David Ewing
Great news about the ruling re: Small Lot Subdivision compliance with the VCZSP.
On the “It’s a Bike for a Bike” item, that thing looks extremely flimsy. I can’t imagine it would last a month on the boardwalk.
Re: the new restroom facility, who proposed it? Who designed it? Is the proposal just for the design, or is the restroom itself just a proposal? Is it replacing what’s already there or are we finally getting additional facilities? About that design: is there any coherence to the other boardwalk design elements, or is everything we build a one-off?
I’m trying to figure out the function, practical or aesthetic, of the giant winged roof. Maybe skateboarders can figure out something to do with it.
Comment: David is right. Info was unnecessarily sketchy. It was the Bureau of Engineering who presented the proposed design. The Rose Avenue renovation was at the request of the Council office. Department of Recreation and Parks submitted an application for a proposition K grant to restore the Rose Avenue restroom. The purpose of the renovation is to make the restrooms more reliable and easier to maintain.
Peter Griswold
Years ago Neighbor Watch was still very active after preventing the Marina Bypass from Lincoln to Venice Bl.
We also had a Clean Alley Committee, Twice the LAPD supervised and City Sanitation removed much alley trash and even some backyard STUFF. Both times I helped with notification. With my small dog on leash I frequently walked the alleys, and sometimes noticed a few backyards vulnerable trespassing. But even as a NW Block Captain, I gave up, as more than once someone gossiped that I was snooping. Rubbish…..like any nuisance will attract the wrong type of visitors.
City Sanitation Department has a Bulk Removal Service available by appointment………800-773-city
Also for the Triangle………when you know of alley trash that is a nuisance, report it to the Triangle Newsletter and
This volunteer will arrive and try to help remove that nuisance.
Jen Bilik
Please note that I didn’t initiate a petition supporting the revision to the rule allowing people to sleep in public—I just sent around to my neighbors what Mark Ryavec of VSA had sent to me. It’s all VSA’s work. Previous Update state Jen initiated petition.
The following comment is in response to Heather Kahler’s comments:
In response to Heather Kahler’s comments about civility, I think it’s wrong to lump gun violence and dangerous driving in with walking dogs off-leash and discourteous walking, biking, and skating. Part of why I think people get disgruntled about a perceived lack of manners is they are obsessing about the small stuff. For example, it bugs me terribly when someone leaves a shopping cart in the middle of an aisle while they peruse the shelves, but I know that I need to work on myself to not let such things bother me, because very nice people have always been oblivious and always will be. My getting worked up about it hurts only me, and it doesn’t correct their behavior.
In terms of “Is this what our fellow neighbor has become?” I am constantly impressed by my fellow neighbors. They look out for me and for other neighbors, say hello to me on the street, keep an eye on my house, share information and avocados. Perhaps if we were a bit more positive and a bit less nitpicky, it would be easier to see the good in people. The bad that I see is not coming from my neighbors, but primarily from some out-of-neighborhood beach visitors, particularly drunk ones, and from some itinerants.
Specifically about walking dogs off-leash: Dogs need off-leash time-to trot, to sniff, for mental stimulation. There are more dogs in the city of Santa Monica than there are children, and it’s likely that applies to the city of LA, also. By orders of magnitude, there is more space dedicated to volleyball than there is to off-leash dog recreation. The Westminster Dog Park is gross and poorly maintained, and my dog won’t run around there as he’s not that interested in other dogs, and I’m not willing to gallop around with him there. A well-exercised dog is a good-neighbor dog. My dog is obedient and well trained, and I walk him off-leash in what I deem to be appropriate places-primarily alleys and sidewalks where I can see there is no one walking. When I see kids coming toward me or people with dogs, I call him and put him on the leash. There have been moments where he has regrettably run into the street after a squirrel or another dog has been aggressive with him (and in those instances, the people whose dogs are aggressive have gotten very upset with me, even though my dog just stepped to the side, and the only thing that happened was a bunch of barking), but that is an acceptable level of risk for me. My goodness-people don’t let their children walk on sidewalks alone anymore even though it’s safer today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s when we ran all over on our own. If we let every risk prevent us from doing anything, we’ll never get to do anything, and we’ll all be policing each other. In almost all situations where people have been bothered by my dog being off-leash, it does not appear to have been because he did anything to them (jumped on them, bit them, nosed them, bothered their dog etc.) but because they are upset in the abstract that someone is breaking the law and have particular bees in their bonnets about off-leash dogs. The strong language that Ms. Kahler uses-“arrogance,” “flagrantly,” “entitled,” impugning our love for our off-leash dogs, etc., feels like overkill for this situation.
Dogs need more off-leash recreation space. I tried on and off for years to support and then head up efforts to create a dog beach around the city of LA. LA County is the only coastal county in California that doesn’t have many dog beaches-and it had none until the small Long Beach Dog Beach was established. If people would just accept that off-leash dog recreation occurs on the grass median just north of Washington, along the Boardwalk, for example, and put up fences to protect dogs, walkers-by, bike riders, and roller bladders, we’d have one more place to congregate. I see endless empty beaches and green park lawns on my walks (the lawns more in Santa Monica, to be sure). In San Diego, a dog’s dream, there are many off-leash dog parks and beaches, and it does wonders for both humans and dogs. Recently there was an announcement that the LAPD were going to start enforcing leash laws more stringently. I walk a lot with my dog, both on- and off-leash, in many neighborhoods, and it doesn’t appear to be a problem to me. I see dogs both on and off-leash. Generally people who are walking their dogs off-leash appear to have dogs that are equipped to do so with low risk. Given all the other dangerous problems we’re having, do we really want the LAPD focusing on leash laws?
On that note, one thing I have observed time and again in good off-leash dog areas: neighbors meet and talk to one another. “Is this what our fellow neighbor has become?” is transformed into “Hello, fellow neighbor!” People exercise. Dogs exercise. People talk. Dogs sniff.
I know that my views on off-leash walking will be controversial, but I thought it was worth putting them into words. No matter what anybody says, I will not stop walking my dog off-leash in situations that I deem safe for him and for everybody else. I’ve heard it all, and I know the law. I also loiter sometimes, every once in a while forget to use my turn signal, I park in a red space with my blinkers on to grab takeout, and gum fell out of my mouth onto the street in an unfortunate biking incident. Those are broken laws, too. I do not consider myself arrogant, inconsiderate, or a bad neighbor, and I don’t just “apparently” love my dog-I actually love him. Civility comes in all shapes and sizes-including off-leash. Perhaps if we could all just lighten up a bit on the little things, we would have more attention and energy to spend on the big things. I’m sure we’d all be a lot happier.
Reta Moser
Many made nice comments about me wanting to find someone to help with and eventually take over the Update. Couple provided some good ideas too. Takes more people than just one to cover Venice. Venice is big with activity.
500
Comments–27 October 2014
David Ewing
Great news about the ruling re: Small Lot Subdivision compliance with the VCZSP.
On the “It’s a Bike for a Bike” item, that thing looks extremely flimsy. I can’t imagine it would last a month on the boardwalk.
Re: the new restroom facility, who proposed it? Who designed it? Is the proposal just for the design, or is the restroom itself just a proposal? Is it replacing what’s already there or are we finally getting additional facilities? About that design: is there any coherence to the other boardwalk design elements, or is everything we build a one-off?
I’m trying to figure out the function, practical or aesthetic, of the giant winged roof. Maybe skateboarders can figure out something to do with it.
Comment: David is right. Info was unnecessarily sketchy. It was the Bureau of Engineering who presented the proposed design. The Rose Avenue renovation was at the request of the Council office. Department of Recreation and Parks submitted an application for a proposition K grant to restore the Rose Avenue restroom. The purpose of the renovation is to make the restrooms more reliable and easier to maintain.
Peter Griswold
Years ago Neighbor Watch was still very active after preventing the Marina Bypass from Lincoln to Venice Bl.
We also had a Clean Alley Committee, Twice the LAPD supervised and City Sanitation removed much alley trash and even some backyard STUFF. Both times I helped with notification. With my small dog on leash I frequently walked the alleys, and sometimes noticed a few backyards vulnerable trespassing. But even as a NW Block Captain, I gave up, as more than once someone gossiped that I was snooping. Rubbish…..like any nuisance will attract the wrong type of visitors.
City Sanitation Department has a Bulk Removal Service available by appointment………800-773-city
Also for the Triangle………when you know of alley trash that is a nuisance, report it to the Triangle Newsletter and
This volunteer will arrive and try to help remove that nuisance.
Jen Bilik
Please note that I didn’t initiate a petition supporting the revision to the rule allowing people to sleep in public—I just sent around to my neighbors what Mark Ryavec of VSA had sent to me. It’s all VSA’s work. Previous Update state Jen initiated petition.
The following comment is in response to Heather Kahler’s comments:
In response to Heather Kahler’s comments about civility, I think it’s wrong to lump gun violence and dangerous driving in with walking dogs off-leash and discourteous walking, biking, and skating. Part of why I think people get disgruntled about a perceived lack of manners is they are obsessing about the small stuff. For example, it bugs me terribly when someone leaves a shopping cart in the middle of an aisle while they peruse the shelves, but I know that I need to work on myself to not let such things bother me, because very nice people have always been oblivious and always will be. My getting worked up about it hurts only me, and it doesn’t correct their behavior.
In terms of “Is this what our fellow neighbor has become?” I am constantly impressed by my fellow neighbors. They look out for me and for other neighbors, say hello to me on the street, keep an eye on my house, share information and avocados. Perhaps if we were a bit more positive and a bit less nitpicky, it would be easier to see the good in people. The bad that I see is not coming from my neighbors, but primarily from some out-of-neighborhood beach visitors, particularly drunk ones, and from some itinerants.
Specifically about walking dogs off-leash: Dogs need off-leash time-to trot, to sniff, for mental stimulation. There are more dogs in the city of Santa Monica than there are children, and it’s likely that applies to the city of LA, also. By orders of magnitude, there is more space dedicated to volleyball than there is to off-leash dog recreation. The Westminster Dog Park is gross and poorly maintained, and my dog won’t run around there as he’s not that interested in other dogs, and I’m not willing to gallop around with him there. A well-exercised dog is a good-neighbor dog. My dog is obedient and well trained, and I walk him off-leash in what I deem to be appropriate places-primarily alleys and sidewalks where I can see there is no one walking. When I see kids coming toward me or people with dogs, I call him and put him on the leash. There have been moments where he has regrettably run into the street after a squirrel or another dog has been aggressive with him (and in those instances, the people whose dogs are aggressive have gotten very upset with me, even though my dog just stepped to the side, and the only thing that happened was a bunch of barking), but that is an acceptable level of risk for me. My goodness-people don’t let their children walk on sidewalks alone anymore even though it’s safer today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s when we ran all over on our own. If we let every risk prevent us from doing anything, we’ll never get to do anything, and we’ll all be policing each other. In almost all situations where people have been bothered by my dog being off-leash, it does not appear to have been because he did anything to them (jumped on them, bit them, nosed them, bothered their dog etc.) but because they are upset in the abstract that someone is breaking the law and have particular bees in their bonnets about off-leash dogs. The strong language that Ms. Kahler uses-“arrogance,” “flagrantly,” “entitled,” impugning our love for our off-leash dogs, etc., feels like overkill for this situation.
Dogs need more off-leash recreation space. I tried on and off for years to support and then head up efforts to create a dog beach around the city of LA. LA County is the only coastal county in California that doesn’t have many dog beaches-and it had none until the small Long Beach Dog Beach was established. If people would just accept that off-leash dog recreation occurs on the grass median just north of Washington, along the Boardwalk, for example, and put up fences to protect dogs, walkers-by, bike riders, and roller bladders, we’d have one more place to congregate. I see endless empty beaches and green park lawns on my walks (the lawns more in Santa Monica, to be sure). In San Diego, a dog’s dream, there are many off-leash dog parks and beaches, and it does wonders for both humans and dogs. Recently there was an announcement that the LAPD were going to start enforcing leash laws more stringently. I walk a lot with my dog, both on- and off-leash, in many neighborhoods, and it doesn’t appear to be a problem to me. I see dogs both on and off-leash. Generally people who are walking their dogs off-leash appear to have dogs that are equipped to do so with low risk. Given all the other dangerous problems we’re having, do we really want the LAPD focusing on leash laws?
On that note, one thing I have observed time and again in good off-leash dog areas: neighbors meet and talk to one another. “Is this what our fellow neighbor has become?” is transformed into “Hello, fellow neighbor!” People exercise. Dogs exercise. People talk. Dogs sniff.
I know that my views on off-leash walking will be controversial, but I thought it was worth putting them into words. No matter what anybody says, I will not stop walking my dog off-leash in situations that I deem safe for him and for everybody else. I’ve heard it all, and I know the law. I also loiter sometimes, every once in a while forget to use my turn signal, I park in a red space with my blinkers on to grab takeout, and gum fell out of my mouth onto the street in an unfortunate biking incident. Those are broken laws, too. I do not consider myself arrogant, inconsiderate, or a bad neighbor, and I don’t just “apparently” love my dog-I actually love him. Civility comes in all shapes and sizes-including off-leash. Perhaps if we could all just lighten up a bit on the little things, we would have more attention and energy to spend on the big things. I’m sure we’d all be a lot happier.
Reta Moser
Many made nice comments about me wanting to find someone to help with and eventually take over the Update. Couple provided some good ideas too. Takes more people than just one to cover Venice. Venice is big with activity.
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