business for 60 years, said he wants to see more involvement from community members.

"It's up to the community and anybody who's not happy with the changes to speak up," he said. "If you don't speak up, you accept the change. By community involvement--people speaking up, people voicing their concerns, issues can be addressed."

Roble said public engagement has been a priority for the plans since they were initiated in March 2007.

"The planning director gave us specific instructions that she will not be happy or willing to take a plan to the planning commission if it doesn't have extensive public input or public buy in," he said. "We believe as a department that a plan is as good as its public input."