Recently I journeyed over to the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles with the intention of checking out the newly opened 6th Street Viaduct. This rather impressive bridge connects the Arts District with Boyle Heights, crossing rail tracks and the LA River in the process. I'll leave the architectural details and the story of how this massive structure came to fruition to the narrator in a video linked below.
I was honestly so giddy and excited about even just seeing the bridge that I jumped up and down in my seat in anticipation while I drove by it on the 101 freeway. I parked near Zinc cafe (awesome if you have not been) and stopped at Blue Bottle for an iced matcha latte, the first of which the barista spilled all over the counter whilst attempting to hand it to me (no worries it happens lol). Matcha in hand on an already warm LA day, I stuck a few Fraternal Football stickers on some signs and ventured towards my eventual goal. Literally the reason I came all the way out here.
I casually admired the architecture, which unfortunately I do not have the experience or vernacular to appreciate to its fullest extent, nonetheless it is superb. The setting is also incomparable, with the Downtown skyline, LA River, and Boyle Heights scenery drawing my utmost admiration. What a way to weave communities together!Lest I forget, what is additionally important to me in this context is the built-in capacity for multimodal transportation. You can walk, bike, or drive the bridge safely and accessibly, all while having a great time doing so. This infrastructure example is truly a "gem" for the city of Los Angeles and its people, and it represents the future of transportation, urban accessibility, and community-centered development.
With that being said, about midway through my walk on the left side, from the Arts District towards Boyle Heights, I came across a local news team, who promptly interviewed me about my experience, why I came, and about the recent difficulties involving a street takeover, burnouts, and people climbing the ribbons for photos. This is a quote that I gave, and which was featured on various outlets, including NBC Los Angeles:
“It is the way things go, there’s positive uses and negative uses and everything in between. I think it’s just the fabric of the city,” said Cameron Mayer, a visitor. (link below)
While of course it's nice to say something memorable on the news, I wanted most of all to put forth something that could provoke critical thought, reflection, and questions. Not simply a quote pulled from a grab bag of easy, likely overtly negative, responses, as I'm sure others have or will. I'd like to use this medium for elaborating what I meant by my quote.
What I said above is essentially a short answer that avoids overly simplistic "pitfalls" that play upon one-sided tropes, misconceptions, or stereotypes. An important takeaway I've gathered from walking the streets and neighborhoods of LA is that competing uses of public spaces are inevitable. It is a product of the sheer diversity present - millions of residents and visitors alike, each with their own interests, perceptions, and manner of action. Everyone sees the cityscape differently. Everyone in some way desires to make their mark upon it.
This is not to say that every use, every mark, is beneficial. The impediment of traffic, the scars left on the freshly paved road, the waste of official resources, and of course the public safety hazard caused by those who elected to climb the concrete ribbons of the bridge are not inherently positive uses of a just unveiled public infrastructural space.
At the same time, it is not enough to simply condemn the situation with all too easy to muster refrains such as "people suck", "some just have to ruin it for everybody", and "this is why we can't have nice things". Such statements cast a shadow of negativity over the entire subject, neglecting, through the act of glossing over or purposefully omitting, all else. Yes, what happened in this instance wasn't great. It brought all the wrong attention to something that is truly a wonder in and of itself. I'd argue that if we narrow our collective vision in this instance, and adopt a wholesale negative perception based upon a single (yes, I'm sure there will be more) detrimental set of events, that we would be missing the bigger picture. Even more so, we cannot allow this to cloud our judgement on utilization of public spaces in general, lest we trend towards harmful restrictions on accessibility. Los Angeles already has a sordid history of exclusion in this manner, often disproportionately harming certain groups. We must do better.
The 6th Street Viaduct has already done so much to bring people together. The community event held at the unveiling is evidence of this. The people I saw walking, biking, and cruising by are evidence of this. The friends who excitedly told me about their experiences and what they hoped for out of the project in the long run are evidence of this. Let's stray away from the easy narratives that do us all no good. Not everything has to be complicated, convoluted, or in shades of gray, however, when we are talking about Los Angeles, it's about understanding and embracing the very tricky manifestations of diversity that don't always align the way we may wish them to. Exploring this is what fascinates me, superficial approval or disapproval aside.
The story about recent competing uses of the structure, with a quote from and video of yours truly:
The story of creating the 6th Street Viaduct:
Looking towards Boyle Heights from the Arts District.
Looking towards the Arts District and DTLA skyline.
The concrete channelled LA River with adjacent railroad tracks and the 4th street bridge in the background.
The iconic arches or "ribbons" of the new bridge with crossed suspender cables.
Burnouts from a recent "takeover" of the 6th Street Viaduct.
Comments