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L.A River's Master Plan... a Genius Idea

By Marcela Zaragoza
November 5, 2010
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The day of the interview I really didn't know what to expect. I heard we were going to see a powerpoint presentation by Shelly Backlar, so I expected to be crammed into a room with my group and listen to a historical lecture of the L.A River. This is not at all what happened! We actually had the opportunity to go down to the river. I myself had never it up close. I have always viewed it from afar, so I was excited when we were walking down the path to where the water is. The water wasn't so clear, but it was definitely amazing to see the birds in there while it glimmered and shined under the hot sun. Ms. Backlar turned was quite nice and I enjoyed hearing her speak because she had a lot to say about the the rover. She shared the river's history, including a brief over view about the Native Americans that lived there were called Gabrielinos.

The part that captivated my interest the most was when she mentioned a "Master Plan" and, in my opinion, it was a master plan indeed. Shelly said that FOLAR (Friends of the Los Angeles River) had a plan for the L.A. river to be more inviting. To bring the surrounding communities together, they plan to build parks, restaurants, and shops For Los Angeles, the Master Plan would not only bring together communities but to also make the L.A river a tourist attraction. I was completely stoked to hear that FOLAR was focusing on making this happen. The L.A. River would be a great place with those places, and I couldn't agree more.

We then interviewed Shelly and asked her personal and historical questions relating to the River and was surprised to hear how much bird life and fish life the river actually had. Los Angeles has a river and I no longer ignore this fact or take this place for granted. As Ms.Backlar stated, the River is like the backbone to Los Angeles.

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