Campaign for a Car-Free Lincoln Park: The Beginning of a Happy Ending?

Since posting a very sarcastic YouTube video a few weeks ago about conditions in Lincoln Park, some small changes have taken place to address few of the issues I raised.

First, regarding illegal parking of cars in the park, several things have been either clarified or partially resolved:

• CLARIFIED: The Plaza de la Raza was granted (by whom?) the right to park cars adjacent the Plaza (though not 50+ cars as observed the past two weeks in the evenings).
• CLARIFIED: The DMV across the street has drawn drivers into the park to leave their vehicles (i.e. this isn't about the Plaza patrons, but about how their easy access to the park has led to abuse by others).
• RESOLVED: Councilman Ed Reyes' office had two (2) "Authorized Vehicles Only" signs installed at the driveway into the park on Mission.
• RESOLVED (?): On August 11, 2010, three independent witnesses and one smart ass friend on a scooter confirmed that the Plaza had yellow piece of tape and a staff person checking cars entering the park and directing un-authorized cars to the parking lot on Sichel (by the tennis courts).

So, as regards parking in the park, it looks like there is at least something being done in the short term! Hooray!

I believe that the city needs to step up its efforts to enable Plaza patrons to visit the park by removing the peak hour parking restrictions on Mission Dr. adjacent the park. Vehicle trips on this stretch of road will not be significantly impacted by allowing a small amount of parkingon this portion of Mission - and if cars parking on Mission do slow down evening commute traffic ... GOOD! They should slow down! This isn't the 10 freeway, it's an old road through a retail, recreation, and residential area.

Additionally, there needs to be a curb cut installed on the corners of Mission Dr. and Lincoln Park, and the intersection needs to allow crossing from both sides of Lincoln Park across Mission.

The bus shelter needs to have a proper covered bench, with lighting, and a waste bin that is cleaned.

The sidewalks on Mission and Sichel need to be repaired to allow handicap access unfettered by 3 to 4 inch drops into compacted dirt trenches.

All of these measures will help ensure that both the Plaza's patrons will have access to the park that is convenient, but that will not ruin the park for the locals walking, riding bikes, and otherwise enjoying the non-programed green space the park offers.

Moving right along, the xeriscaped plants I filmed were weeded the day after the video made it onto CurbedLA, and have been well tended since then. Thank you Park and Recs staff!

The broken sidewalks and "wheelchair moguls/senior citizen wild adventure park obstacles courses" that I alluded to in the film still exist, and have gotten worse. This is a problem that both the Parks and Rec. Department and the Bureau of Streets and Sidewalks need to address. If a private developer "improved" his property by installing a sprinkler system that wrecked the public roads or sidewalk, rest assured that developer would be assessed fines and pay for the damage done. The Parks and Rec Department has despoiled the already crappy sidewalks around Lincoln Park (to install "smart" irrigation for drought tolerant plants). They need to fix the problem they created!

Finally, I'd like to thank al the neighbors and friends that have helped get the ball rolling on these small changes that have already begun taking place at the park! I know now that I am not alone in being concerned with the state of the park and the surrounding neighborhood. I also know that we're not looking at a bunch of big expensive fixes to the situation, just a bunch of small steps that will inch us closer to a more beautiful, peaceful, place to live and play - which is all anyone can ask for in this short amount of time we'll all be alive together.