THE NEXT LOS ANGELES / TURNING IDEAS INTO ACTION : Livable L.A. : How can we guild a sense of community and improve the quality of life away from job, freeway and police station? : REVIVING MINI-MALLS

Overbuilding in the 1980s has led to an urban landscape strewn with strip malls, many of which are more than half vacant. Los Angeles architect Jeffrey Daniels suggests offering tax credits to owners of such properties in exchange for allowing temporary uses, like community centers, art galleries, youth clubs and vest pocket parks on the empty properties rent-free. Elaborating on some of Daniels’ ideas, futurist artist Steven M. Johnson shows how malls could be reused under a program called “L.A. NOW.” Qualifying sites would be numbered and matched thematically to appropriate community organizations and events, and upcoming activities would be publicized in the neighborhood media.