At Los Angeles Walks, we are building a grassroots movement for a more walkable, connected and just LA by rooting ourselves in the very communities our City's transportation system has failed. They are the heart of LA's movement to fight traffic violence, reduce congestion and improve mobility for ALL.
Today, we highlight the work of four of our partners:
She's a maven of LA bureaucracy. This April, Safe Street Promotora Severiana won more pedestrian infrastructure for her San Fernando Valley neighborhood of North Hills, an area notorious for its wide, high speed streets. Years of organizing and navigating City bureaucracies is what makes her such an effective promotora on City contracts and an invaluable resource to her neighbors.
Latanya is a community anchor. A long time resident of Broadway-Manchester, she's been advocating for her community through service on a number of local nonprofits, include the leadership of First 5 LA's Best Start Broadway-Manchester. In 2016, her son Brian was killed crossing the street just a block from their house. Together, we're organizing a safe street campaign around illegal dumping & trash and safe passages for students, free of gang and gun violence.
She's the person everyone knows. Safe Street Promotora Maria was the perfect fit for this City contract: go door to door, teach the community about e-bikes, and get small businesses to adopt them for delivers. After all, these are businesses in a community where she's lived for decades. "Just because they tell me no, it gives me more momentum. If three doors close, we have to move on."
Start with speed humps, end with power. Speed humps are the #1 request we get from our communities. And for good reason: traffic is too fast. This past May, our safe street advocate Silvia won her first campaign: a set of speed humps in her neighborhood of Pico-Union. She's now leading her community on other campaigns and joined a City-wide network of advocates through the LA City Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC).