Walkabout

The Great Glassell Park and Cypress Park Walkabout. What the heck is a Walkabout, you
ask? Well, here's the deal: Community Volunteers in Glassell Park and Cypress Park are making
an effort to document all the features and assets of our adjoining communities.

We need your help. Volunteers are needed to walk the streets of our neighborhoods and
document all that we have by making notes and taking photographs. Meet with other community
members and stakeholders at 8 AM on Saturday, June 9th at the Glassell Park Community and
Senior Center, 3750 N. Verdugo Road, Glassell Park, CA 90065. It's a chance to connect with
other neighbors, residents, business owners and stakeholders from our two great communities.

What kind of architecture currently exists? Any historically significant structures? Wonderful open
space with sweeping views? Alleyways littered with trash and bulky items?

We want to document it all, so that in the future there exists a document to help developers, urban
planners, politicians, residents and business owners make informed decisions about our common
future.

Glassell Park and Cypress Park are special communities with their own unique character and
history. Perched on the Los Angeles River and close to Downtown's urban core, our area is poised
for renewal -- and well-positioned to accommodate a variety of development, which our communities
are bound to attract , as more and more people move to Los Angeles.

Also important, given the incoming Community Design Overlay for Cypress Park and Glassell Park
(a set of guidelines for consistent design standards in development), is the opportunity to outreach
to and educate community members, helping them engage in an informed dialogue with the City to
advocate for safe, healthy, livable neighborhoods.

Deborah Murphy, an Urban Design and Planning professional has been hired to facilitate all
community meetings, training for the core group of organizing volunteers, and to provide the
summary analysis of all of the data we gather.

The first Organizing Meetings are:

Tuesday, May 29 at 6:30 pm
Aragon Elementary School
1118 Aragon Avenue
Cypress Park, CA 90065

Wednesday, May 30th at 6:30 pm
Glassell Park Elementary School
2211 W. Ave. 30
Glassell Park, CA 90065

For more information contact:
Helene Schpak
email: hschpk@sbcglobal.net
323-422-1330

The Land Use and Planning Committee of the GPIA is a liaison to the development communities of the private and public
sectors. The GPIA has a long history of weighing in on development -- pro and con -- as we are the oldest and largest
group of any kind representing residents and business owners in Glassell Park. The GPIA has worked hard to reverse
the view held by some in Government and the private sector, that Glassell Park is a "dumping ground" for unattractive
projects. In the late 70's the GPIA lobbied hard against Union Oil's plans to locate a huge oil fuel tank in Glassell Park
and Union Oil dropped their plans due to the opposition. In the early 70's the GPIA lobbied Sacramento to complete the
Glendale Freeway to the 134 and the 210 instead of dumping scores of traffic into our neighborhood. More recently the
GPIA has lobbied for a High School at Taylor Yard, rather than a Cal Trans Truck repair yard by our Los Angeles River.

The GPIA also is a voice for attracting good, family-friendly, community-building businesses to Glassell Park that will offer
good-paying jobs for our residents as well. The GPIA supported a committee looking to find a good tenant to occupy
Ralphs' Market on San Fernando Road after it closed and welcomed Super King Market to the site. We worked with the
developer of the incoming Mixed-use project at 3901 Eagle Rock Blvd. and got them to include and pay for features,
such as a signalized cross walk at CALS Charter school, near our recreation center, to increase pedestrian safety for
the many school-aged children in this area.

It's always a situation of give and take, but the GPIA strives to assess what types of businesses and services would
enhance our community, given those that we already have and those that are sorely lacking.

Please Help Us Save Open Space in Moss Canyon
The exponential increase in construction projects in these hillsides is creating a density that is a real threat to the fragile
infrastructure here. Currently the SMMC is looking to purchase of 10 tax defaulted properties. Attached below are links
to download a map and a template for a letter, so you can just put in your personal information, print out, sign, and add
any comments you would like to make.

Click here to download map

Click here to download sample letter