Recently, blogdowntown succinctly described some of the complexities of revitalizing the Los Angeles River through downtown Los Angeles, quickly realizing that Nothing is Simple. The blog post highlights outdated land use patterns and various proposed developments in relation to river revitalization efforts, highlighting the PBy Vision as an alternative design for a single use railyard – no matter who the owner. Lewis MacAdams was interviewed, noting specifically that “there’s no space in the central city that’s not contested space” and that the real question is how to work around the existing rail tracks and create river access. Click on the link above to read the whole story.

MIKE MCGINLEY: ABOUT RAILROADS, THE RIVER, AND THE PIGGYBACK YARD

BOYLE HEIGHTS 1873 (USED WITH PERMISSION OF THE LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY)

The very first railway in Los Angeles ran north and south on Alameda Street. Phineas Banning built the connection between downtown and the tidewater at Wilmington – the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad. The Santa Fe, when it came in, came down through Highland Park along the west bank of the River. In 1875 the Southern Pacific, with a lot of help from the City of Los Angeles, came into L.A. and connected with the L.A. and San Pedro and then took off for the east – for Yuma, Arizona, El Paso, Texas, connecting up with the eastern railroads, putting Southern California on a linkage throughout the U.S. (more…)