Public Space, Transportation, Storefronts
Project Partners: Pacoima Beautiful, Mayor’s Office of Los Angeles, LA Council District 7
2017
Pacoima, Los Angeles, CA
We designed storefront improvements for businesses along Van Nuys Boulevard to activate sidewalks.
Pacoima Street Values was a project to support, celebrate, and enhance the ways businesses make streets in Los Angeles great through informal activities. This project was a recipient of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Great Streets Challenge Grant.
A wide ranging public outreach effort was undertaken along Van Nuys Boulevard to identify businesses to partner with for this project. Custom designed furniture and improvements were then developed to meet the needs of five businesses and improve the public realm for everyone who comes to the boulevard.
The improvements ranged from public seating with signage to merchandise display, which facilitated strategies around City rules and ensured the sidewalk became a place of both economic and social activity.
The materials used for this project feature “off the shelf” products that are affordable and easily replicable. As a result, businesses facing similar issues can fashion their own informal sidewalk designs using this pilot project as an example.