Culver City : Ideas for Downtown

After a weekend-long planning session for improving downtown, a panel of experts has recommended more landscaping, narrowing the streets and widening the sidewalks.

The plan, which will be formally presented to the Redevelopment Agency for discussion in six weeks, came from analyzing public input during the two-day “Downtown Charette.”

Charette , a French word meaning small cart, refers to a vehicle that in earlier times carried groups of architects to villages, where they would help design town squares and other public facilities. As used by today’s urban designers, it describes an intensive, community-oriented design process.

“The solutions that we have come up with . . . at least reflect the spirit of what you were recommending,” lead consultant James A. Cloar told participants and agency members.

The 124 community participants took a walking tour of downtown Saturday , then met in small groups to discuss the future development of the area. After listening to the public comments, the engineering, architecture and planning experts met Sunday to come up with their recommendations.

Participants said they wanted downtown to be the focal point for civic and social purposes. The technical resource team presented three alternatives for the area: a small-town atmosphere with civic and retail uses; a town square adjacent to the Culver Hotel, and a plan to link downtown to the film industry with architectural facades.

The team recommended that the north side of Culver Boulevard be retail and that the south side be used for civic purposes.

It also suggested that Culver Boulevard be narrowed from six lanes to four and the sidewalks widened. Traffic consultant Patrick A. Gibson told participants that there is the potential for a light-rail transit line to connect Culver City with downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

“The plan has a lot of possibilities,” agency Chairman James D. Boulgarides said after the presentation. “It’s got a really good thrust to it in terms of identifying the special qualities of Culver City.”