Residents Take to the Streets for Cleanup Project
Gloria Woods doesn’t consider cleaning a chore. For her and dozens of other Studio City residents, it’s a form of self-empowerment.
“The city just doesn’t have the resources to really clean the neighborhoods anymore,” she said. “People can’t just sit around and wait for them to show up.”
As a member of the Studio City Residents Assn.’s board of directors, Woods decided to organize those who felt similarly. On Saturday, about 60 volunteers traveled down Ventura Boulevard with brooms, rakes and plastic bags.
The association, along with the Studio City Chamber of Commerce and the nonprofit New Directions for Youth, plans quarterly cleanups. They will divide the area into segments and remove weeds and garbage, rake leaves and mulch from planters and reconnect tree lights.
Saturday’s outing cleaned from Whitsett to Colfax streets. In the future, Woods said crews may travel major boulevards such as Laurel Canyon or Lankershim.
Efforts also are underway to involve merchants, who would take responsibility for maintaining trees and sidewalks in front of their stores.
“We have to do something to try to improve the boulevard,” she said. “It’s our community.”
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