Downtown blues
DOWNTOWN As a writer, Akuyoe Graham isn’t used to being silent, but since she moved downtown two months ago, she has found herself without a voice in City Hall.
Homelessness, traffic and the lack of parking are issues she would like addressed, but without a neighborhood group to influence public policy, she and thousands of other residents in the district feel they’re on the outside looking in. Many wonder how they can get involved and create a real community instead of just a collection of condos that serve as scenery for the millions of visitors making their way to the Third Street Promenade.
“I think there should be strong neighborhood voices,” said Graham, who moved to Downtown because of its proximity to the beach, quality restaurants and her favorite yoga studio.“This area is booming, growing by leaps and bounds, and with that comes a need to address issues affecting our quality of life. These condos aren’t cheap.”
Nearly every area of the city is represented by a strong coalition of neighbors who join forces to fight ills in their community or support policies which they believe will make their lives better, like creating a new park or advocating for the installation of a stop sign.
There is the North of Montana Association, Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition, Friends of Sunset Park, the Pico Neighborhood Association, Ocean Park Association and Mid-City Neighbors, which has been less active in recent years.
Conspicuous by its absence is a residents group for Downtown, an area that is seeing significant growth with the addition of 1,500 units since 2000 and thousands more planned for the near future.
“Some sort of group would be nice,” said Frank Rios, who lives in a Section 8 apartment on Sixth Street and feels there needs to be some representation for those in his position. “I think as more people move in you will see more attempts to organize. Right now, Downtown seems to be in its infancy, which is funny to say because it is one of the older areas of town, but infancy in terms of being a residential neighborhood.
“I just don’t think there is that much of a demand for a group yet.”
At one time, there was. The Downtown Area Residents Association (DARA), was formed in the late ’90s to address downtown development issues but has since been hibernating and it is unclear if it will emerge again as a dominant force in Downtown.
There is also the Bayside District Corp., a public-private management company that helps City Hall manage and promote Downtown. The board of directors includes property owners and residents of Downtown who report to the City Council on issues affecting Downtown. Meetings are held regularly and occasionally members of the public will attend, but most people know little of the organization and what it does. Some feel it exists solely to represent business interests in Downtown, not residents.
Calls to Bayside seeking comment were not returned. “Maybe because of the nature of Downtown, it may be harder for a group to get together, but whether there is a group or not, you can still get people involved,” said Councilwoman Pam O’Connor. “Those who have opinions or issues they want to address don’t have to go through a neighborhood group to be heard.”
That said, it’s always better to have 20 people show up during a City Council meeting than just one. Neighborhood groups have a considerable amount of influence in City Hall, helping to design new parks or block an assisted living facility for those with mental problems, something Friends of Sunset Park was able to do recently by mobilizing residents who fired off e-mails and letters to City Hall and the council.
“They’re definitely more powerful because more people are talking with a unified message and that’s helpful in getting the message across,” said Councilman Ken Genser, who lived in downtown during the ’80s and was forced to join the former Ocean Park Community Association because no residents group existed at the time.
“I think neighborhood groups are always a benefit for both the neighbors and the city as a whole,”Genser said.“I certainly would want to encourage that kind of organization, but it really has to be the people who live there that have to be interested in starting a group.”
SOUNDS OF SILENCE So far, there doesn’t seem to be a clamor for representation. That could be because of the relatively new batch of residents who have moved to Downtown. They are younger and more apt to relocate within a year or two, which makes for a transitory population that has no real roots or vested interest in the future of the area. There is also a very diverse group of residents, from the computer programmer working at Google to the homeless sleeping at SAMOSHEL and the seniors residing at the Salvation Army’s Silvercrest apartment complex.
“Neighborhood groups do well when there is a crisis. Groups tend to come together then. But if you don’t have a settled community — and not enough people connected to one another — it will fall apart,” said Art Harris, a founder of DARA.“It takes a lot of work and you will find that any group that survives has a very small core of people who are willing to do all the work in between the big events.”
That is exactly why Rios, the Section 8 tenant on Sixth Street, doesn’t believe a group will form anytime soon. He said that he did not want the responsibility that comes with organizing and is sure many others won’t either because they are too wrapped up in their own lives to become involved.
“I think you just have to take it upon yourself to go down to City Hall and speak on what you believe,” Rios said.“I know that I couldn’t lead a group. I have a bad temper.”
Until someone steps up and takes the initiative, residents in Downtown will continue to complain to each other about the lack of dog parks or the annoying construction noise, but whether or not they will take those complaints to City Hall remains to be seen.
“We need something to help us feel like a real community,” Graham said as he head out for a walk along the beach. “I think it will be sooner rather than later though. It’s in our nature as humans to want to socialize with one another so I think it’s just a matter of time. Will I still be here when it happens? I don’t think so.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 5, 2007. Read the original PDF.