The Streets as We See Them

Challenges to Walkability, Comfort, and Prosperity

Across Council District 13, our streets tell an important story. While everyday challenges affect walkability, comfort, and investment, they also reveal where change is possible. Here, we outline the key issues facing our neighborhoods and share a range of thoughtful, achievable ideas that could help improve street life, support local businesses, and create a more vibrant, equitable district for everyone.

  • Trash

    Overflowing city bins, bulky items, and illegal dumping obstruct pedestrian pathways, violate ADA accessibility standards, and create visual blight that diminishes neighborhood pride.

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  • Graffiti

    Unchecked tagging and vandalism burden small business owners with escalating costs, drive away repeat customers, and send the message that our neighborhood isn't worth protecting.

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  • Encampments

    Sidewalk encampments block pedestrian access, create public health and safety hazards, and reveal the failure of our housing and outreach systems to serve both unhoused neighbors and the broader community.

  • Street Vendors

    Street vending brings cultural vibrancy and economic opportunity to our corridors, but without proper regulation it obstructs ADA-compliant pedestrian access, strains public infrastructure, and puts pressure on our commercial corridors.

  • Crime

    Persistent property crime, open drug use, and violent incidents undermine public safety while driving the disinvestment and rising vacancy rates that further destabilize our commercial districts.

  • Abandoned Buildings

    Empty buildings and vacant lots become hotspots for dumping, tagging, and crime, creating blight that spreads to surrounding properties and drives down the entire block.

  • Street lights

    Copper wire theft that disables streetlights isn't just one crime, it enables countless others by creating the darkness where break-ins, assaults, and drug dealing thrive.

  • Damaged Sidewalks

    Cracked pavement and ADA non-compliance trigger expensive lawsuits against the city, yet instead of proactive repairs, we pay settlements while sidewalks continue deteriorating and liability grows.

  • Heat and Lack of Shade

    The urban heat island effect, caused by excessive pavement and insufficient tree canopy, makes streets dangerously hot, discourages walking, worsens health disparities, and drives customers away from businesses that lack shade.

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Turning Challenges Into Walkable, Thriving Corridors

Transforming District 13's streets requires what's been missing: leadership that sees how these challenges connect. Copper theft enables crime. Broken sidewalks trigger lawsuits that drain repair budgets. Heat islands concentrate where tree canopy, greening efforts and city investment are lowest.

Solutions must be equally interconnected.

Walkable, safe, and climate-responsive streets aren't just quality-of-life improvements, they're prerequisites for small business survival, equitable development, and ensuring every resident enjoys their neighborhood.

Why Is Trash Piling Up in Council District 13?

Despite collecting trash fees from every property owner, the city's budget deficit has led to fewer bins, slower pickups, and delayed responses to illegal dumping along our commercial corridors. On Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset, from Silver Lake to Echo Park, overflowing or missing bins send a clear message: basic services aren't a priority. The result is predictable: trash piling up on sidewalks, especially near encampments where sanitation needs are greatest, creating public health risks and harming small businesses. A generation ago, Woodsy Owl and "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" made environmental stewardship part of our civic identity, we've lost that culture of shared responsibility, and it shows on our streets. Restoring it means combining better infrastructure with education, outreach, and community ownership programs.

Trash

  • Rapid Response Clean Teams

    Council-managed crews for bulk pickup, dumping abatement, and daily bin checks on priority corridors.

  • Bin Audit & Upgrades

    Identify gaps, fast-track installation of smart, covered, or underground bins; ensure major corridors—Hollywood Blvd, Echo Park—lead by example.

  • Underground Bin Pilot Expansion

    Partner with BIDs, businesses, and residents to bring below-ground containers to high-impact streets.

  • Real Public/Private Partnerships for Cleanliness

    Bring BIDs, landlords, and nonprofits together to co-invest in trash infrastructure, frequent pickup, and shared monitoring, with council funds matching private commitments.

  • Transparent, Data-Driven Accountability

    Launch a public dashboard tracking bin locations, service requests, dumping reports, and response times.

  • Civic Engagement

    Pair infrastructure upgrades with education, outreach, and community programs like 'adopt-a-bin' and neighborhood cleanup initiatives. Remember when Woodsy Owl taught us to "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute"? That campaign made caring for our environment a shared value. District 13 needs that same spirit, turning clean streets into shared neighborhood responsibility.

  • Rapid Bin Response Team

    Commit council resources to daily bin inspections (especially after events and weekends), stopping overflow before it spreads.

Breaking the Cycle of Neglect and Vandalism

Graffiti, from name tagging to gang markings to acid-etched windows, hits small business owners hardest through repeated cleanup costs and lost customers. Tagging is often the first step toward gang involvement, a behavior that escalates when left unchecked. When property owners delay removal, corridors signal nobody's watching, inviting more vandalism and deeper criminal activity. Solutions require holding negligent owners accountable, supporting rapid-response programs that remove graffiti and youth intervention programs before tagging moves to deeper gang membership.

Graffiti

  • Enforce Owner Responsibility

    Hold property owners accountable for swift removal by increasing outreach, reminders, and, when necessary, escalating enforcement for properties that allow graffiti to linger. For vacant or blighted buildings, use city authority to abate and recover costs from the owner

  • Rapid Removal Teams

    Expand funding and partnerships with the Office of Community Beautification and local nonprofits to provide graffiti removal within 24–48 hours of reporting. Speed is key: quick removal deters repeat tagging and sends a clear message that vandalism won’t be tolerated.​

  • Consent for Free City Clean-Up

    Streamline the process for property owners to grant ongoing consent to city abatement teams, ensuring free and fast removal without bureaucratic delays.​

  • Anti-Graffiti Coatings & Surface Treatments

    Offer incentives or matching grants for businesses and property owners to install anti-graffiti and anti-etch coatings on vulnerable surfaces, reducing long-term cleanup costs and effort.

  • Corridor Partnerships & Standards

    Bring together BIDs, business owners, neighborhood groups, and city agencies to set shared standards for “graffiti-free” blocks, coordinate regular patrols, and build mutual support for quick action.

  • Data Transparency & Recognition

    Track and publicly report graffiti incidents, response times, and abatement rates by corridor, rewarding property owners who keep buildings graffiti-free and focusing enforcement where problems persist most.

  • Community Engagement

    Launch local mural projects and encourage youth-led public art in partnership with schools and artists as a long-term deterrent strategy, building pride and ownership in public space.

Our Streets Are Hot, Bare, and Unwelcoming

Across District 13, relentless sun beats down on bare concrete with no relief: no trees, no awnings, no shade structures. From Cahuenga in the Hollywood Vinyl District, up through parts of Silverlake and Echo Park, the urban heat island effect makes summer sidewalks unbearable. This isn't just discomfort; its both a health and economic crisis. Dangerous temperatures drive customers away from businesses, threaten elderly and unhoused residents, and empty our commercial corridors when people need them most. Waiting a decade for saplings to mature isn't a solution. We need immediate interventions: shade structures, awnings, strategic greening that works now while trees grow.

Heat and Lack of Shade

  • Architectural Shade: Immediate Relief

    Launch a Grow CD13: Shade Now program to cover the hottest corridors along Sunset and Hollywood Blvds with awnings, pop-up canopies, and facade-mounted sunshades backed by fast-tracked grants, fee waivers, and no-nonsense approvals.

    Team up with local designers, businesses, and BIDs to bulk-purchase and install modular and branded shade structures giving each corridor its own cool, welcoming style.

    Make it easy and affordable for every building owner to boost comfort because shade is good for health, for business, and for street life.

  • Rewilding and Green Transformation - Bold Moves for a Cooler Future

    We know we need more trees. Let’s bring the Paris Olympics playbook home: pilot “mini-forests,” pocket parks, and fast-growing shade corridors right here in CD13 using proven, high-impact techniques that cool blocks, not just corners.

    Turn blank commercial walls and empty lots into vertical gardens and green spaces partnering with artists, schools, and local groups for maintenance and pride.

    Launch Grow CD13: Green Corridor and Fast Planting projects on the hardest-hit streets, getting community partners working together to create instant shade and long-lasting green.

  • Public-Private Partnerships, Global Solutions in CD13

    We won’t wait on City Hall. I’ll bring in the experts. Tap partners like Salesforce, who are rewilding entire downtowns around the world, as well as leading companies already investing in shade innovations.

    Build alliances with major employers, tech leaders, and nonprofits to deliver shade and green leadership at civic scale by using their resources, innovation, and expertise for the neighborhoods that need it now.

    Make CD13 the first LA district where business, government, and global changemakers unite to beat the heat. We’ll show what’s possible when we act together.


Imagining What Our Streets Could Be

We have the ideas, energy, and opportunity to create streets that support
neighborhoood life, local businesses, and long-term prosperity.