North Atwater Park: Up Close and Personal with the Los Angeles River

Oh, it's been one of those blog lapses again.

Very well. Moving forward...

It was an ordinary Saturday...The Militant was dropping off some E-Waste at a local Los Angeles City S.A.F.E. disposal center when he ventured around the area out of his own militant curiosity. He found himself on Chevy Chase Drive in Atwater Village and the voices inside his head his militant instinct told him to venture forward, to the road's end. It was there where he saw it: North Atwater Park.

There was a small parking lot along with a bicycle parking rack, so he knew he was in the right place. Any beyond the lot was an open area with picnic tables, benches, a clay dirt path and various California native plants. But beyond that...

...The Militant found his personal El Dorado.





It was the Los Angeles River, flowing, running wild and pure. Yes, he had encountered The River before. But this time, there were no fences or railing to encumber him.

This is what nearby Griffith Park, just yards away, past The River and the the 5 Freeway, was meant to be like over 60 years ago. A peaceful parkland that welcomed one to the Los Angeles River, interrupted due to the aforementioned freeway. All but realized until recently.

On this day, there were several people painting along the banks of the river. No, not taggers or graff artists wielding spray paint cans, but people holding brushes, painting on canvases set up in locations to their liking (pictured left).

According to one of them, they were all enrolled in Barnsdall Art Park's 3-hour Plein Air painting class, where they were assigned this week to show up at North Atwater Park and paint their subjects along the riverside.

The Militant was in awe. He could hear the river water rush just inches away from him. He walked further south along The River's east bank, passing by some people chatting, one of them greeting The Militant, and an Australian Shepherd dog who seemed to take a liking to him. He saw ducks walking in the standing water along the concrete riverbed, watching them march hurriedly towards the water as The Militant approached.

It was the perfect scene that was marred only by the sound and occasional sight of cars whooshing by on the 5 Freeway on the other side of The River. If not for that, The Militant would probably never leave (which may or may not be problematic, as he couldn't blog again if he did).

Next to the native plants area was a large dry ravine, with native wildflowers, which ran diagonally towards The River (pictured right). It's gated off by temporary fencing, but there are stairs leading down to it, so it might be accessible in the future. The purpose of the ravine, according to an informational sign, was for a means to allow runoff water from the nearby water treatment plant to cleanse itself naturally by entering the local water aquifer. It seems that sustainable water runoff treatment is the in-thing these days.

This is Memorial Day weekend, and most of you have better things to do than to real local blogs (unless you're looking for something to do). If you're like The Militant and don't get leave town (or at least never publicly admit to doing so), he recommends spending a few hours chilling here by The River at North Atwater Park. It's free to visit, after all. Our river is a link to both our past and our future. A pedestrian/bicycle/equestrian bridge across The River here will begin construction next year.

Most of all, The Militant found his new Happy Place. You may or may not see The Militant here sometime. But if ever you do, please turn off your cameras/recording devices and raise ya fist!

Deux Ducks.

The Militant makes a new friend.

Save for these motorcycle remains, The River was amazingly clean and junk-free!

Rapids transit.

A.M. Los Angeles

The Militant is, most of the time, a night owl. With 4:00 a.m. posts and tweets a fairly common occurrence, it leaves one to wonder whether The Militant gets any shut-eye at all, or just does it later than everyone else.

Though The Militant had a recent experience with The Exotic World Of The Morning, he decided to kick it up a notch. On Saturday morning, The Militant, having slept unnaturally early on Friday night and waking up at 5:00 a.m., decided to take advantage of a clear-sky morning following the possibility of San Gabriel Mountain snowfall overnight. He's seen the breathtaking glow of dawn's early light on the mountains before, and did not want to miss this show. And besides, with Pacific Standard Time (no, not that one) coming up on Sunday, Saturday's 7:17 a.m. sunrise would be the latest-hour and final PDT solar curtain call of 2011.

Other Angelenos staked out their own sunrise promontories around town, such as the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, but The Militant wanted more of an elevation advantage. So with the faint yellow glow already taking over the eastern sky, he drove up Vermont Avenue to the Griffith Park Observatory, which has had a free, unobstructed view of Los Angeles sunrises for the past 76 years.

The view was already breathtaking. The familiar blue-purple-orange-yellow gradient of our sunsets was present, only in the opposite side of the sky. The Downtown skyline and the lights of the city, flickering like still-lit candles, looked just as sultry:

Bundled in his winter wear, The Militant wasn't alone. A cadre of joggers, many of whom spoke in Korean, along with a handful of tripod-armed photographers, were already there.

A few brave spandex-clad cyclists arrive, having just conquered the 1,134-foot high climb up the south slope of Mt. Hollywood.

"The thing with cycling, is that you're either overdressed or underdressed [for the weather]" said one of the cyclists, as he hobbled off his bike in his clip shoes.

The eastern sky looked too obscured by the tail end of the storm clouds that have just vacated Los Angeles, but just then a tiny sliver of bright orange peeped from the Chino Hills horizon:

And then it appeared...

The Militant gazed in wonder at his city below him. It's a vantage point he's seen hundreds of times, yet only rarely under these conditions. He used a pair of binoculars to pick out spots in the distance: Barnsdall Park, Catalina Island, airplanes taking off from LAX, the sight of a tanker ship moored off of Manhattan Beach, a Japan Airlines 747 on its landing approach. The city looked as fierce and majestic as a lion, yet at this hour, it hasn't even begun to roar.

In no time, The Sun turned from an orange disk teetering on the horizon into the blinding sphere we're more accustomed to experiencing. But Los Angeles still looked amazingly lovely at this hour, such as this view of Hollywood and The Westside:

Oh the simple pleasures that we are afforded here. If you're a nighttime person, The Militant strongly recommends you shift your sleep schedule at least a couple times a year to enjoy the dawn. In a City popular for rising stars, it's well worth watching the one that's 93 million miles away.

Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Hollywood

Hollywood and Christmas seem to go hand-in-hand. Not only are there countless motion pictures over the years (like this one, this one and maybe even this one), blockbuster theatrical releases and a post-Thanksgiving weekend parade to kick off the season, but its very name is a reference to the holiday as well.

Those of you who know your local history know that Hollywood started as its own town, independent of Los Angeles, founded in the 1870s and incorporated in 1903. Unlike many local towns and communities named after places in the so-called "Back East" such as Beverly Hills (Beverly Farms, MA) and Wilmington (Wilmington, DE), Hollywood was named after a local, a native even.

The hills above Tinseltown are populated with numerous native bushes known as the Toyon a.k.a. California Holly a.k.a. Christmas Berry a.k.a. Heteromeles arbutifolia a.k.a. Hollywood Plant. Those of you who hike up Griffith Park's many trails have seen them - they have oblong dark green leaves with jagged edges, and in the fall grow clusters of tiny red berries (edible but not very tasty, for humans at least). The word "Toyon" is referred to many times in the Griffith Park area (Toyon Canyon). Yes, Hollywood was named after this very plant.

Around a century ago, Angelenos used to pick Toyon off of the hills for use as Christmas decorations. Eventually this practice became so widespread and noticeably depleted a number of the bushes that a 1920 California state law made it illegal to pick Toyon from public lands.

Thanks to that law, Toyon is plentiful in the Santa Monica Mountains today, where you can easily see them on any hiking trail, or on the road up to the Observatory. Of course this law is still in effect, but many local nurseries sell Toyon for you to grow if you want to revive the old Angeleno holiday tradition. Next time you spot one of these indigenous plants, think about how it's entrenched in history (and how the East Coast-based media hegemony has purposely corrupted its name to stand for all that is materialistic, vacuous and superficial). Militant Christmas, everyone!

A Peak Worth Croaking About

If you're a big statistics/metrics geek, you will easily notice that the Militant Angeleno doesn't do much when the weather is cold and the days are dark. So it wasn't until a nice warm President's Day when the Militant decided to step out of his compound for a change and finally get inspired to get down to blogginess.

By now you've heard about the big hubbub regarding The Hollywood Sign, and why it's been temporarily altered the past few days - the first legal alteration of the sign since 1992 when the sign was used to promote the Ralph Bakshi animated film, Cool World (Remember, Holli Would?).

By the way, if you are so moved by the sight of 50-foot tarps bearing red and black letters urging that private development not take place up there, pause for the cause and make a contribution by the April 14 deadline. The Militant sure will.

Since the sign will be brought back to normal on Wednesday, the Militant thought it would be great to take some pics of it for posterity, so up he went into them thar hills, to a semi-secret location near the Hollywood Reservoir (or should that be the Save The Peak Reservoir?).

But apparently it wasn't that secret, as a bunch of folks got up there, by foot, by car, by bike, by Segway and by Time Machine to bask in the lovely summer-like weather in mid-February that only Los Angeles can offer.

Wait, what? TIME MACHINE?!

Okay, okay, not an actual time machine, but car owned by a dude named Paul Nigh, who tricked-out his own Back To The Future replica DeLorean car (puictured right). The owner said that the frame was salvaged from a Universal Studios backlot junkyard and built up from that. Likely inspired by the aforementioned lovely weather, he let curious and fascinated Gen-Xers and other movie fans snap pictures and take a seat in the iconic wing-door automobile (free of charge), playing amusing sound effects from the thing and bragging about how the original movie car's designer has seen and admired it.

The Militant didn't want to leave just set - due south was a breathtaking view of the Los Angeles basin, with the Baldwin Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes, the Pacific Ocean and even Catalina Island visible in the distance. Yes, it was one of those days.

But as the Militant left the area, he discovered something more far more fascinating than just a nice warm sunny day and a temporarily-altered landmark.

Upon sighting a gated archway with a bronze plaque on it (The Militant is instantly attracted to plaques (no not that kind), signifying the construction of the Toyon Tanks which hold the water source for the Save The Peak Reservoir), the Militant pulled over and saw four dudes hiking on a nearby incline. It didn't take long for the Militant to find out what brought them there. He could hear it right away.

Instead of describing it in words, let the magic of streaming video show you:





Yes, it was a swamp full of croaking frogs, right up here in the Save The Peak Hills. The Militant couldn't actually see any frogs (them critters are pretty elusive as it is), but as the video proves they are clearly heard.

A swamp full of frogs, up in the hills hundreds of feet above the City's streets, in the middle of our wonderful metropolis.

The Militant sure loves surprises like that.

Go Tell It On The Mountain: The Militant's Mt. Hollywood Christmas Hike

First off, the Militant wishes you all a very Militant Christmas! There's nothing like Christmas in Los Angeles; the sky is clear, the air is clean, traffic is flowing and most transplants are out of town! It's rare days like this when the true Angelenos can have the City all to themselves!

The Militant has a holiday tradition of climbing Mt. Hollywood (and by meaning "holiday," it's not just the multireligious/multicultural confluence of feast days around year's end; the Militant has done this on other legal holidays, such as the 4th of July and New Year's Day). The peak is the highest publicly-accessible point in Central Los Angeles, roughly 600 feet higher than our USBank Tower and about the same height as Shanghai's World Financial Center (the world's 3rd tallest building).

The Militant decided to take a Christmas Day sunset hike up Mt. Hollywood, taking the drive up, up, up and up Vermont, parking in the Griffith Observatory parking lot (since the domes were closed today, everyone was there for the view). Within a few yards, he entered the Charlie Turner Trailhead for the hike up the mountain.

For those of you on street level, Mt. Hollywood's peak looks like an easy climb. But lurking behind the Berlin Forest (named after Los Angeles' Sister City 5,795 miles to the east; pictured right), is a winding, 1.5-mile trail that takes from 40 to 90 minutes to traverse, depending on your pace.

The Militant wasn't alone, as dozens of other Angelenos of all ages decided to make this their own Holiday tradition, some accompanied by their own canine companions.

As the Militant ascended, the sun descended, offering a free show for many who paused to watch the dusk (pictured left). Too bad the marine layer in the horizon muted the sunset in the distance somewhat, marring what could have been a clean orange disc lowering itself over the Pacific. But still a decent sunset nonetheless.

Almost halfway through, the Militant found a dirt ravine, of which he could possibly circumvent the half-mile of path towards the west slope of the mountain. So he did a little rock climbing.

Okay, it was kind of embarrassing, the Militant forgot to wear his boots and was wearing his sneaks at the time - which is fine for the trail path, but lacked enough tread for his little climb. So he made the 100-foot ascent making careful steps, getting his hands dirty, grabbing onto bushes and roots, and improvising stakes out of tree branches. But he made it, without succumbing to gravity and taking a shameful tumble.

Halfway up his shortcut climb, the Militant was reminded of the 2007 conflagration that charred this very hillside. But the natural growth within the past two years made it not-so-obvious; a lone burnt tree trunk (pictured right) became one of the few visible monuments of the brushfire.

The final 1/3rd of the hike presents one with the proverbial fork-in-the road: take the eastern path and you get up to the peak faster, or take the more lengthy western route and you enjoy the simultaneous view of Hollywood, the Westside, Mt. Lee and the Hollywood Sign and the San Fernando Valley.

Since it was already past dusk, the Militant wanted to just get the heck up there.

Walking along the eastern flank of the mount, the Militant found a nice view of the San Gabriels in the distance, Glendale down below and the DWP Holiday Light Festival - appearing as a glowing purple line from hundreds of feet up (pictured left).

Finally, he sees it - a sloping plain of bare dirt, bearing recent erosion channels from the recent rainstorms, and a small promontory with a few picnic tables, wooden railing and an elevation marker, indicating its 1,619 feet height above sea level.

It was already night, with only the faint orange glowing remnant of daylight looming towards the west. Before the Militant lay some 26 miles urban expanse. It was a perfect view for Christmas. Why settle for a light display made up of mere hundreds of lights when you can gawk at millions? What else could a Militant Angeleno do up there but pause, reflect, enjoy...and snap some pictures?

Aside from the muffled rumble of the city below, it was a perfectly "Silent Night" up there, but for the sound of the crisp, cold wind roaring occasionally.

It's a unique place in Los Angeles - where else can you look down on the Downtown skyline? Where else can you see Hollywood and Ventura boulevards from the same view?

There were a few people up there: A Korean couple pointing down towards Koreatown, a young boy using his dad's iPhone letting his mom know they've made it up the peak, a young woman on a solo hike, taking her own time to reflect about life from above the din of the City.

Though this is perhaps the fourth or fifth time for the Militant to ascend Mt. Hollywood, the wonders of the view never cease. He could stay up there forever if he could (of course, his blog entries wouldn't be as interesting...)

Then it was time to leave.

Though it was dark, the gridded glow of city lights below and the half moon shining above were enough illumination for the Militant. And what a juxtaposition of man-made and the natural: The Militant was treated to the sounds of a solitary owl, coyotes howling in the distance and the constant chorus of crickets.

It was only about 6 p.m., but the shade of night kept most people away. On his way down, only one ascending hiker passed the Militant. After the Militant passed the location of his 100-foot shortcut climb, he opted to just stick to the path on the way down. In retrospect, he probably didn't really shave off that much time. But hey, it was all about the experience, the experience...

After crossing through the wooded corridor that was the Berlin Forest, the Militant made it back to the Observatory parking lot, and back to the creature comforts of his car.

Once he was back on Vermont near Hollywood, the Militant reflected on being "back up there" and realizing he was now "down here." It helps to see the bigger picture. Your world can only be so small.

Since Los Angeles doesn't have an observation deck on it's highest structure, this is probably the equivalent. And best of all, it's free. And maybe it's the perfect allegory for Los Angeles life: Where in other cities one can take a quick, but pricey elevator ride to the grand view, it takes a little time, patience and work to get up to our promontory. No one's entitled to an easy break.

But when you do get there, the reward is breathtakingly priceless.

ICE CREAAAAAAAAM!!!!

Saturday in Griffith Park is the 11th annual Great Los Angeles Ice Cream Party (any event that spells the city's name out gets an automatic Militant approval), a yearly fundraising event for a deserving local organization that involves prizes and lots free ice cream. The Militant talked about it last year and may or may not have been there. This time around, the beneficiary is LA Commons, a Leimert Park-based nonprofit that has been busy the past few years with programs that highlight the culture, food and art of the communities of Highland Park, Thai Town, Little Armenia and its own stomping grounds of L'murt. The Militant blogged about some of the events they did last year.

The party began 11 years ago by a Valley dude named John Bwarie, who currently works as a deputy for Councilman Grieg Smith's 12th District Office. This year's ice cream party will be right by the Merry-Go-Round in the Crystal Springs section of the park from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. The organizers recommend you RSVP so they know how much ice cream to supply. It'll be a wonderful day in the park (except for those f'ing annoying noisy inflating fans for those "bounce houses" that a lot of families like to bring to the park (uh, why? the whole point of the park is to get your kids closer to nature...MASSIVE FAIL!). The Militant hopes that those inflatable bounce houses will be banned from Griffith Park. But until then, enjoy the ice cream!

Militant Update: DWP Light Festival Invasion - Miracle or Meh?

The Militant joined over 50 bicyclists who gathered at the Kool-Aid Fountain and headed down Crystal Springs Drive to the bikes-not-allowed DWP Holiday Light Festival and invade it as a show of protest against velo-oppression and utter disregard for vehicle codes.

We rode through the park, pedaling past the long, red-light-stringed queue of cars, with one of the members of the pack pumping out heavy metal Christmas carols from his portable sound system, ready to Stick It To The Man. Grrrrrr!

And when we went in...

...well, "the man" just pretty much stood there, and didn't really care. The pack weaved in between and to the left of traffic. The organizers encouraged us to adorn ourselves - and our bikes - with lights, preferably of bright, colorful and flashing variety, and we also whooped, hollered and chanted, "Ho Ho Ho!" at the motorists, who honked at us - not out of scorn, but out of admiration - they too whooped and hollered along with us.

That didn't work out the way it was planned. So at the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot, the pack regrouped and took a break (which the Militant welcomed as it allowed his nearly-frostbitten fingers to regain sensation and bloodflow), then rode back the opposite way. We're riding against the flow of traffic! That oughtta get us into trouble, no question!

Uh, maybe not. There was even a traffic officer at the Zoo parking lot (pictured left) who just stood there and even chatted with other cyclists. And when we did ride against the flow of traffic, that just gave the motorists a better view of us - and us of them - and their visual and audible demonstrations of Holiday cheer.

Obviously the bike ban was not enforced at all (not that the Militant is complaining), but perhaps the real test is whether or not the velo-prohibition (on paper, at least) will still be in effect for next year's festival.

We regrouped again, just outside the Festival's entrance, and the group dispersed, most of them joining the Sins and Sprockets ride to Chinatown, and the rest headed home...in the fros-ty air!

So take your pick, this act of defiance was either a dud, or the Christmas spirit in everyone filled the place with peace and joy where everyone had a good time, no matter what mode of transportation they used to get to the Festival.

Fight For Your Right To Bike To The Lights!

Bicyclists, who have been prohibited from visiting the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Holiday Light Festival (no not that Festival of Lights - that already ended the other week...) in Griffith Park, will converge at the Kool-Aid Fountain (a.k.a. the William Mulholland Memorial Fountain) on the corner of Los Feliz Blvd. and Riverside Drive at 7:30 p.m. tonight to ride en masse to the Festival in solidarity to show that bikerzz can has Light Festival.

Aside from a token preview a few weeks ago, bikes, along with buses and RVs, have been banned from the Festival. But obviously unlike buses and RVs, bicycles do not pose a threat to the Festival's height clearance, much less pollute the air, so there must be some other conspiracy at play here.

The organizers encourage participants to dress up illuminated (anyone know where to find some glowsticks?) in order to become the light festival.

These folks are down. So are these folks.

The Militant may or not be there of course, but damnit, he probably will.

Mr. Mulholland himself once said, upon the opening of the great Aqueduct, "There it is, take it!"

And damnit, we probably will.

Christmas Shopping...in the Park?

Readers familiar with Siel (no, not Seal), a.k.a. Green L.A. Girl have probably noticed that the Militant asked her for some advice a couple weeks ago on her L.A. Times Blog looking for a local source of a composter for the Militant's mama for a Christmas present (the Militant's mama, though aware of his various militant activities, is not actually aware he is the Militant Angeleno per se, (she is only aware he has some website where he writes about the City) nor does she read blogs, so the surprise aspect of this present is in no danger of being diminished.

Her reply directed the Militant to the Griffith Park Composting Education Facility (pictured right) where on Friday the Militant picked up a composter usually sold for $85 for a mere Andrew Jackson, thanks to a city subsidy. He also got a free pair of gloves and a miniature blue recycling bin (presumably used for storing pens and pencils on one's desk, or maybe a good accessory to a little girl's Eco-Conscious Barbie playset) thrown in.

They only do these sales events once a month, so you probably missed out on the one on the 14th (as well as possibly catching the Militant - one of the reasons why he did not announce this previously), but the Los Angeles City Bureau of Sanitation has a schedule online where you might be able to take advantage of these sales as part of your 2008 New Year's resolutions (which should also include walking, biking, taking transit, appreciating the people and cultures of this city more and getting more involved in your community, right?).

Being this was the first time the Militant has been in the park since some dude decided to take a nap smoking in the brush last May, he had a chance to survey the damage from a much-closer view. To his surprise it wasn't as charred out as he thought it would be (of course all that hydromulching back in September probably helped things out cosmetically), and his cherished section through Mineral Wells (pictured left) seemed untouched, though from the photo as you can see, the charred-out section is on the ridge on the top, while the intact portions are at the bottom. And oh lookie - some deciduous trees with brown autumnal leaves. And they say the seasons don't change here?

CAN I HAS SUM MOR PARKZ????

The Militant is back to his community-oriented bizzizzle again, this time having attended the City of Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks Citywide Community Needs Assessment workshop on Wednesday night at the City-owned Friendship Auditorium, situated at the extreme southeast corner of Griffith Park.

The purpose of the workshop, which was the first in a series of 15 currently being conducted in each of Los Angeles' city council districts, is to gauge the community's feedback regarding the current quality of facilities and programs at its system of 390 recreational sites around Los Angeles, as well as any issues regarding expansion of the park system. You just know the Militant, as well as two of his community-activist operatives, were there to make their voices heard regarding the last part.

The gathering had an attendance of at most 50 and the attendees were predominantly white and at least 50. Years old, that is (So either way, the typical reader of this blog, or any blog, for that matter, was most likely not represented there - though the one cool thing about attending meetings with a bunch of old-timers there is that the Militant's identity is in no danger of being revealed). A classic moment also happened when one of the presenters asked - in English - if anyone needed any Spanish translation. Heh heh. He did use the words "Español" and "necesita" eventually, but even by then it was fairly evident that no one there was in need of translation headsets. Later on the consultants did admit they didn't do enough outreach (the Militant only heard about this second-hand) and to their credit, it's awfully hard to get people to any sort of community meeting between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

The meeting was formatted just like nearly all community workshops the Militant has attended: A droll, monotone introduction by a city official you've never heard of, the introduction of the consulting team, the introduction of an elected city official many people have heard of (in this case, a dude the Militant has not only heard of, but even biked with - Mr. "Los Anga-les" himself, Tom LaBonge), followed by a set of PowerPoint slides (to this meeting's credit, they were kept to a necessary minimum) and finally the "Look at your nametags, there's a colored dot on it, it's time to split up into groups!" section.

So we were split up into three groups (pictured above) where we were asked about our impressions of the City's Recreation and Parks system, which parks we use, issues regarding accessibility, the possibility and need for expansion and short-term and long-term goals and priorities.

Profiles In Taxpayer Spending: This dude was just doing his job at the parks workshop, but for a community meeting attended by some 50 people where they only used one microphone to hear just a couple people speak for half of the meeting, did they really need an audio tech with enough equipment to run sound for a Rolling Stones concert?

At the Militant's group, there was much talk about Griffith Park. In fact, most of the conversation dealt with the park, though strangely enough hardly anything was mentioned regarding last May's char-broiling. The park itself encompasses more than a quarter of the City's 15,600 acres of parkland and is located right in the 4th council district where this meeting was intended.

One of the other people in the group, a Silver_Lake resident, actually said he lived in a park-rich area, being in close proximity to the Silver Lake rec center, Griffith Park, Elysian Park, Echo Park and Bellevue Rec Center, as each of those places were a quick drive for him. But one lady, an accent-intact NY transplant (though one who has probably lived in Los Angeles much longer than the Militant has been alive) who reminisced about going to Central Park as a girl, did call for the need for more parks within walking distance of families, as well as better access by transit.

The Militant agreed with her, told the group he lives in a park-deficient hood and even was the first to declare "More parks in park-poor areas!" as the City's #1 short-term priority for the Rec and Parks system. He even talked about the proposed Hollywood Freeway Central Park (which he raved about here back in his first-person days).

Even after the workshop concluded, the Militant had a conversation about methods to attain more park space, including land-swapping, especially with Caltrans, and partnerships with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, which helped to build one of the new parks that has been featured in this here blog.

So you want more parks in Los Angeles? One Militant and his operatives can only do so much. Get your voices heard! Go to some of these workshops and demand that more parks and open space be a priority for the department and the City's budget. The workshops continue until February of next year. And if you can't make it, THE MILITANT WILL KILL YOU!

Okay, just kidding. But you can still participate by downloading this Petey Yeff file, completing it and faxing or postaling it in.

Either way, help make the decisions before others make them for you.