Downtown Los Angeles Community Plan Update
Los Angeles City Planning has released an updated draft Downtown Community Plan to the public since November 2020 and it is expected to be adopted in 2021. The new Plan aims to create a livable and healthy community for residents, workers, and visitors. The goal and policies depicted in this Plan hope to promote Downtown as a center of innovation in the public and private realms and a strong core that connects and supports the City of Los Angeles and the region.
Delivering thoughtful guidelines to Downtown’s challenges and the larger region’s challenges, such as climate change, housing demand, affordability, and a shifting economy, was a central focus of the Plan. The strategies will suggest Downtown’s physical development, improve access to jobs, open space, services, and cultural resources, and provide housing for all people with different income levels.
1. ACCOMMODATE ANTICIPATED GROWTH IN AN INCLUSIVE, EQUITABLE, SUSTAINABLE, AND HEALTHY MANNER
- Concentrating growth near transit
- Promoting infill development
- Elevating design expectations
2. SUPPORT AND SUSTAIN DOWNTOWN’S ONGOING REVITALIZATION:
- Creating well-designed buildings that continue to develop the skyline
- Celebrating history, culture, community, and the arts
- Reinforcing Downtown as a destination
3. REINFORCE DOWNTOWN’S JOBS ORIENTATION:
- Encouraging synergy through a greater mix of uses
- Identifying locations where commercial activity is preferred
- Establishing locations with a baseline of productive uses
4. GROW AND SUPPORT THE RESIDENTIAL BASE:
- Expanding areas where housing is allowed
- Intensifying housing where appropriate
- Allowing a full range of housing options
- Expanding areas for adaptive reuse and conversion to joint live/work
5. PROMOTE A TRANSIT, BICYCLE, AND PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT:
- Prioritizing pedestrian safety and human comfort
- Improving connectivity and internal circulation within Downtown
- Increasing dedicated bike infrastructure
- Expanding transit service
- Eliminating parking minimums and managing parking effectively
6. STRENGTHEN NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER:
- Reusing, protecting, and preserving existing structures that characterize unique urban development patterns
- Supporting streets that encourage community and human interaction
- Developing a palette of regulations and design guidelines that reinforce distinct places
7. CREATE LINKAGES BETWEEN DISTRICTS:
- Finding opportunities within a community benefits program for the development of new publicly accessible open space
- Requiring high-quality streets and pedestrian linkages
- Treating the streets as Downtown’s living room
- Encouraging places for people to gather and interact
8. CREATE A WORLD-CLASS PUBLIC REALM:
- Supporting the development of catalytic major public realm improvements
- Promoting sustainable public realm improvements
- Encouraging the development of high quality publicly accessible open spaces
- Supporting the development of nontraditional open spaces
- Ensuring that open space, recreation, and park spaces are well-maintained
PQNK will continue to pay attention to the policy changes in Los Angeles and provide valuable information to our clients for potential projects.
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