Stre e
t
Commercial
Site
Residential
Alv ara do
8th
0’
75’
150’
300’
Figure 8–35. Surrounding land uses for Poplar Plaza site
on-street parking. Both Alvarado and Eighth Street have bus stops adjacent to the site. Sidewalks around the site are approximately 12 feet wide. The alley is approximately 15 feet wide, and it ends at a “T” intersection with a perpendicular alley a little over 300 feet from the site.
MacArthur Park Station for the Red and Purple Metro Lines. Transit oriented development (TOD) is under construction around the Metro stop, which will add residential and commercial units to an already dense area (Camino 2010).
The building on the northeast border of the site is an enclosed commercial shopping center which opens onto Alvarado. Across Alvarado are other shops, including a liquor store. Many of the buildings along Alvarado are mixed use, with apartments on top of street-front stores. Across the alley to the southwest of the site along 8th Street is a Mexican-Chinese restaurant. A three-story apartment building lies a little further down the alley. Across 8th Street to the southwest is a commercial center that features a parking lot, dentist office, donut shop, and other shops. Two bus stops are directly adjacent to the site, one on the southwest side on 8th Street, and one on the southeast side on Alvarado. Both are heavily used.
Opportunities and Constraints
One block to the northeast of the site is MacArthur Park, a multi-use park of approximately 35 acres that is heavily used. Across from the park on Alvarado is the Westlake/
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Red Fields to Green Fields Los Angeles
This site has numerous opportunities to serve as a vital community-oriented green field. The site is located in a very busy commercial district, and benefits from a high volume of pedestrian traffic. This presents an important opportunity to engage pedestrians in the community. Located on the corner of two major streets, it is also highly visible and presents an opportunity to attract visitors from throughout the neighborhood. Additionally, with two bus stops adjacent to the site, there is an opportunity to provide a service for people waiting for the bus. Although MacArthur Park is only a block away, this small urban site is an opportunity to create a more intimate, more locally integrated type green space. The wide sidewalks enhance the opportunity to engage