Elinor’s involvement in the Venice Community Coalition


We had the privilege of meeting Elinor over five years ago when a group of us in Venice formed the Venice Community Coalition to fight against a horrendous development called Lincoln Center.


The developer wanted to build a mega-commercial and luxury housing development project on Lincoln Blvd.  It quickly became clear to all of us that Elinor was very smart, and had excellent ideas about how such projects could be improved by making them be within the scale and character of the neighborhood, and pedestrian-friendly.  She helped the group come up with a positive view of what it wanted to see in the community, rather than just fighting against what it didn’t want.

From that experience we organized the Envision Venice event. That was in 2003. It brought together residents, business owners, government officials and architects and design professionals to brainstorm about a comprehensive view of development on Lincoln Blvd.  During meetings to prepare for the event, Elinor’s way was to listen calmly to what others had to say, and then finally speak up with a fresh perspective that almost always put things back on track.  She was never loud or overbearing. In fact, what she had to say was so succinct. She had a habit of speaking softly in that beautiful voice of hers. It made you listen intently so that all the interrupting and cross-talk would come to a halt.

Venice Community Coalition holds regular Thursday night meetings. Elinor always talked about the need for public spaces that would engage people. She truly believed that communities should be developed in a way to promote human interaction. And though she was a professional planner, she really liked the fact that we in the Venice Community Coalition were ordinary citizens who cared about our community. Through years of weekly meetings, she never pulled rank, never held herself above the group because of her expertise. She taught us a lot about planning, even taking us on field trips with her, going to places that we wouldn’t have gone to otherwise.

And with Elinor’s help, we have had successes. Also thanks to her help with the Envision Venice event and report, in which Elinor played the major role, the Lincoln Center project was defeated. At the hearing about the project, one commissioner after another sited the report as the definitive voice of the community.

And from this also came a Community Design Overlay for Lincoln Blvd., which is a guideline for pedestrian friendly buildings on Lincoln. And now our council office is about to embark on a Master Plan for Lincoln Blvd. a first comprehensive study of its kind for a street in Los Angeles. Grieg Asher, chief planning deputy for the council office was especially excited about having Elinor’s help in this.

Elinor often spoke of empowering people—to envision the kind of community they wanted to live in.  And this was a major theme of Elinor’s life.  She believed in empowering the working people, the poor and the homeless. Over the years, Elinor brought our attention to the inequities in our community, the need for affordable housing, and the need to preserve housing for the diversity of people in Venice.

Elinor was idealistic and a visionary. She was the kind of person who believed that to be part of a community was more than just living in it and driving to and from work.  She lived her life doing things to make the community, and the world, a better place. We feel lucky to have known her. She was our friend.

Laura Silagi
David Ewing
Jerry Jaffe
Mindy Taylor-Ross
For the Venice Community Coalition

Posted: Wed - August 1, 2007 at 09:41 AM          

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