Weekly Calendar

Weekly Calendar
Latino Urban Forum

Meetings, activities and events that promote our mission as of  

June 11, 2007

 

1.      Save Elephant Hill

2.      LA-APA Annual Awards Ceremony

3.      Green Schools Symposium

4.      Keep LA Beautiful

5.      Southern California Planning Congress

6.      LA Botanical Panel Discussion

7.      Strategic  Planning with Ron Milam

8.      LA Times: California Steamin

9.      LA Times:  Walk the Talk into History

10. LA Times:  Untamped Tourist Gems

11. ART: Pavement Paradise : American Parking Space

12. ART: Landscaping America : Beyond the Japanese Garden ,"

 

Visit www.latinourbanforu m.org  or  Myspace.com/ LatinoUrbanForum

http://latinourbanf orum.blogspot. com/

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007,

Save Elephant Hill

In his recent campaign for re-election, Councilmember Jose Huizar ran on an environmental platform.  He promised to make our communities safer, cleaner and greener.  He vowed to expand green and open space.  Last summer as the campaign heated up, he responded to El Sereno residents' pleas for help to ensure equitable services from City agencies responsible for residential developments by introducing a motion to investigate the need for a supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) for Tract 35022, the controversial development of 24 luxury homes on Elephant Hill. 

 

Now, under the threat of a lawsuit by the developers of Elephant Hill, the City agencies charged with undertaking this investigation recommended NO SEIR for Tract 35022 at the May 22nd Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) hearing.

Councilmember Huizar sits on that powerful committee.  The report, developed under direction of the Planning Dept., argues that no supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) is required because there are no pending

*discretionary* approvals for this Tract.

 

At the hearing, the issue of equity in planning decision-making for low-income communities like El Sereno hit home when Joe Edmiston of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy testified that similar situations in Westside communities have been decided in favor of residents.  Fortunately, PLUM extended the hearing, allowing residents the opportunity to review and respond to the report.

 

Residents have informed PLUM of the inaccuracies and problems with the report.

The National Resources Defense Council and Chatten-Brown & Carstens submitted comments that building permits are a discretionary action, thereby allowing the City to require a SEIR for Tract 35022 under state law. 

 

Councilmember Huizar needs the backing of his constituents, as well as the EJ and environmental communities to stand firm in his commitment to environmental justice and stop this illegal expansion of a luxury home development in a low-income community.  Please help send a clear message to Councilmember Huizar that our community expects him exercise his considerable authority to ensure that El Sereno residents receive equitable and fair services from City agencies responsible for residential developments.  These developers must be accountable and follow the rules just like everyone else, despite their wealth, influence and threats. 

 

What You Can Do:

 

Location:        City Hall, room 350

PLUM hearing on Elephant Hill at 2 p.m.,

 

2. Write or Councilmember Huizar and tell him you will stand with him as he fights for environmental justice in El Sereno by ensuring fair and equitable services from the agencies responsible for residential development on Elephant

Hill.   SEE THE SAMPLE LETTER BELOW.

 

Also, if the B-permit is approved by the Bureau of Engineering, he must issue a stop work order so that the hillside is not destroyed before this issue is resolved.

* Email: councilmember. huizar@lacity. org or Call 213-473-7014

 

For ongoing information about Elephant Hill check out these new blogs:

http://www.saveelep hanthills. blogspot. com/  and http://latinourbanf orum.blogspot. com/

 

For more information contact: saveelephanthills@ yahoo.com

6/5/07

 

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

LA-APA Annual Awards Ceremony
The Los Angeles Section of the American Planning Association announces the 2007 Planning Awards, recognizing planners, designers, planning firms and agencies, educators, leaders, and journalists throughout Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles Section typically recognizes and rewards projects, individuals and organizations that typifies excellence in planning and which generally advances the planning profession. The purpose of the LA Section Awards program is to recognize quality planning efforts and enhance public awareness of achievement in the planning field.  If you have any questions on sponsorships or registration please contact Jessie Barkley LA-APA Co-Chair at the contact information below:

Award Evening Schedule
5:15 to 7:00pm – Hosted wine reception and hors d'oeuvres
7:15 to 8:30 pm –Awards Program

Download a PDF file with directions to the Cathedral Plaza
Download a PDF file flyer on the Awards

Location:  The Los Angeles Cathedral

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Global Green USA would like to invite you to our annual Green Schools Symposium on at the California Science Center . This year, we will discuss innovative practices and creative policies for green schools with special attention given to charter schools.

Register today at http://globalgreen. org/events/ signup.cfm.

Please go directly to their website for further info.

 

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Saturday, June 16, 2007 9:00 am to 1:00 p.m.

Keep LA Beautiful and help clean the surrounding area around Fuller Lofts on Gloves, tools and lunch will be provided. Grab your old jeans, t-shirts & sneakers and give the neighborhood a makeover.

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Wednesday, June 20, 2007 from 6:30 PM, with 7:00 PM Dinner

Southern California Planning Congress

You are cordially invited to attend a Meet and Greet with the recently appointed Director of Regional Planning, Bruce W. McClendon for the County of Los Angeles, and Director of Planning, S. Gail Goldberg for City of Los Angeles. Please RSVP on or before June 14th by 12 noon to Michael Besem at (323) 881-7058 or e-mail at     scpcrsvp@msn. com.  Mail your payment postmarked by June 14th.     Make checks payable to SCPC.

 

Mail payment to Attn.: Anna M. Vidal

6716 Clybourn Ave, #122,

North Hollywood, CA 91606. 

Cancellations must be received 48 hours prior to the event.   

 

Where: The Tam O' Shanter Inn

2980 Los Feliz
LA, CA.  90035

 

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Thursday, June 21, 2007 @ 7:00 p.m.

The Cultural Values of Weeds in LA

Panel Discussion

 

The invasive nature of weeds has increasingly made them a much maligned but ubiquitous fixture of the LA landscape.  However pesky, though, there exists meaning and history to these invasive plants, many of these weeds are edible, medicinal and have cultural importance.  These uses, meaning, and history are precisely what Joyce Campbell attempts to reveal and document in her recent work.   LA Botanical features 39 of Campbell 's photographs of Los Angeles weeds and attempts to explore the reasons why it is important to the city.

 

Join us for an evening of investigation into the scruffier side of the Los Angeles .

Panelist include Joyce Campbell the artist; Daisy Tonantzin, project coordinator for Projecto Jardin and facilitator for Cultivating Roots; Rufina Juarez, South Central Farm Organizer; Mia Lehrer , landscape architect; and Jay Babcock,

Editor of Arthur Magazine.  Panel will be moderated by gallery co-founder/urban planner James Rojas

 

Date:               Thursday, June 21, 2007

Time:              7:00 p.m,

 Location:       Gallery 727

                        727 S. Spring Street #12

                        LA, CA.  90014

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Saturday, June 23, 2007 from 10 am - 3 pm

STRATEGIC PLANNING WITH RON MILAM

What's your community's mission?  What's your vision?  Values?  What will you do to make your vision reality?  Knowing the answers to these questions plays a key role in your nonprofit group's success, whether it be a shared house, cohousing group, ecovillage, or other type of co-op living or working situation. READ MORE AT http://laecovillage .org/strategicpl anningmilam. html

 

Fee:                                   $75 (sliding scale available)

Pre-registration required:  213/738-1254 or crsp@igc.org

 

Location:        L.A. Eco-Village,

117 Bimini Pl, LA 90004

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ART

 

"Landscaping America : Beyond the Japanese Garden ,"

June 17-Oct 21, 2007

This exhibition explores the history of Japanese American gardens and gardeners. The exhibit runs from. The opening day of the exhibit will be on Father's Day. We'll have live music and BBQ food vendors on the plaza.

 

Location:        Japanese American National Museum

                        368 East First Street .

                        LA, CA.

 

LA Botanical ;  A project by Joyce Campbell

May 18 – July 14, 2007

LA Botanical is an ongoing project, massive and perhaps unachievable in its full potential scope, to  document each plant that grows in Los Angeles for which there is a documented use - be it food,  medicine, weapon, abortive, analgesic, fuel,  stimulant, building material, deadly toxin or mind altering entheogen. The plants are documented as wet-plate Ambrotypes, an anachronistic photographic  form ubiquitous the 1850's-1890s, the period during  in which Los Angeles grew from a dusty town of 1400 inhabitants to a major metropolitan center.

The project is an attempt to reconcile Campbell 's own rural background with her life here in Los Angeles ,  one of the most sprawling and unsustainable  metropolises on earth.

LA Botanical operates simultaneously as map, inventory, and survival guide to the city of Los Angeles . It has the potential to reveal who lives  here, from where they originate, what they value, how  they eat, worship, heal, harm, travel, clothe  themselves, seek insight or achieve oblivion. It also serves as a tool or guide - enabling its audience to  see Los Angeles , not as a desiccated industrial  wasteland into which resources must flow, but as a  field of abundant life that might be harvested to  satisfy our needs.

            Joyce Campbell is an interdisciplinary artist working in photography, sculpture, film and video installation. She is a visiting lecturer at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate University in Claremont , California .

Joyce¹s recent work utilizes anachronistic photographic techniques to examine the collision of natural and cultural systems.

In October of 2006, Joyce traveled to the Ross Sea region of Antarctica for two weeks sponsored by Creative New Zealand and Antarctica New Zealand.

While in Antarctica she shot large format negatives and Daguerreotypes, an archaic and exquisite form of photography that predates Antarctic exploration.

 

Location:        Gallery 727

                        727 S. Spring Street #12

                        LA, CA.  90014

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Friday, June 1, 2007

Pavement Paradise : American Parking Space

An exhibit about the liminal, substanceless, and static space of automotive transience.  In the Los Angeles exhibit space beginning
http://clui. org/clui_ 4_1/ondisplay/ parking/

 

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Articles:

 

Los Angeles Times' Sunday June 10, 2007

California Steamin' Sooner than you think, you're going to feel global warming in your own backyard.

By Cary Lowe
CARY LOWE is a land-use lawyer and urban planning consultant who has served as an advisor to state and local government in California .

CLIMATE CHANGE is about to move from the headlines into the personal lives of Californians. While scientists continue to debate the probabilities of various worst-case scenarios — a 31-inch rise in sea level or an 8-degree jump in average temperatures by the year 2100 — few dispute that we face a future of potentially catastrophic environmental conditions if the proliferation of greenhouse gases isn't checked.

In contrast to the federal government, which only recently recognized the human element in climate change after years of denial, state and local governments, as well as regional agencies, are devising policies that address global warming. Much of this activity is spurred by lawsuits and lobbying by environmental organizations that seek to compel public agencies to consider climate change when making decisions on land use, transportation projects, energy production and other issues.

In California , seven high-profile suits have been filed, mostly by the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit organization based in Arizona . All challenge the legitimacy of environmental impact reports and permit approvals that do not analyze the effects that proposed developments might have on global warming. Most recently, the center, joined by the California attorney general, sued for that reason to block implementation of San Bernardino County 's long-range land-use plan governing development, road construction, utility services and related issues.

Developers, business groups, energy producers, water agencies and local governments are all trying to get out in front of the lawsuits and expected legislation on global warming. They recall the years of struggling to catch up with previous waves of environmental regulation, such as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. So far, California has led the way nationally with passage of a law requiring the rate of greenhouse gas emissions in the state to be cut to the 1990 level by 2020, a 25% reduction.

Climate change will create uncertainty and conflict on a variety of fronts in California .

Home construction will become more difficult and costly as its effects on climate change become a factor in the approval process. Already, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council have challenged three large residential projects in Riverside County and the Sacramento River Delta because the agencies that approved them did not consider their effects on global warming. If such suits prevail, developers will need to learn quickly how to minimize the climate change effects — the "carbon footprint" — of their projects by making them more energy efficient, less traffic generating and less dependent on water, among other things. Otherwise, they may face years of litigation, resulting in higher costs for some projects and abandonment of others.

If sea levels rise 8 to 31 inches over this century, as predicted by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and if severe ocean storms become more common, as groups such as the Global Business Network have warned, development along California's coast will be further restricted or stopped altogether, in the same way it is occurring in the hurricane-prone Southeastern states.

California 's legendary water wars will intensify as parts of the state compete for reduced supplies caused by global warming. A study published by the National Academy of Sciences predicts higher temperatures and less precipitation inland, resulting in a reduced snowpack in the Sierra and diminished runoff that feeds the state's rivers, lakes and reservoirs. A study by the National Research Council expresses similar concerns about the Colorado River, a major water source for Southern California . Even though changing weather patterns are expected to increase coastal rainfall, a serious shortage of storage capacity there will allow much of the water to escape into the Pacific.

A federal court in Sacramento has already blocked increased water deliveries from the Sacramento delta to the Central Valley and Southern California, saying the plan failed to address scientific predictions of reduced water supplies because of global warming and how that would affect the habitats of endangered species.

California law requires developers of large housing projects to demonstrate the availability of long-term water supplies for those projects, and state lawmakers are proposing even tougher rules. The state Supreme Court recently halted development of a 6,000-acre community outside Sacramento because its developers could not guarantee water sources. If projections of less water availability because of global warming turn out to be true, this and similar developments may be a thing of the past.

The power shortages that Californians endured in 2001 are likely to become commonplace as rising temperatures produce more frequent heat waves, boosting the demand for air conditioning. Unfortunately, existing electricity plants, especially those burning coal, are among the foremost generators of greenhouse gases. Tougher energy-efficiency standards in construction, better insulation and requirements for fluorescent lighting will help reduce demand for electricity. But until alternative energy sources fill the power gap, climate change will further strain power supplies and sharply raise living costs.

The hotter, drier weather will greatly reduce — or even shut off — access to such popular recreational areas as the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains because of the heightened risk of wildfires. Just how dangerous it can be living in urban areas close to parklands was recently demonstrated by the Griffith Park and Catalina Island blazes. Fire officials already are placing stricter controls on development in such fire-prone areas, meaning that communities such as Lake Arrowhead and Idyllwild probably won't see more housing or tourist facilities.

The Legislature is considering nearly 60 bills on global warming issues. The most prominent ones would require climate change analyses in water supply and transportation planning. The governor's office is drawing up regulations to implement the law mandating cuts in greenhouse gases. Meantime, the current lawsuits are heading toward decisions, and more suits will surely be filed. However it all plays out, land-use policy and development in California will be forever changed.

 

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Teens walk the talk into history

Students lead tours of South Vermont Avenue , telling of its past as part of studying its economy.

By Deborah Schoch
Times Staff Writer

June 10, 2007

A team of history-minded teenagers set out Saturday to change common perceptions of South Vermont Avenue , once a key economic artery for South Los Angeles .

The 20 students from area high schools led a walking tour of the wide boulevard, singling out landmarks and telling stories about local history.

Their goal was to highlight the economic history of their neighborhood, long buffeted by social changes, a declining job base and the 1992 riots that left some storefronts in ruins.

Still, the stories they told did not end there.

Students said they wanted to illustrate how some small businesses were thriving despite economic pressures and the neighborhood' s reputation as abjectly poor and riddled with drugs, gangs and crime.

"The media shows what it wants to show. People say that people are dying here every day," said Ivan Lopez, 16, a student who told about the history of the Nativity Catholic Church and School, a longtime community center.

Other stops included one of the area's new supermarkets, the American Barber College , a popular barbecue restaurant that has survived nearly five decades of change, and a shopping plaza that once housed a Sears store and has rebounded with new businesses.

The tour was part of a local history project organized and sponsored by the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, a private, nonprofit archive on Vermont that specializes in local labor, political and social history.

Forty students from 10 local high schools spent nearly four months researching local landmarks, combing through old records and interviewing residents. They received high school and college credit through Los Angeles Trade Tech College .

Several students said they enjoyed the project because their school history textbooks contained scant information about their neighborhood. If Los Angeles was mentioned at all, they said, it was cast as the home of Hollywood .

The students led two tours along Vermont Avenue , from 61st Street north to 53rd Street , accompanied by about two dozen residents, relatives and other students.

They strolled past shabby liquor stores, check-cashing services and weedy vacant lots behind rusted fences. But they pointed out promising businesses, such as the Gigante supermarket that opened in 2003, part of a chain based in Mexico . They said it was welcomed in the area, which has few supermarkets, and created 200 jobs.

They stopped again at the offices of the Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corp., which is trying to bolster the neighborhood economy. The organization hopes to draw more sit-down restaurants to complement the fast-food places, said Jennifer Godinez, 17.

"That would create more jobs for our people," said Jennifer, who would like to see some Mexican, Salvadoran and seafood restaurants.

Jessica Gomez, 17, a senior at Fremont High School , interviewed the co-owner of the Pit BarBQue and sampled its food. Founded in 1958, it has survived financial ups and downs.

"It's known for its sweet potato pie, potato salad and hot links," she said.

Students said co-owner Wendell Taylor told them how he and his father stood watch on the roof during the 1992 riots. Their restaurant was one of the only businesses on the block that did not burn, Taylor said. As the surrounding community has shifted from largely white to black and now Latino, the restaurant has continued to serve its Southern-style menu.

"I admire its antiquity and the fact that it's still there," said Jessica, who will attend UCLA in the fall and wants to major in history and Latino studies.

She and other students said the project gave them new insights into their community, and, in some cases, uncovered old stories.

Taylor Harris, 15, of nearby Hawthorne said he hadn't known that restrictive covenants once barred many non-whites from buying property in certain areas of Los Angeles .

He gave a report on Slauson Avenue , which once was the southern boundary of areas where African Americans could live.

"I don't think it was right. It shouldn't have been allowed by our government," Taylor said.

Several students agreed that many people in other parts of the city associate South Los Angeles with crime and poverty, in part because news organizations overlook other activities in the area.

While news outlets report on high dropout rates, Ivan said, "In my magnet class, every senior graduated in the last four years. Why not report those statistics?"

Two more tours are scheduled for next Saturday, when another group of students will relate the history of transportation in the Vermont Avenue area.

More information is available online on the library's website: http://www.socallib .org .

 

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Untapped tourism gems?

L.A.'s ethnic enclaves tend to be overlooked by visitors. A project aims to advertise their attractions and offer an economic boost.

By Teresa Watanabe
Times Staff Writer

June 9, 2007

In Highland Park , an explosion of art galleries in the last few years has made the neighborhood a leading light of contemporary Latino art in Los Angeles .

East Hollywood, meanwhile, features a profusion of Thai restaurants and spas, along with Armenian bakeries, shops and a boat-shaped library, which reflects the legend that Noah's Ark came to rest on an Armenian mountain.

And in Leimert Park , hip-hop artists, drummers and jazz and blues musicians have turned the tree-lined pedestrian space into a vibrant center of African American performance art.

But the three Los Angeles County neighborhoods, which are often overlooked by tourists, also have struggled because of a challenging business environment and physical deterioration. According to the 2000 Census, the three neighborhoods have lower median household incomes and higher poverty rates than the county average.

Now UCLA is partnering with nonprofit L.A. Commons and several other companies and organizations in an effort to turn the economic tide. The project, called Uncommon L.A., is touting cultural tourism to the three neighborhoods as a way to help bring in free-spending tourists to boost economic development. Among other things, the project is sponsoring a summer-long series of tours to the areas, including an exploration of Highland Park 's art galleries tonight.

"Most tourists from other cities tend to see only a small part of L.A. — Disney Hall, Griffith Park … " said Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, chair of the UCLA urban planning department, who helped launch Uncommon L.A. "But there is a whole vibrant part of Los Angeles they're missing: all of our ethnic neighborhoods. If we can help make them more visible, we see this as a model for economic development, " she said.

Michael McDowell of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau agrees that the city's ethnic enclaves are a potential draw for tourists. Although the top five Los Angeles tourist attractions offer quintessential Southern California features of sun, fun and glitz — Universal Studios, the Getty Center, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rodeo Drive and Venice Beach — ethnic neighborhoods may be of particular interest to repeat visitors who already have seen the region's major landmarks, he said.

Half of the 25 million tourists who visit Los Angeles annually are from the San Diego-San Francisco-Phoenix triangle, he said, and probably are familiar with the region.

"They've done the landmarks," McDowell said. "They're looking for something new."

The experience of other cities suggests that cultural tourism can effectively boost economic development, according to Anne McAulay, director of cultural development for L.A. Commons, the community organization that is partnering with UCLA.

Boston 's "Beyond Baked Beans" program, for instance, offers detailed guides to 19 neighborhoods. In the approximately 10 years the program has run, the districts have gained more than 3,600 jobs, 540 new businesses, 517 design improvement projects and more than $11 million in grants and private investment to the area, according to McAulay's research.

That research helped lay the groundwork for Uncommon L.A. , which is being funded by a two-year, $75,000 grant from the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships. McAulay and others also have taken surveys of area merchants and compiled "cultural inventories" of each neighborhood so that they can map the restaurants, art galleries and other assets and use the information to develop a marketing plan for the three ethnic areas.

Many of the neighborhood merchants, artists and community leaders have embraced the project.

"It would be absolutely great to have more cultural tourists down here," said James Fugate, co-owner of Eso Won Books in Leimert Park , which is an enclave of African American businesses, cultural organizations and Art Deco architecture just off Crenshaw Boulevard in the Crenshaw district. "They would help the area a tremendous amount."

Fugate said his business has plunged by 50% since he moved his store, a large African American book store, from La Brea and Rodeo Avenues last October because of rising rents. Leimert Park is more affordable, he said, but a tad "lonely" when it comes to foot traffic, he said.

Uncommon L.A. aims to increase visitors by touting Leimert Park's performance art — jazz at World Stage, blues at Babe's and Ricky's Inn, and hip-hop at KAOS Network. But whether that will help boost business for area merchants is uncertain, mainly because performances usually don't start until 9 p.m., long after vendors selling African American jewelry, clothing, art and other artifacts close shop.

Over in the heart of Thai Town , restaurant owner Som Chai Jansaeng also described the challenges facing businesses that line Hollywood Boulevard between North Normandie and North Western avenues. Ever since the city officially designated the area as Thai Town in 1999, more tourists have visited but his profit margins and customer base have not grown, said Jansaeng, whose Ruen Pair restaurant features a decor of temple rubbings, Thai puppets and a red and gold Buddhist altar.

A proliferation of Thai restaurants has increased competition, he said. And rents have more than doubled in the last several years to $3.25 per square foot today, Jansaeng said.

Chancee Martorell, executive director of the Thai Community Development Center , said Jansaeng's plight underscores the double-edged sword of economic development: As neighborhoods prosper, lower-income residents and merchants could be pushed out by rising property values and greater competition.

Her center has conducted an assessment of area merchants and residents and found, among other things, a strong need to diversify Thai businesses, which are overwhelmingly restaurants. In recent years, she said, more spa and massage centers have opened, along with a Thai silk shop and dessert stores.

The Uncommon L.A. project promotes food in its marketing for Thai Town . Loukaitou-Sideris said her research suggested that a concentration of similar businesses in one area might benefit all merchants by drawing people to the area — as "auto rows" do.

In nearby Little Armenia, one of the biggest attractions is the ark-shaped library building at the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School , on North Alexandria Street between Hollywood and West Sunset boulevards. The area is also home to St. John Garabed Armenian Church and businesses, including bakeries that sell Armenian foods such as lahmajune, a flat meat pizza.

In Highland Park , the Uncommon L.A. project primarily will promote the local art scene, which has been revitalized by the proliferation of new galleries in the area. Although the area has been long known as an artists' colony that has been sustained by such organizations as the Arroyo Arts Collective, many of the galleries closed shop as the neighborhood declined, according to Kathy Gallegos, a local artist.

That began to change in 2000, when Gallegos opened Avenue 50 Studio to feature Latino, Chicano and other multicultural art. "We opened up and boom: Immediately it was popular," Gallegos said.

Since then, half a dozen other studios have opened in Highland Park and have formed the Northeast LA Art Gallery Assn. to offer gallery tours every second Saturday of the month, Gallegos said. Other businesses also have helped revitalize the area, including La Casa Blue coffeehouse on York Boulevard . Scott Robbins, the owner, turned an abandoned building used by drug dealers into an airy gathering space that features art, karaoke, film and food.

The Highland Park tour will begin today at 5 p.m. at Avenue 50 Studio, 131 N. Avenue 50. The tour will feature galleries, art openings and puppet shows, including the unveiling of a "Tree of Life" wood-carving project by students at Franklin High School and artist Poli Marichal. More information is available at http://www.lacommon s.org .

"Inner-city communities are often described as problems," Loukaitou-Sideris said. "We're trying to identify what's good in a community and market it."

 

 

Urban Eats:

 

Farmer Markets in the Hood!

 

Tianguis:  South Central Farmers Market.

Support Community Sustainable Agriculture (C.S.A.)

Music, high quality produce,

www.southcentralfar mers.com

 

Date:               First Sunday of every month (May 6^th)

Time:             10:00 am. to 4:00 p.m.

Location:         41^st and Alameda

 

Caracol Farmers Market

Date: Sunday June 24, 2007

Time:  10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

 

 

" East Los Angeles Farmer's Market" every Saturday from 9 AM TO 1 PM

Features fruits and vegetables grown locally by local farmers. In addition, you'll find one of a kind creations offered by local artisans and meet representatives from local community organizations.

 

Location: First Street (between Rowan and Ditman).

 

 

Homegirl Café!

1818 East First Street

LA, CA.  90014

 

Mama's Hot Tamale Cafe

7^th Street across from Macarthur Park

 

To post events, activities or meetings that promote planning, cultural or dialogue contact James Rojas at 213 892-0918 or email Latinourbanforum@ yahoo.com Please submit post in a word document.