Living on Lincoln
by Jim
Smith
Even the most fervent Venice
patriot would have a hard time waxing eloquent about Lincoln Blvd. The street is
ugly, ugly, ugly. In other parts of California, Highway 1–a.k.a. Lincoln
Blvd.–is a thing of beauty as it winds up the coast to Oregon. Big Sur
lies on Highway 1, as does Mendocino County and the Redwood country. What an
impression travelers from the north get of Venice as they trek down El Camino
Real!
Yet, Lincoln also presents an opportunity
for Venice. The most pressing problem in Venice is the lack of the affordable
housing. With rents and property values constantly being driven up, it will take
government action to create more affordable/low income housing, if we are to
maintain an economically diverse
community.
The recent hubbub about a
modest bit of affordable housing on a back alley off Abbot Kinney Blvd.,
described by Carol Fondiller in this issue, brings us to a crossroads for
Venice. We can either give up on housing for the unrich and kiss
Venice-as-we-know-it goodbye, or we can dig in and say that the poor and those
of moderate means have a right to live by the seashore. Instead of piece-meal
efforts to plant affordable housing units here and there, let’s do some
planning to insure that no more Venetians have to leave their homes and drift
eastward under the smog. Let us find a place so that those of the Venice
diaspora can return to the community they love. Planning may seem absurd to
those who have never encountered it (a trip to Europe will quickly show its
benefits), but the real absurdity in a metropolitan area with millions of people
is the lack of planning that creates insults like the current Lincoln
Blvd.
There was a time not long ago
when nearly all rental property in Venice was affordable. Now it’s nearly
all UNaffordable except for those who have two incomes and don’t mind
spending most of it for rent. Many homeowners in Venice have become
rich–at least on paper–through no fault of their own. And some of
these nouveau-riche don’t want the less well off living in their
neighborhood. But how many would deny that everyone should have a decent place
of their own–somewhere–to call home? This is where Lincoln Blvd.
comes in. Not that many Yuppies or NIMBYs hang out on Lincoln. Those struggling
homeowners living within a block or two of the boulevard have to put up with day
and night noise from this river of cars. What if that noise could be cut off and
Lincoln could become a place to visit instead of to
avoid?
Here’s a modest proposal
that the Venice Specific Plan be modified to provide (require?) three or
four-story, multi-use (commercial downstairs, affordable/low income housing
upstairs) on both sides of Lincoln Blvd. between the Santa Monica line and the
Marina. Over time, this would provide for a large stock of affordable housing
and would change Lincoln Blvd. for the
better.
This added density would create
the necessary population needed to run light rail (or a quieter and probably
cheaper to build monorail system) down Lincoln from Santa Monica to LAX. It
could intersect with an extension of the Exposition Blvd. line now being planned
from downtown L.A. to Santa Monica. The extension would run down Venice Blvd.
from Sepulveda Blvd. (where the Exposition Line turns north toward Santa Monica)
to the beach. The combination of these two lines could eliminate most of the
reasons for a car for thousands of
drivers.
Parking garages could be
interspersed along Lincoln with an outer facade similar to the mixed-use
structures to improve aesthetics. Electric shuttle buses, like the Tides which
is now operating in Santa Monica, could run a loop from Lincoln to Pacific for
the convenience of beach goers and
residents.
Over time, as Venetians lose
their desire–and need–for automobiles, these structures could be
converted into more housing. Meanwhile, they could serve as drop off points for
our cars when we have to journey out of Venice. Physically able people really
don’t need cars in Venice. We can walk anywhere in our community in a few
minutes. Bikes and skates can get us there even faster.
“Dial-a-ride” programs should be available for anyone who
can’t get around on their
own.
The buildings would be for
affordable or low-income housing, not cheaply-built housing. They should have
heavy soundproofing on the Lincoln Blvd. side. Without much additional cost,
they could have amenities such as balconies away from Lincoln and rooftop
gardens. The added density would encourage resident-friendly commercial
development on the ground floors of the
complexes.
Developers could be
attracted to the Lincoln Blvd. project by tax incentives, expedited approval
processes and city/state housing fund subsidies. Community planning on this
scale could also help to alleviate pressure for large and out-of-place
commercial buildings on smaller streets in Venice.
In the long run, our society has to
begin addressing the needs of its people by bringing massive resources to bear
where they can do the most good. We need housing, health care, education and a
decent income for all, not war and super-profits for the corporations and their
CEOs.
Over a period of the next 20 or
30 years, thousands of low-income residences could be created along Lincoln
Blvd. that would blend in with the rest of the Venice community and avoid
looking like “projects.” The influx of businesses on Lincoln could
boost our local economy and provide jobs for disadvantaged youths and the
unemployed in Venice.
So how can we
make such a plan become a reality? We can’t wait for The Revolution to
make this happen (that requires even more planning). We have several possible
layers of government to call on for assistance (none of them are going to do
anything without a massive groundswell for affordable housing).
The Feds and the State can be sources
of funding. It’s possible, but not very probably, the the City of L.A.
would do something this good for Lil’ Venice. The Grassroots Venice
Neighborhood Council could be an effective lobbying source for this kind of
plan. In fact, the Progressive Candidates slate that elected eight board members
to GRVNC had this kind of plan in their platform. So far, however, the GRVNC has
been bogged down in procedural issues and hasn’t jumped into the breach
(or any other breach for that matter).
There’s always the possibility
that this can’t be done unless Venice once again becomes its own city
(more planning). In any case, change usually comes from the bottom up, not the
top down. If you like this modest proposal, or have one you like even better,
start a petition, hold a neighborhood meeting, write a letter to the Beachhead.
Anything can happen.
Posted: Sun - September 1, 2002 at 07:17 PM