These Students Have Plans -- Urban Plans

Most people would never ask themselves, “What would be the better neighbor for a homeless shelter: The Gap or an apartment complex?” But that was one of the many debates among a group of students in Chris Monaster’s urban-planning class at Reseda High School last semester.

The school was one of four in the Los Angeles Unified School District to participate in a new partnership with the Urban Land Institute, Los Angeles, a nonprofit education and research institute focusing on urban planning. More than 100 students from Reseda, Kennedy, Cleveland and Wilson high schools learned the ins and outs of planning in a complex, modern city -- for class credit.

Students in the UrbanPlan program worked in teams to redevelop a 5 1/2-block area of a theoretical city with an on-paper budget of $40 million or less. Each team had 16 weeks to turn in its project in the form of a three-dimensional model and a request for proposal, the kind of document developers and contractors submit to city governments.

As a guide, the students were given information about the virtual city and neighborhood, including location, surroundings, demographics, history and current buildings, and had to factor in such considerations as community opinion, affordable housing, green space and preservation of historic buildings. The classes read books and articles about urban planning and architecture, heard lectures from Urban Land Institute members and took field trips to places around town.

“This was as close to the real world as you can get without the time, value or money,” said Monaster, the drafting teacher who led the class at Reseda High.

During the early stages of his group’s plan, Reseda freshman Joseph Derije was convinced that it made the most sense to put the wealthy people on one end of town and the poor on the other -- an idea that didn’t go over well with the rest of the group.

“I realized that everybody has to be on the same page,” he said. The finished product reflected an integrated community that also blended residential and commercial space.

Several of the students said they developed a new interest in urban planning and architecture, and some even said they planned to pursue careers in the fields as a result of taking the class. Others said they would at least use the lessons in their everyday life.

“I haven’t really thought about urban planning as a career, but I am interested in public service,” said Yoon Um, a member of the Woodrow Wilson High School team, which won first place in the competition that was part of the program. Um, who will attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in the fall, described historic preservation as “one of my passionate hobbies” and said she hoped to get involved with the Los Angeles Conservancy, a preservation group.

Reseda senior Zack Greenwood said the class was a good experience.

“It’s like no other class you can take, and you get skills that wouldn’t be open to you in high school,” he said.

Urban Land Institute officials said the group spent between $20,000 and $30,000 on the program and plans to expand it to more schools.

UrbanPlan awarded more than $10,000 in scholarships to five top-ranking teams from Wilson, Reseda and Kennedy. The students presented their final projects to urban-planning professionals and were judged on their oral presentation and creativity.

The program trains young people to be more informed and involved citizens, said Tsilah Burman, co-chair of UrbanPlan.

“We wanted to do this to make students aware of urban planning and finance and development, because there are wide-ranging careers that extend from this. But even if someone isn’t interested in a career, we think it’s essential for the students to understand that this is how things happen in their communities,” Burman said.

The projects took research, teamwork and problem-solving skills. Schools, shopping, living space and parks had to be taken into account and provided. Financial and environmental decisions had to be made about whether to get rid of asbestos in old buildings or tear those structures down and start over.

“Our team used studies in political science, economics, sociology and statistics to make our project more realistic,” said Um. Her Wilson high team, Ascension, took home top honors -- a boost for the El Sereno campus, which was recently cited for low Stanford 9 test scores.

“Our parents are not architects, engineers or lawyers,” said Um. “Winning the competition and going through this really helped us with our self-confidence.”

Ascension used the renovation of historic structures in downtown Los Angeles as inspiration, Um said. The group agreed that saving as many of the 13 historic buildings as possible in the mock project was a priority. They decided to demolish only one.

“Our focus was using the past to push towards the future,” she said.

In the models, the smallest details made the difference. Reseda’s Raven design team, which won second place, had miniature streetlights, an American flag and real sand on the baseball field in its model. As part of its marketing strategy, the group even had a Web site, T-shirts, brochures and business cards.

Students at Wilson also strove for such professional touches.

“Our company was very realistic,” said Wilson junior Linda Barrera. “It felt like real life, and this would be something I would very much consider for the future. And that’s mostly due to the class.” She said she also benefited from the public-speaking experience in the projects’ presentations.

Teammate Alex Velasquez said the teamwork and camaraderie appealed to him.

“This class was basically something different offered at Wilson, which is the main reason why I took it,” he said. “But it also gave me a feel for what it’s like to be on a team in a real-life situation, and I got to meet a lot of people that I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to meet. And it was a lot of fun.”