Now It’s Time to Invest in Parks

Johnny Carson’s jokes about “beautiful downtown Burbank” were well-founded in the 1980s.

Then much of the downtown area had been cleared for a shopping mall, but economic recession and redevelopment problems delayed building for nearly a decade. One letter writer to the local newspaper suggested making the open land productive by planting and harvesting salable crops.

Today it’s a different story. A multimillion-dollar shopping mecca occupies much of the formerly open space, and the city has profited handsomely. Sales tax revenue has risen 32% in the past five years. Few who walk through the Media City Center or enjoy downtown’s new restaurants and movie theaters miss the huge, largely vacant lot that once was “beautiful downtown Burbank.”

Yet Burbank, like most San Fernando Valley communities, has failed to find a balance between commercial space and public open space. Retailers and consumers may rejoice over the shopping and entertainment possibilities redevelopment has created, but the city’s failure to preserve open space downtown bodes ill for its future.

Open space in cities serves an important democratizing function. It provides all people, regardless of income, with areas for recreation, entertainment, education, celebration and reflection. In short, it creates more livable communities.

San Diego’s Balboa Park, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and Portland’s waterfront area serve as models. All are in cities noted for their quality of life; all provide a welcome antidote to the pace of downtown commerce.

A few Southern California suburban communities have successfully incorporated open space into redeveloped commercial areas. Owners of Glendale City Center on Brand Boulevard, for example, kept two acres open next to the 18-story building and planted grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees. A spacious plaza with art and fountains graces the center’s entrance.

But most communities in the Valley have placed their parks in residential areas and kept little open space in commercial zones.

In the wake of Proposition 13 in 1978--and now with the specter of Proposition 218’s implementation--cities understandably have chosen the more profitable route of redevelopment that packs retail, entertainment and restaurant space into crowded commercial areas. Planners’ visions of plazas, fountains and lawns find little favor with city officials eager to maximize revenue.

Such is the dilemma facing Burbank. And such is the opportunity. Burbank has a chance to create a much-needed open space in the downtown area if it can avoid the trap of focusing on short-term revenue gains while ignoring quality-of-life issues that will make the city attractive to residents and business for the long term.

Burbank will soon move its police and fire headquarters to a new facility at 3rd Street and Orange Grove Avenue. The old police headquarters property, in the Burbank Civic Center area at the corners of 3rd Street and Olive Avenue, would make an ideal site for such open space as a park, a plaza or concert area.

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City officials have not publicly announced any plans for the land, although some have said it must “stand on its own financially.”

Creating open space in the heart of Burbank certainly would burden the city with some costs, including the loss of funds that would be generated if it sold the property to a developer. But the long-term benefits of open space would outweigh the costs. Even more important, Burbank could serve as a model to other Valley communities by showing that urban areas can balance economic growth with public welfare.

Burbank should take a pause from its frenzied growth. Since the 1980s exodus of aerospace jobs, the city has enjoyed a robust economic rebound. With its prosperous media district centered on NBC, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co.--and the potential of the Lockheed-Martin property--the City Council can afford to set aside a modest piece of land for noncommercial use.

Former Burbank city councils have shown vision in creating a community that the New York Times praised last year as “a Cinderella city.” The current council should show similar vision by preserving some open land downtown for future generations to enjoy.