WUF's New Past Events Page

Please visit https://www.westsideurbanforum.com/pastevents for all past WUF events, April 2016 onward.

Archives will be maintained in this blog. Please see "older posts" at the bottom of this page. 

A SEA CHANGE AT THE COASTAL COMMISSION

Friday, April 22, 2016

California's coast may be timeless, but the rules and make-up of the bodies governing the coast are subject to the political and democratic process. With recent changes in staff leadership at the California Coastal Commission, developers, environmentalists, and public officials are eager to discern the ethos and direction that the Commission will now take. Everything from long-term coastal threats like sea-level rise to the ongoing, immediate development pressures are confronting the Commission. Westside communities from Venice to Santa Monica to Malibu know these debates all too well.

WUF's panel of professionals from all sides of the coastal debate will discuss the Commission's recent history, address open questions, and provide analysis of the Commission's present and future role as steward of the California coast.

Panelists

Conner Everts, Facilitator, Environmental Water Caucus
Jennifer Savage, California Policy Director, Surfrider Foundation

Moderator

Pam O'Connor, Councilmember, City of Santa Monica

DECONSTRUCTING THE NEIGHBORHOOD INTEGRITY INITIATIVE

Friday, March 18, 2016

Proposed for an upcoming citywide ballot, the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative could be the biggest change to happen to L.A. land use in a generation. Among other provisions, it would place a moratorium for up to two years on development projects that require a General Plan amendment. The Initiative would also limit the council's ability to approve General Plan amendments, the ability to reduce project parking requirements, and require EIRs to be prepared by the city or a consultant. Many planners, developers, and public officials decry it as the ultimate in "ballot-box planning." Others see it as the last chance to save Los Angeles from excessive, insensitive development.

With passions running high and speculation about the initiative's impacts running rampant, WUF looks forward to elevating the discussion on Friday, March 18. We will hear from proponents, opponents, and land use experts about what the initiative might mean for housing, traffic, development, livability, and cost of living in Los Angeles, and we will hear about the coalitions that are building on both sides.

Originally proposed for the citywide ballot November 2016, it has been postponed to the March 2017 ballot. We will discuss the rationale for the postponement and both sides' strategies for what may be a long, important discussion in L.A.

Panelists

Alan Bell, Deputy Director (retired), Los Angeles Department of City Planning

Richard Platkin, Adjunct Instructor, USC Price School of Public Policy

Mark Vallianatos, Policy Director, Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, Occidental College

Moderator
Con Howe, Managing Director, CityView Los Angeles Fund

WESTSIDE MAYORS PANEL: Beverly Hills, Culver City, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood

Friday, February 19, 2016

It’s a new year which means it’s time for WUF’s signature event, the annual Westside Mayors’ Panel! WUF is excited to welcome Mayor Julian Gold of Beverly Hills, Mayor Micheal O’Leary of Culver City, Mayor Tony Vazquez of Santa Monica, and Mayor Lindsey Horvath of West Hollywood for a discussion of issues facing their respective cities.

Please join WUF for a candid, freewheeling discussion including the impact of development both within and adjacent to the Westside (LAX expansion, NFL stadium project), traffic and parking issues (Expo Line, Purple Line, the future of parking), housing, and anything else the mayors have on their minds.

PANELISTS

Beverly Hills Mayor Julian A. Gold M.D.
Culver City Mayor Micheál O’Leary
Santa Monica Mayor Tony Vazquez
West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath

MODERATOR
Dr. Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Urban and Environmental Policy at Occidental College and author of several books including "The Next Los Angeles: The Struggle for a Livable City"

A Review of Design Review

Friday, January 22, 2016

The rapid pace of development in Southern California has erased countless well crafted buildings and replaced them with structures unbecoming a great city. Design Review, by which the public sector becomes the arbiter of taste, has become a popular way of combating this trend -- and controlling the entire development process.

On the one hand, design review ensures that someone is paying attention. On the other hand,design review by its very nature can force projects into a homogenized design aesthetic, dictated not by architectural vision but rather by community standards. And it is often enforced by planners who have little or no architectural training.

Is design review our last hope to get developers, public officials, and stakeholders to rally around good design? Is this the best way to allay the public’s fears – often well founded – of unsightly developments, which can ruin neighborhood character? Or is the process too onerous and antithetical to the creativity that has long thrived in Los Angeles?

Our panel of two architects and an urban designer, moderated by a critic, will address these questions and more.

• · Ric Abramson, AIA, Principal Workplays studio*architecture
• · Michael Folonis, FAIA, Principal, Michael W. Folonis Architects
• · Stephanie Reich, AIA, Urban Designer, City of West Hollywood

Moderator

• · Greg Goldin, Curator, Journalist, A+D Architecture and Design Museum

L.A. GETS GOING ON MOBILITY2035

Friday, December 11, 2015

Angelenos do not yet have jetpacks or tele-transporters to rescue them from gridlock. But they do have a new MobilityPlan. Passed by the L.A. City Council in June, Mobility Plan 2035 seeks to rethink L.A.'s streets for the 21st century.

The plan envisions Los Angeles as a truly multi-modal city, with emphasis on transit, bicycling, walking, and place-making -- and de-emphasis on the personal automobile. It also seeks to reduce the city's 200 annual pedestrian fatalities to zero. It will institute road diets, speed restrictions, and infrastructure upgrades in every corner of the city.

The question many are asking -- and suing over -- is, will the plan create gridlock in the process?

Please join the Westside Urban Forum to discuss this historic plans and its impact on all Angelenos.

Panelists

• Jon Graff, CFO, Reason Foundation
• Laura Lake, Board Member, Fix the City
• Jessica Meaney, Managing Director, Investing in Place
• Hilary Norton, Executive Director, Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic (FAST)

Moderator

• Megan McCarty, Community and Mobility Reporter, 89.3 KPCC

LA OLYMPICS 2024: SALVATION OR DISTRACTION?

Friday, November 20, 2015

LA’s 1984 Olympics is fondly remembered as a huge success. It was a coming-out party for LA as an emerging Pacific Rim capital city. As we pursue a new bid to host the Summer Games 40 years on, we are facing real concerns about water, housing, transportation and infrastructure.

Can the LA Olympics serve as a catalyst to jumpstart “LA 3.0” – bringing us together to find solutions for the region’s intractable problems? Or will the challenge of hosting the premiere international sports event be a distraction leading to competition for scarce financing and even scarcer open development sites?

Please join the Westside Urban Forum on Friday November 20th as our panel explores this complex topic, including opportunities for infrastructure construction and urban development.

Panelists

• Brence Culp, Executive Director for Development & Housing, LA 2024
• Thom Mayne, Design Director, Morphosis
• Geoffrey Yarema, Partner, Nossaman LLP; former National Chair, USOC Olympic Job Opportunities Program

Moderator

• Brad Cox, Senior Managing Director, Trammell Crow