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Imagine MacArthur Park without a road running through the middle. That’s what most residents who live around the park say they want. This is according to preliminary findings from the Reconnecting MacArthur Park project, an effort studying whether the busy roadway between Alvarado Street and Carondelet Street should be closed off permanently.
Under this proposal, the park’s north and south sides would be rejoined to form one large green space. The idea is to turn the major traffic corridor into usable park space in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Los Angeles.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.Maria Ortiz, 59, who has lived near MacArthur Park for 30 years, welcomes closing off Wilshire, if it improves the area for families like hers. She is a grandmother to three granddaughters. “Hopefully they can close it so there’s more space for kids to play, more surveillance and fewer homeless people,” Ortiz said. “Right now, the traffic is also bad, it gets really congested. People also don’t respect when the buses are coming.”California has a paid leave program for self-employed workers. But few are using it The state has a program for self-employed workers and small business owners, but workers don’t always know to opt in.For her, the park is important because it’s the only one she has close by. But she added that changes should go beyond closing the road. She remembers a different MacArthur Park when she was raising her children, one that felt more welcoming for families. “There were a lot more events at MacArthur Park before, there were contests, they would give gifts to kids,” she said. The Central City Neighborhood Partners surveyed more than 1,500 people from August to December and asked them to weigh in on five possible options:Remove Wilshire entirely and keep the short block between Park View Street and Carondelet Street open to carsMore than six in 10 survey respondents supported removing Wilshire and reconnecting the park. Keeping things as they are drew the least support. The project now moves into the next phase, where the five concepts will go through an environmental review. The city and project partners will also develop design concepts and estimate costs to build.“What we’ve been able to hear from the community was really that everyone wants to see a change in MacArthur Park,” said Diana Alfaro, associate executive director of Central City Neighborhood Partners. “Everyone in this community is excited or wants to be able to see new amenities,” she said, including better lighting and park infrastructure. In a February interview, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said the neighborhood doesn’t have enough parks or green space, adding that MacArthur Park alone isn’t enough for a densely populated neighborhood like Westlake. “And that’s why I’ve been moving with my team and pushing for reconnecting MacArthur Park and closing down Wilshire Boulevard in that area to begin to create more spaces, more pedestrianized spaces, more opportunities for green space,” she said. At the same time, the city is moving forward with a separate plan to install fencing around MacArthur Park. The plan would add a wrought-iron fence around both halves of the park. Officials say the fence will allow the park to close at night and give them time to clean the space overnight. Their goal is to address safety and quality-of-life concerns.That fencing project is not part of the reconnection study, but Alfaro said it will affect it. According to a report of the survey findings, any redesign of the park will have to factor in where the fence goes, and whether parts of it would need to be removed or rebuilt if the park is eventually reconnected.“At the end of the day, there are a lot of changes coming to MacArthur Park,” Alfaro said, “and I think it testifies why there needs to be some more attention around reconnecting or really just adding more green space for the community.”The lifelong Westlake resident often feels the park is “dirty and filthy” when he passes through. “If there’s a way to make the park a better place for more people to come, then I feel like it’s a good project,” Lacayo said. “We get a lot of tourists, so improving the park I think will improve the image of Los Angeles.” Because of ongoing concerns around homelessness and drug activity, Lacayo often avoids walking through the park. But if conditions improve, he said that could change and he would visit more often.Alfaro believes the fencing plan and the reconnection project are both responses to those same concerns. “The purpose of it is to ensure that the park is being well kept and maintained,” she said of the fence. “I think all of it kind of adds to the same reason why we are doing this project to begin with,” Alfaro added. “Which is to ensure that the park itself is a park that families could use, youth can use, seniors can use.” You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead . Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community. Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.Climate & Environment
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