Conceptualizing a Co-Creative Commons

* The revitalization of downtown Canoga Park and downtown Reseda (“Communities Seek Ways to Save Dying Downtowns,” June 6) could be pursued in a visionary way which also seeks the revitalization of people and families and a recharging of the public sphere.

Perhaps several large storefronts in one or both of these towns could be combined to create a multiplicity of family-run, student- and youth-run, senior-run and ad hoc creative group-run limited-capital-investment “micro-enterprises” under one big roof or on one big block!

How about a cluster of small and tiny enterprises offering a great many of the practical and fun things people seek in the marketplace, a sort of hyper-multi-mini-micro mall of, by and for the people of these communities and the San Fernando Valley--an exciting combination of public market, bazaar, food fair, meta-gallery, art park, festival, multi-thrift store, playground, day care center, home-made video studio and multi-cinema, public garden, homegrown amusement park, perpetual carnival and proto-typical experimental co-creative community (and maybe even potential world-class tourist attraction) of tomorrow, as much as possible designed, built and operated by groups of creative, entrepreneurial, public-spirited people from the community and the Valley?

A public-private partnership could be created to marshall resources and get this started, composed of local entrepreneurs, community leaders and community organizations, the schools and their students and whoever else wants to participate.

At the least, a two-year community participatory design phase should be inaugurated in Canoga Park or Reseda, in which community people in all the categories above have a chance to help create a vision and a plan for this “co-creative commons.” This creative visioning-and-planning process would be educational, empowering and fun and worth doing!

GREGORY WRIGHT

LEON VICKMAN

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