Van Nuys Boulevard

About the Corridor

ULI Los Angeles and partners are working on a 0.75 mile segment of Van Nuys Boulevard in the neighborhood of Pacoima, located 30 minutes north of downtown LA. Pacoima is a vibrant and diverse community that also faces some of the city’s poorest health outcomes. The corridor is characterized by a wide and auto-oriented road bed, small-scale commercial establishments, a lack of pedestrian and bike infrastructure, and adjacent single family homes. However the corridor also contains unique cultural elements, including colorful murals and small businesses that cater to the surrounding Latino community.

Local Workshop

The LA workshop brought together groups that had not been connected previously, and the team was able to establish a foundation of common understanding around the need to improve health for those who rely on Van Nuys Boulevard. Key issues from the workshop include the need to improve the perception and reality of safety (traffic, crime, gang activity), education and training tied to the arts and culture scene, new uses to improve economic and public health, and engaging all populations and ages in decisions that impact the corridor. Next steps include capitalizing on the “mural mile” brand of the corridor and working with partners to coordinate a pop-up/tactical urbanism event.

The Los Angeles local workshop was held on July 22, 2015.
To read more about other demonstration corridors’ local workshops, click here.

National Study Visit

Creating a healthy Van Nuys, located in the LA neighborhood of Pacoima, through a focus on economic development and programming along the corridors is a critical concern of the local team. The key study questions the participants addressed included:

• In an economically and environmentally challenged, but culturally rich area, such as Pacoima, what are opportunities for improving the health and economic needs of the community, whether through providing jobs, services, or goods?
• How can Van Nuys Blvd property owners take advantage of the imminent opportunity presented by a proposed new transit line, and other investment in the corridor, in order to develop businesses now and prevent displacement in the future?

The participant team reviewed the assets and challenges of Van Nuys Boulevard; taking the corridor assets into account, the participants created a three pronged value structure for a Healthy Van Nuys Boulevard that highlights the strong arts and culture in the community, opportunity for change, and the diversity of the area. The team provided recommendations in three overarching categories: community health and development, economic development, and marketing strategies (“getting people to the boulevard”), with the value structure underlying specific recommendations, including programming ideas, the need to expand opportunities for local businesses through training and an organizational structure, and embracing social media and the arts to bring people to the corridor.

The Los Angeles National Study Visit was held February 3-5th, 2016. View final presentation. Read about the National Study Visits for other Demonstration Corridors.

In the News

Demonstrating Healthy Corridors in Los Angeles’s Pacoima Neighborhood
June 14, 2016
Urban Land Magazine

Learn More

Read the full Van Nuys case study featured in the Healthy Corridors Report.