The Westside Urban Forum, a networking organization dedicated to the land-use dialogue impacting Los Angeles, held its annual Westside Prize award luncheon on June 10.  FoLAR was onhand to receive the prestigious John Leighton Chase Legacy Award.  Additionally, among the distinguished projects recognized, the Piggyback Yard was honored with an Honor Award in the Plans category.  Jury comments included the following:

“This is the right place for Los Angeles to invest in the future; it’s an extraordinarily large resource.”

“It improves quality of life across a spectrum of vibrant neighborhoods that are typically ignored, and invigorates the east side of Downtown Los Angeles.”

“At the scale of infrastructure, this complex study weaves together numerous natural and synthetic forces to produce an image of an inclusive urban park that is so deperately needed in Los Angeles.”

Thanks to WUF and congratulations to everyone involved!

The Los Angeles River runs for 52 miles, draining a watershed shared with millions of other people. 60% of the L.A. River runs through the City for which it was named. Until William Mulholland captured Owens Valleys’ water in 1913, the Los Angeles River supplied the water for a city of 200,000 people. When the railroads came to Southern California in the 1870’s the river become the industrial corridor it has been ever since. Factories went up where once were wetlands. Railroad tracks lined the River’s banks. (more…)