Elysian Valley Slow Ride: April 14, 2018
/Join us on foot, on wheels, by bike or simply document native flora and fauna in Gateway Park - there are many ways to enjoy the Elysian Valley Slow Ride. This monthly event seeks to bring walkers, riders and residents together in the hopes of creating a safer, more user-friendly shared path for everyone.
Details and reservations via our event page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/elysian-valley-slow-ride-april-edition-tickets-44924911620
Elysian Valley SlowRide: Saturday March 10th at 10:00am Gateway Park
/Join us this Saturday and the second Saturday of every month for Elysian Valley Slow Ride - a leisurely tour of the LA River Shared Path for walkers and riders of all skill levels. If you don't feel like riding, enjoy Gateway Park and catalog its plant and wildlife through our new project on iNaturalist, Bring Back Gateway Park.
Elysian Valley Slow Ride: Bringing walkers, riders and neighbors together to keep the LA River Shared Path safe for everyone.
Coyote Kids Nature Adventure and Clean up in Elysian Park!
/Get your hike on, enjoy one of our city's many gems and leave feeling great because you left it nicer than you found it. Coyote Kids, who joined us for the last Slow Ride and will return with some young runners another month, are hosting this lovely gathering. Details may be found on their event page.
February Slow Ride and Gateway Park BioBlitz
/Join us for the Slow Ride, Saturday, February 10th and the second Saturday of each month. This year's rides begin and end at Elysian Valley Gateway Park, which we are working to revitalize by our very presence. The ride/walk departs at 10:00am, and at 11:00 we will return to Gateway to document plant and animal life in this neglected pocket park via the iNaturalist app.
Walk, ride, hang out! Bring a friend, a baked good or some fresh fruit to share.
POSTPONED Action: Join East Area Progressive Democrats at Glendale City Council, Tuesday, FEBRUARY 6TH
/““Glendale is looking at a $500 million expansion of the Grayson Power Station that will increase emissions by 415,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, increase ozone and particulate pollution by tons, and just to generate electricity to sell to other cities. This is like adding 90,000 more gas-burning cars to Glendale roads! We have to stop the Grayson Expansion.””
RSVP to attend the Glendale City Council Meeting to discuss alternatives.
Meeting: Tuesday, February 6, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Glendale City Council Chambers• 613 E. Broadway, Glendale, CA 91206
Start the Year off with the Slow Ride!
/Saturday, January 13th and the second Saturday of each month at 10:00am, catch up on community issues, meet like-minded folks, and enjoy a leisurely walk or ride along the Los Angeles River Shared Path. This month, local treasure, Farm L.A. will talk about their new farm which will be installed on an empty parcel donated by longtime resident Bob Berg.
As part of our continued efforts to keep an eye on the health and revitalization of Elysian Valley's first pocket park, we will start and end at Gateway Park.
December Slow Ride: Celebrate our First Year!
/Please join us for the last Slow Ride of 2017, and help us celebrate one year of bringing walkers, cyclists and residents together to enjoy the LA River Shared Path and build community. Gather at the Riverdale entrance to the LA River Shared Path Saturday December 9th, 2017 at 10:00am.
Metrolink's Long-Promised Tier 4 Not All It's Cracked Up to Be
/For years, Metrolink has been attempting to assuage community concerns about persistent air quality problems by touting its long-promised Tier 4 train. These diesel locomotives are purported vaguely to be "up to 85% cleaner". Our group has consistently asked "Cleaner than what?" And hey, anyone remember Volkswagon's amazing clean diesel cars?
Continued delays - technical and otherwise - lead us to further question whether this train is really all that it is touted to be. The recent stalling of a new Tier 4 on its debut press trip only makes us more curious.
Diesel Commuter Train Technology's Days are Numbered!
/Los Angeles River Communities sees the Metrolink CMF and commuter train diesel pollution as much bigger than a not-in-my-backyard problem. As this article says, "Diesel is poison." The data on Diesel train transportation indicates that commuting by diesel train is the dirtiest option for the environment and for your own respiratory and cardiovascular health. Please enjoy this wonderful article about folks in San Francisco facing the same problems we face with Metrolink in Southern California:
Elysian Valley Slow Ride: November Edition
/Come enjoy the sites and sounds of the Los Angeles River while promoting safety for all users on the shared path. Family friendly! Walkers and runners welcome! We will depart at 10:00am from the Riverdale Ave. entrance to the L.A. River shared path. If you can't get there by 10:00am, consider meeting us for some Cafecito Organico at the LA River Cafe on Ripple and Gilroy at 11:00am.
LARCEE and the Air Sensor Project to be discussed at EAPD.
/East Area Progressive Democrats' Transit Committee will present our efforts to make Metrolink more accountable for their air pollution outputs by presenting the air monitoring program at this evening's meeting. We are especially seeking more Cypress Park sensor locations.
Oily, Blackened Pomegranates Courtesy of Metrolink?
/We live 1,720 feet from a freeway according to the Los Angeles Times' interactive map, and yet our home is a mere 300 - 400 feet from where Metrolink idles and maintains its outdated diesel engines, the bulk of them Tier 0 (worst polluting). These are slowly going to be replaced by the new Tier 4 train but meanwhile, in the photo below. On the right, this is what a pomegranate from our backyard tree looks like before being washed and wiped free of the black, oily soot it has acquired from a season's growth. Stripes where the color of the fruit shows through were cleaned to show the contrast and thickness of the black soot layer.
First Air Sensor In Cypress Park!
/The morning that we installed this air sensor courtesy of the Coalition for Clean Air, we were stunned by the rumble and roar from Metrolink's Central Maintenance Facility (CMF). This is just one step toward gathering data about how our air quality is negatively impacted by the CMF. Anyone got a lead on some decibel readers to complement the particle measurement?
October Slow Ride: Revive Gateway Park!
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Los Angeles – Join us by bike or on foot, Saturday, October 14th, 2017 and the second Saturday of each month to meet your neighbors and enjoy the gritty wonders of the Los Angeles River while advocating for safe speeds and healthy air for all who use this shared path. Riders and walkers will depart from Riverdale Ave. entrance to the Los Angeles River Path, ride south to Egret Park, head north to Fletcher, then loop back to Elysian Valley Gateway Park. Pack a picnic or grab a sandwich from Wax Paper and join us in conversation with park advocate and Elysian Valley resident Tracy Stone who has operated her business, Tracy A. Stone Architect, out of a re-purposed textile factory in Elysian Valley since 2003. She is the founding President of the Elysian Valley Arts Collective, a local non-profit that periodically offers free art classes to the neighborhood and manages the biennial Frogtown Artwalk.
Tracy’s office is located across the street from the Elysian Valley Gateway Park (owned and operated by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority - MRCA). In 2003, the park was a green oasis with two picnic tables shaded by trees. At that time, the park was well-used by local families for parties, picnics and events. Over the years, the picnic tables were destroyed, the watering system has failed, a number of the trees dried up and died. Tracy and her partner Allen have repeatedly contacted the MRCA to discuss options for upgrading the park, including opening it to the river, adding new benches and trees, and maintaining the vegetation. In 2014, Tracy’s office submitted an entry to the NELA Riverfront Collaborative Placemaking Design Competition suggesting designs for new ceramic tile mosaic benches and a new fence along Knox that would comply with the MRCA’s MOU with the Army Corps (see attached). To date, the park continues to decline and it stands in stark contrast to the beautifully maintained Marsh Park 1 and 2.”
What can we do as a community to bring this park back to life? Share your ideas with Tracy Stone and our CD-13 Field Representative, Hector Vega. Together, we can make our park vibrant once again.
LARCEE Joins the Elysian Valley Slow Ride to Talk Clean Air and the CMF
/Join us by bike or on foot, Saturday, August 12th, 2017 and the second Saturday of each month to meet your neighbors and enjoy the gritty wonders of the Los Angeles River while promoting safe speeds for all users on the shared path. Riders and walkers will depart from Riverdale Ave. entrance to the Los Angeles River Path, then head to south to Osos, loop north to Fletcher, then head to Gilroy & Ripple for coffee and conversation at the Cafecito Organico. This month’s topic: Understanding Air Quality. Elysian Valley’s stretch of the Los Angeles River shared path is critically impacted by freeways and the persistent problem of noise and air pollution from Metrolink’s Central Maintenance Facility on San Fernando Blvd in Cypress Park. We celebrate the opportunity to bring awareness to dangerous pollution from diesel particulate matter -- making “the invisible visible” –- by connecting our communities to the California Coalition for Clean Air’s monitoring system . This is the next step to effectively fighting Metrolink’s negative impact on our neighborhoods.