Atwater Village Community Garden
Taking advantage of an underutilized site on the east side of the Los Angeles River at the end of Silver Lake Boulevard adjacent to the Department of Water and Power (DWP) Substation, a half-acre plot of land has great potential to become a new space for the Atwater Village neighborhood. Voiced by the community through the series of Placemaking Workshops, the desire to have a community garden was a standout among recommended projects. In addition to improving physical and psychological health, a community garden can help foster community identity and spirit, increase access to and develop a sense of community ownership and stewardship for the Los Angeles River, and provide a unique opportunity for the youth of the community to learn about where food comes from as well as increase their knowledge of the environment.
Bordering the Los Angeles River and the Eastside Trail Extension, the community garden will provide a natural access point to the River which can be enhanced by increasing the line of sight from the street and framing the view of the River. This will allow connectivity from the Silver Lake Boulevard to the Los Angeles River East Side Trail Addition.
During the first phase of the project, the community garden site will provide lots (raised planter beds) to be used by the community, interpretive signage, composting bins, seating areas, appropriate lighting, as well as a community gathering space to be located within the garden. Later phases could expand the community space beyond the extents of the garden to include a grander access point to the River integrating a series of stepped terraces to treat stormwater, create habitat and demarcate a new gateway to the Atwater Village neighborhood at the edge of the River.
Beyond promoting a more localized foodshed, where food is grown and consumed within a closer context, the garden will serve as an important regenerative community building
mechanism by consistently involving new and long-term residents, and encouraging their reinvestment in shared community public spaces. Overall, the quality of life is anticipated to improve as people, especially children, develop a closer connection with nature and the space provides Atwater Village a new and distinctive gateway to the Los Angeles River.
The proposed project also provides opportunity to integrate stormwater management both within the garden during the first phases of the development and later target larger
infrastructure by strategically integrating measures at the stormwater outlet. These larger measures could combine ideas of rain gardens and other water filtration techniques with terracing that can double as a community gathering space and access point to the East Side Trail Extension.
In addition to the community garden and subsequent phases that allow for revitalizing the length of Silver Lake Boulevard and access to the River, this project will lay the groundwork for more community gardens and pocket parks to take advantage of interstitial spaces that lack formal programming occurring throughout the NELA Riverfront District, offering opportunities for new park or green space development and
providing green relief throughout the district. Furthermore the larger scale stormwater mitigation could catalyze more projects of this scale along the edge of the River and throughout the watershed.
