Later this month, the Planning Dept. at City Hall plans to present the City Council with a prototype for Neighborhood Design Guidelines that can be used by the Planning Commission and others to preserve Culver City’s “small town charm” as neighborhoods update and change.
Two weeks from tonight, at 7 o’clock on Tuesday, July 29, at Livingreen, 10000 Culver Blvd., jsut west of Duquesne, the Gateway Neighborhood Assn.’s Development Study Group will explore this very issue:
What are the elements of Neighborhood Design that give neighborhoods their positive character? What are the important elements that contribute to a sense of place here, that distinguish Culver City from surrounding Los Angeles neighborhoods?
Gateway leaders say that the city “is finally catching up” to the voices on the street, those Culver City residents who are passionate about maintaining the city’s visual appeal.
Culver City neighborhoods nurture tree-lined streets with generous park medians and front yards, Gateway leaders say. Houses are mostly humble and modest in scale, often occupied by long-time residents who’ve seen generations start and end here. But these neighborhoods also have aging housing stock, which are often in need of renovation or complete redevelopment.
Some Worked, Others Did Not
While some projects have greatly enhanced these neighborhoods, other attempts at newer development often have frustrated residents with the new additions.
Culver City residents Jon Andersen-Miller and Mayita Dinos will end Gateway’s months-long Development Study Group series by discussing positive contributions to neighborhood redevelopment around the city and greater Los Angeles, along with Smart Growth and Sustainability practices all residents can manage at the neighborhood level to keep the city’s special feel.
Mr. Andersen-Miller has degrees in Art History and Interior Design, and taught History of Design classes at the Boston Architectural College for five years. He has worked for both architecture and interior design firms, creating his namesake firm in 1996. In 2006, he and his husband Matt merged their firms to create Andersen-Miller Design, an architecture and interior design firm that specializes in “green” sustainable design. Recent projects range in scale from a LEED-certified 9,000-square-foot home to an eco-conscious, roof-deck garden outfitted with a photo-voltaic sun canopy.
Garden Designer
Ms. Dinos, principal of Mayita Dinos Garden Design, has been designing gardens for people, butterflies, birds, and bees for almost two decades. Her most current work-in-progress, the Arlington Garden in Pasadena, is a three-acre demonstration garden showcasing practices and techniques appropriate to our mediterranean climate. In her newest venture as a founding member of G3 LA, LLC, she is realizing her dream of promoting the latest eco-restorative landscape techniques, and low-impact development principles to homeowners, design professionals and the surrounding community.
This final Development Study Group session, open to all, was planned by the Gateway Neighborhood Assn. to help prepare Culver City residents to participate in the upcoming review of the city’s General Plan and to make residents stronger advocates for the future of our city.
R.S.V.P.s for each session are requested by emailing gatewayna@yahoo.com, although attendees are welcome at the door. The sessions are free, but an optional $5 donation per session will be appreciated. Questions about the sessions can also be sent to gatewayna@yahoo.com.
The Gateway Neighborhood Assn. was created by and for homeowners and renters residing between Culver Boulevard and La Ballona Creek in the area near the Gateway Post Office in Culver City to encourage social relationships within and civic relationships on behalf of the neighborhood.
Livingreen, a member of the Culver City Green Business Assn., offers retail customers and tradespeople green building materials, home furnishings, gifts and accessories, and information supportive of healthier, happier home and work environments.
