Skip to main content

How Can an Empty Lot in Cypress Park Become a Community Asset?

Support Provided By
prompt-nela
An empty lot in Cypress Park

The Builderz Members
Citlaly Rodriguez
Vanessa Castro
Ruben Alvarez
Marcos Saucedo
Jessica Recendez
Ramiro Avalos

What is something you want to improve in your neighborhood?
The empty lots around the neighborhood, specifically, the one on Division & Cypress. We believe we can make that lot into something that will benefit the teens at Sotomayor Learning Academies.

Why is it important to improve this aspect of your neighborhood?
We believe it is important because we can grow as a community by starting with the youngest generations.

Where would you go in your neighborhood to investigate and document this issue?
The people that live around there can fill us in on the history of the lot and give us feedback about what they want the lot to look like so that they are happy with it as well. Our vision is to be able to come together as a community in one location where we can all share our input and if we start off now we can build up to something greater.

How do you plan to advocate for this issue and get people on board with your goal?
First we can walk around the neighborhood to collect other peoples opinions on what they want the lot to be so that the changes can be made to benefit them as well.
After that we can host a community meeting with our local councilmen to discuss the goal.

If anything was possible, what would you do to improve this aspect of your community?
I'd create a cafe or a franchise because those seem to get the most attention and because this little community doesn't have anything big to offer besides Burger King or McDonalds. Maybe it can be a place to work out or a healthy food court.

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.