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A Bridge Home gives homeless Angelenos in every neighborhood a refuge in the community they already know and love, until they can be placed in a permanent home. We see this in the MacArthur Park area as Councilman Gil Cedillo helped the La Fayette Triangle Project and Casa Azul Project. Both projects are bridge homes that help give temporary homes to those experiencing homelessness.

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MacArthur Park is a staple of the urban landscape in the downtown Los Angeles area. It was converted from a reservoir to a gathering place and is now difficult to recognize as either one or the other. Through community involvement and urban design, our group is confident that we will be able to provide actionable steps to making the park something great.

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Unveiling of the General Macarthur Statues. From the Los Angeles Public Library. 

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To help protect the park, the city proposed to change the name to MacArthur Park. This angered residents who had history with the area.

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1937 aerial view of Westlake Park bisected by Wilshire Blvd. From the Los Angeles Public Library

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Residents saw the park now as a drive-through instead of a destination. The construction of Wilshire Blvd. created big city feelings in the quiet park, therefore bringing big city problems. To combat this, tunnels were created to connect the two sides of the park. This created unsafe areas that drew crime and the fumes from Wilshire made the air unhealthy.

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The Intended vs. Actual Use of Public Space

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The Intended vs. Actual Use of Public Space

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There's been an unsteady balance between the intended and actual use of public space. On one hand a public space is supposed to be used for citizens to enjoy nature in an urban environment, while in practice public space is often used by the homeless as a place to live. In an article entitled “The End of Public Space? People’s Park, Definitions of the Public, and Democracy” by Don Mitchell in 1994, the author documents a struggle over the use of public space in the People’s Park a piece of land controlled by the University and city of Berkeley.

The property was initially acquired by UC Berkeley through eminent domain in 1967, a sensibly to build dormitories. “Although lacking funds to construct the dormitories, the university quickly demolished the houses on the property. for the next two years the land stood vacant comma save for usage as a muddy parking lot." The university had a goal of creating a user-controlled park during a city, and the space is a parallel in both function and form to MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Just like MacArthur Park, the People’s Park was homeless overrun with residents, and had unchecked criminal element including drug dealers and prostitution. In a fiscally bizarre move “UC agreed to lease east and West ends of the park to the city for $1 per year for five years for community use. Meanwhile, the central portion of the park (the large grassy area where many homeless people slept in the traditional place for concerts and political organizing) would be converted into a recreational area replete with volleyball courts, pathways, public

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Because of the similarities between these two parks, our group can study the outcomes of the changes made by the governing bodies surrounding Berkeley’s Park and learn from their successes and failures.
One of the most influential programs created by UC Berkeley around people’s park is the creation of a full-time social worker position “whose sole focus is the needs and interests of unhoused peoples in the park. He has successfully found permanent housing for more than 80 households.” The Park includes shelter and services for park users.
Another innovation was to divide the park into distinct sections managed by different governing bodies. Vendors and stalls on the periphery of the park are managed by the city, and the center of the park is managed by the university. The Success of People's Park

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Contrast to LA response in MacArthur Park

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Contrast to LA response in MacArthur Park

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By October 16th, 2021, MacArthur Park was closed for rehabilitation. The overwhelming police presence ensures that no citizens, homeless or otherwise, will be able to use the park for at least 10 weeks. MacArthur Park is run by the Parks Department for Los Angeles, in contrast to the multiple organizations that run the People's Park in Berkeley.

As of 2019, street vending is no longer a crime in the state of California. The public sidewalk can be used for transactions and could help fund city goals through leasing out spaces for a small fee. As discussed in Loukatiou and Sideris's essay, The Privatization of Public Space, we want to stray away from privatizing public areas. Modeled by People’s Park, we would enable the residents on a first come first serve basis access to the eastern lawn space for street vending. This invitation encourages more pedestrian and social use of the space and clears up the opposing streets sidewalks. More importantly, more eyes on the street dissuades vagrancy and crime.

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Homelessness has risen tremendously in MacArthur Park. From 2016 to 2020, we saw homelessness rise to one thousand five hundred individuals in the area. Of those unsheltered, 28% lived on the street, 22% in tents, and the other half in vehicles or makeshift shelters. At the same time, we have seen less people become sheltered. This shows that we need resources and amenities to keep the homeless off streets and in some sort of housing.

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Missing and/or Areas of Improvement - Crime Prevention

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Missing and/or Areas of Improvement - Crime Prevention

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Crime has been a serious problem in the surrounding neighborhood and the park. In 1994 there were 140 homicides in the Rampart Division, the police district that includes MacArthur Park. Police officers now patrol the park twenty-four hours a day, every day, and surveillance cameras have been installed. The New York Times (4/17/05) reported that by 2004, homicides in the Rampart District had dropped to 27 and, according to a more recent Los Angeles Times article (6/17/07), violent crimes in the area had dropped by 50 percent.

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Thirty-two-acre MacArthur Park lies in the heart of one of Los Angeles’ most criminally active areas. Crime and disorder, gang activity, transient encampments, and pervasive blight plagued the park. Faced with this situation, the Los Angeles Police Department implemented a community policing project targeting quality of life in the park in partnership with local agencies and community members. The police used foot, bicycle, and vehicle patrols in the area, while developing rapport and trust with residents, park visitors, and area merchants. Various city agencies worked to remove graffiti, improve the environmental design, and mitigate narcotics and gang activity. A public education campaign was also a key element in the revitalization process. Gang- and narcotics-related problems decreased significantly. Overall, the target-area crime has decreased 24 percent. The true indicator of the project’s success has been children’s and families’ increasing park use.

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Outreach efforts in MacArthur Park have been complicated by the presence of MS-13, a street gang that has long considered the park critical territory, Rodriguez said. Through extortion and violence, gang members intimidate regular visitors to the park, who are among the city’s poorest and most marginalized residents. Especially brutal attacks have targeted transgender women who visit the park. Throughout Los Angeles, rising crime and a rash of tent fires in encampments earlier this year have brought new urgency to the tragedy of homelessness that has only gotten worse during the pandemic.

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In the fight to reclaim Los Angeles' public spaces, a new battleground is about to open just west of downtown. MacArthur Park, where homeless tents lie scattered among jacarandas, crape myrtles and palms, will be closed starting Oct. 15.

The popular but benighted destination for residents of the city's Westlake neighborhoods will join Echo Park and the Venice boardwalk as a potential flashpoint between the unhoused living in the park, their advocates, residents and city agencies attempting to do their jobs.

Billed by the city as a "rehabilitation," the closure is limited to the portion of the park south of Wilshire Boulevard and will last for about 10 weeks, said L.A. City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, whose district includes the park. The city's Department of Recreation and Parks will use the time to catch up on maintenance that had been deferred due to COVID-19 limitations.

Acting as a liaison between the community and the city, Cedillo is overseeing the effort and believes that the controversies that arose over recent relocations of homeless camps in other parts of the city will not occur at MacArthur Park.
"We have tried to learn from the experiences of our colleagues in Echo Park and Venice - and from the city collectively as we figure out how to go forward," he said.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Residents of the neighborhood, however, are less assured. They value this rare open space, set in one of the city's most dense neighborhoods where on weekends families stroll, sample watermelon or pineapple slices from a vendor and listen to an accordion player tap out a norteño amid circling seagulls.

They worry that the closure will be a replay of the showdown that took place less than two miles away in March, when encampments at Echo Park became an angry symbol of city's inability to balance the needs of a community with the plight of individuals who have no other place to live than public spaces.

"I will not stand by while another 'Echo Park' happens here," wrote Tom Bellino, a board member with the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Council, on Twitter.

Aware of the obvious parallel, Cedillo's office has prepared a "contrast chart," differentiating its approach to MacArthur Park with the closure of Echo Park. Foremost is the advance notice that the unhoused residents of MacArthur Park have been given.

"We have been working on this since January," said Cedillo, when Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and the homeless agency PATH began relocating individuals into shelters or housing. From January through Sept. 29, more than 160 have been moved from the park into housing, he said.

Estimating the number of the unhoused individuals at MacArthur Park is an imprecise science, given the transience of the population, but 45 tents were counted Sept. 29 scattered throughout the 32 acres, divided by Wilshire Boulevard, according to Jose Rodriguez, deputy district director for Cedillo.

"Twenty-five of those were on the lake side," he said.

Outreach efforts in MacArthur Park have been complicated by the presence of MS-13, a street gang that has long considered the park critical territory, Rodriguez said. Through extortion and violence, gang members intimidate regular visitors to the park, who are among the city's poorest and most marginalized residents. Especially brutal attacks have targeted transgender women who visit the park.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Throughout Los Angeles, rising crime and a rash of tent fires in encampments earlier this year have brought new urgency to the tragedy of homelessness that has only gotten worse during the pandemic. Homeless agencies estimate that a little more than 41,000 individuals are living on the streets of the city, a number that is expected to rise as eviction moratoriums end.

By giving homeless individuals living in MacArthur Park two weeks to prepare to leave, the city hopes to soften the trauma of relocation. Similar efforts this last year have been more jarring.

For the record:

An earlier version of this article said a protest against the cleanup of homeless encampments at Echo Park resulted in about a dozen arrests. Authorities said 182 people were arrested.

In March, Councilman Mitch O'Farrell took the lead in an effort to clean up the city's historic Echo Park, where nearly 200 tents and furniture had lined walkways and landscaped areas for much of the year. The effort drew hundreds of protesters, and authorities arrested 182 people.

Afterward, Councilman Mike Bonin proposed that parks and beaches in the city be considered for "safe camping," a program that would allow homeless people to pitch their tents in specific public spaces and receive homeless services. Homeowners and local residents objected. Some argued for Bonin's recall.

Then in June, a homeless woman was arrested after she pulled out a knife a few feet from City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who was visiting Venice to make the case that tents on sidewalks, in parks and beaches were inhumane and should be banned more forcefully.

The incident occurred just as Bonin was about to launch a program to relocate more than 200 homeless people from the Venice boardwalk, which soon devolved into a turf war between his office and Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who sent foot patrols to the boardwalk and said tents should be cleared by July 4.

The rehabilitation at MacArthur Park, according to Cedillo's office, came after a number of community meetings and involvement. Residents cited maintenance and public safety as their top priorities.

MacArthur Park was last renovated between 1991 and 1994, when more than $6 million was spent on improvements that included draining the lake and installing a new aeration system, pump house and fountain.

At the time, Metro was building nearby tunnels for its Red Line and planners had hoped to turn 12 acres around the Metro Rail station into a residential village with 250,000 square feet of retail space, 250 housing units, medical facilities and a day-care center. The development was an attempt to address an emerging crisis in the city: the lack of affordable housing.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The work this fall at MacArthur Park, which will cost $1.5 million and include upgraded lights, replanted lawns, repairs to the irrigation systems and new park benches, is one step toward a more ambitious, long-term plan of integrating the park with the neighborhood.

"At the end of the day, we believe everyone needs a park that is clean, safe and secure and serves all of the community," Cedillo said.

Cedillo anticipates the park to be open again in January when the fencing and barricades will be completely removed.

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L.A. prepares to clear homeless people from MacArthur Park; set to close Oct. 15 for 'rehabilitation' work

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In the fight to reclaim Los Angeles' public spaces, a new battleground is about to open just west of downtown. MacArthur Park, where homeless tents lie scattered among jacarandas, crape myrtles and palms, will be closed starting Oct. 15.

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Missing and/or Areas of Improvement - Homelessness

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Missing and/or Areas of Improvement - Homelessness

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In the fight to reclaim Los Angeles’ public spaces, a new battleground is about to open just west of downtown. MacArthur Park, where homeless tents lie scattered among jacarandas, crape myrtles and palms, will be closed starting Oct. 15.

The popular but benighted destination for residents of the city’s Westlake neighborhoods will join Echo Park and the Venice boardwalk as a potential flashpoint between the unhoused living in the park, their advocates, residents, and city agencies attempting to do their jobs.

Billed by the city as a “rehabilitation,” the closure is limited to the portion of the park south of Wilshire Boulevard and will last for about 10 weeks, said L.A. City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, whose district includes the park. The city’s Department of Recreation and Parks will use the time to catch up on maintenance that had been deferred due to COVID-19 limitations.

Residents of the neighborhood, however, are less assured. They value this rare open space, set in one of the city’s most dense neighborhoods where on weekends families stroll, sample watermelon or pineapple slices from a vendor and listen to an accordion player tap out a norteño amid circling seagulls.

They worry that the closure will be a replay of the showdown that took place less than two miles away in March, when encampments at Echo Park became an angry symbol of city’s inability to balance the needs of a community with the plight of individuals who have no other place to live than public spaces.

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Intervention 1: La Fayette Triangle Project. Expected Completion 2021

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Intervention 1: La Fayette Triangle Project. Expected Completion 2021

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La Fayette Triangle Project was funded by PATH. PATH used this site as it was an underutilized tennis court in the community.

This later became a community project intended to help house the homeless of the MacArthur Park, Westlake area.
This community project is set to help house the homeless in MacArthur Park by providing  up to 70 beds, green space, and basic necessities such as food, and washrooms. This is an important project located within walking distance of MacArthur Park.

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Casa Azul reflects the vibrant spirit of its diverse community, providing a safe bridge home for women and children who have been living on this community’s streets and helping them transition into permanent housing. With the partnership and leadership of Cedillo and County partners, Casa Azul is the first A Bridge Home shelter to offer bridge housing specifically for women and families.

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Intervention 3: Project Roomkey–MacArthur Park, Westlake Area

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Intervention 3: Project Roomkey–MacArthur Park, Westlake Area

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Homekey is an innovative partnership between Los Angeles County and California to purchase and rehabilitate hotels and motels to convert them into permanent, long-term housing for people experiencing homelessness. Homekey builds upon Project Roomkey, which urgently housed vulnerable people experiencing homelessness to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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Intervention 4: MacArthur Park Play Ground Replacement

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Intervention 4: MacArthur Park Play Ground Replacement

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Replacement of old structure, where the new structure will be located on the same site and serve the same purpose
Goal No. 1: Provide Safe and Accessible Parks
Outcome No. 2: All parks are safe and welcoming
Result: The playground replacement will increase safety and enhance the park users’ experience.

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Tiny Homes Villages
The goal is to learn and fix the issues that happened in “echo park” and apply it to Macarthur Park, where homeless people had to relocate and stay at hotels that weren’t available for all and were only a temporary shelter. Those who accepted hotel and motel rooms as temporary shelters felt unfairly put upon by their rules and were so unhappy to stay in the housing that was offered. The goal behind these tiny home villages is to reduce hunger, homelessness, and poverty from the streets of Los Angeles, by offering services and long-term solutions to make them overcome the obstacles and barriers of keeping them unhoused.

To treat and empower the homeless population of Macarthur Park that have no means or resources to change their lives for good, we want to offer permanent tiny homes that will be a one-stop shop of various services that will help people move from the streets to permanent housing.

A new colorful tiny home village known as Chandler Street Tiny Home Village came to North Hollywood run by Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, that was meant to provide “transitional housing” to aid in finding the unhoused population a permanent home. The village accommodates residents for free and provides them with onsite meals, showers, case management, housing navigation, mental health, job training and placement to help them get on the pathway of finding permanent housing. Each tiny home is 64 square feet in size, has two beds, heat, air-conditioning, windows, a small desk, and a front door. The nonprint Hope of the Valley opened and is operating six tiny home villages in Los Angeles to house those who are on the streets and help them get on their feet.

We believe that these tiny home villages must spread around the city and be in every community to offer help and guidance to the homeless population instead of relocating them from parks to the streets again.
Tiny homes could be a project that will efficiently use the space in a beautiful way. Designs such as the Alexandria Park Tiny homes are designed colorful and vibrant to uplift the resident's mental being and to enhance the neighborhood. The cheerful color scheme with some white homes can provide a coherent sense of a village or community for the homeless. Trees and vibrant landscape can be incorporated in the layout of the village to provide shade for the residents to enjoy, and they do not have to leave the village to enjoy the shade and nature.

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The office of Gil Cedillo, City Councilman for LA's 22nd district, said that “290 people who were living in MacArthur Park were moved indoors as of October 15th, when the parks lakeside portion was closed for ‘much needed deferred maintenance’”. The rehabilitation of the park has been on hold since the COVID-19 pandemic started, so while there is outrage over the park's closure it has been on the horizon for quite some time. Gil studio is the one to watch as this process moves forward as he has taken the reigns of this project and the future of the park moving forward.

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Temporary Housing for MacArthur Park Homeless

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Temporary Housing for MacArthur Park Homeless

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The efforts to redevelop MacArthur Park are because of councilman Gil Cedillo.
In January, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) and People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), are two not-for-profit groups working with the city to service the homeless. LAHSA and PATH began sending outreach workers to the park. What we know since LAHSA, and PATH came to Westlake.

LAHSA and PATH have primarily relied on Project Roomkey, a pandemic program, to offer residents temporary motel stays.

Nearly 290 people who have been living in the park since the start of the year have now been housed.as of Oct. 15

Another 36 homeless people who were not living in the park were also moved indoors after they walked up to outreach workers in the park on Oct. 15 expressing the desire for shelter. The residents of the park were placed in Project Homekey long term housing sites, Project Roomkey temporary sites and A Bridge Home temporary shelter site, according to Cedillo's office.

During the closure, the Department of Recreation and Parks is conducting electrical repairs, lighting repairs and upgrades, landscape reseeding, painting, irrigation repairs and upgrades, signage replacements and park furniture repairs and replacement.

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Westlake/MacArthur Park in Los Angeles has the ability and the support to become an oasis-like public space. Because of previous design conflicts fueled by big-city construction, the park has lost its potential and beauty. But MacArthur Park can become a safe, enjoyable, and beautiful space in a large city again through political, social, and design intervention.

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One of the earliest views of Westlake Park, perhaps taken in 1891. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.

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Originally, Westlake Park (now called MacArthur Park), was a dump area for Los Angeles residents. This eyesore was a rural and smelly alkali lake that was home to garbage, animal carcasses, and human waste. In 1865, an auction was proposed for this land but failed to attract buyers.

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Westlake Park was officially dedicated to the use of the public as a park and reservoir. Though not designed by a specific designer, surrounding landowners and leaders wanted to make this area a beautiful suburb of Los Angeles. Therefore, led by Mayor Willian Workman, also a landowner, started a campaign to turn the lake area into a park. In 1887, the LA Times opinion praised the park for its potential. They had panoramic views of the mountains and was able to see Santa Monica on a clear day. 4 years and more than $5,000 later, construction concluded at Westlake Park.

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Westlake Park opens to the public on Thanksgiving weekend. Because of the design and their efforts, landowners felt instant effects including increased property value.

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With over 35 acres to build on, the city went to work making the park beautiful. When opening in 1890, the city pumped freshwater into the lake, planted trees, and built promenades. They were inspired by parks and gathering spaces found on the East Coast and in Europe. A trail portion of the park was lined with palm trees.

Over the next 40 years, more design elements were added. This includes boathouses with mansion-style staircases that gave visitors access to the lake. Residents were able to use the park to go boating, canoeing, and rowing, with all these items for rent. Statues and other art pieces were installed around the perimeters and even an auditorium for outdoor performances. In postcards from the park, you will find flower-lined pathways, a heavy amount of vegetation, and seating spaces for visitors.

Big Changes to the Park

To combat the detours residents had to take around the park, designers proposed a bridge to connect Wilshire Blvd. However, the city chose the cheapest solution: a land-fill road that would bisect the lake/park with a river of concrete.

This plan had an estimated cost of $93,000. Originally protested by neighboring residents and stalled, this case was overturned by the Supreme Court.

In 1934, digging begun, the lake was drained, statues were removed, and wildlife was displaced. The Park was then divided into two.

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General MacArthur Park with Wilshire Blvd cut. 

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The park was built to be a reservoir for water and a social gathering space for residents and visitors. Equipped with all the design elements in the previous section, Westlake Park was frequently visited by surrounding neighbors to walk, rent boats, tour boathouses, and ride horse/buggies.

The park was easily accessed via streetcar on the perimeters of the park. There, Westlake Park had many outdoor concerts and dances so much so, in 1914, park visitors dressed in festival attire one summer night to listen to the military band. These visitors listened from trails, on boats, and were showcased by red lanterns that added to the ambiance of the lake.

Other events included miniature boat racing on the lake. The park itself was center of a major boulevard and was frequently detoured around to get to different areas of Los Angeles. Wilshire Boulevard was home to a major artery to the hub to towards the sea, and the blockage Westlake Park created to this angered business owners and residents.

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City News Service. “City of LA Helps 290 Living at MacArthur Park Find Alternate Shelter.” City of La Helps 290 Living at MacArthur Park Find Alternate Shelter, MSN, 22 Oct. 2021, https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/city-of-la-helps-290-living-at-macarthur-park-find-alternate-shelter/ar-AAPPS5e.

McGahan, Jason, and Stuart Gwynedd. “Is an Echo Park Lake-Style Situation Unfolding at MacArthur Park?” Los Angeles Magazine, 28 Oct. 2021, https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/is-an-echo-park-lake-style-situation-unfolding-at-macarthur-park/.

“People's Park.” Peoples Park, People’s Park Committee c/o Grassroots House, 2021, https://www.peoplespark.org/wp/.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-26/ms-13-gang-targets-transgender-women-macarthur-park

https://www.lamayor.org/Homelessness-Data-and-Dashboards

https://www.lamayor.org/ABridgeHome

https://la.streetsblog.org/2019/11/14/bridge-housing-at-lafayette-park-to-open-early-2020/

https://epath.org/path-opens-three-new-interim-housing-sites/

https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/homelessness-la-opera/project-roomkey-expand

Playing Out Democracy in MacArthur Park: Spatial Struggles in the Everyday Use of Public Space (calpoly.edu)

Dealing With Crime and Disorder in Urban Parks (asu.edu)

L.A. prepares to clear homeless people from MacArthur Park; set to close Oct. 15 for 'rehabilitation' work - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)