Echo Park Lake | |
---|---|
Location | Echo Park, Los Angeles, California |
Coordinates | 34°04′21″N118°15′39″W / 34.07250°N 118.26083°W |
Type | Lake |
Basin countries | United States |
Surface area | 14.1 acres (5.7 ha) |
Max. depth | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
Water volume | 70.5 acre⋅ft (87,000 m3) |
The Echo Park Lake is a lake and urban park in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Originally built in the 1860s as a reservoir for drinking water, today Echo Park Lake is a Los Angeles icon that functions primarily as a detention basin in the city's storm drain system, while providing recreational benefits and wildlife habitat. Echo Park Lake also hosts community events, such as the annual Lotus Festival every July. [1] A major renovation was completed in 2013. Beginning in 2019, a homeless encampment developed the shores of the lake that became a "flashpoint in L.A's homelessness crisis." [2]
Echo Park Lake's earliest use by the city was as a reservoir for drinking water. The Los Angeles Canal and Reservoir Company formed Reservoir No. 4 in 1868. The company obtained the water by digging a ditch that sent water flowing from the Los Angeles River — in the area now known as Los Feliz — along a zigzag path that emptied into the reservoir. [3]
In 1891 the four owners of the surrounding area gave up 33 acres (13 ha) of land to the city around the reservoir so that it could be used as a park. The city began work landscaping the park in October 1892. [3] City parks superintendent Joseph Henry Tomlinson is recognized for coining the name of the new park, which later became the name of the neighborhood. He chose the name because of echoes he heard during the construction of Echo Park Lake in 1892. [4] By 1895, the park and accompanying boathouse were completed. [3]
By the late 1910s, motion picture companies on Allesandro Street, now Glendale Boulevard, had been using the park as a filming location. City leaders responded by barring Keystone Studios, home of the Keystone Cops, from shooting any of its comedies at the lake, on the grounds that too many flowers were being trampled. [3]
In 2006, the state of California identified Echo Park Lake as an impaired body of water, and the city allocated $64.7 million in 2010 to fund its cleanup and revitalization. [5] [6] The lake was closed off and drained in the summer of 2011 when renovation work began. The rehabilitation project tackled Echo Park Lake not only as a recreational body of water, but also as an important part of the Los Angeles ecosystem. Although Echo Park Lake is man-made, it is part of the local watershed. As part of the rehabilitation project, the lake was drained and dredged, a wetlands feature was added, a new boardwalk and walking paths were added, and aquatic plants and lotus flowers were re-planted. [6] The lake reopened on June 5, 2013, after a $45 million renovation. [7] A temporary chain-link fence was placed along the park's perimeter, to protect vegetation and to enable authorities to monitor activity in the park. [7]
Starting in November 2019, a growing population of homeless people began moving into tents throughout the park, eventually covering the northwest corner of the facility and the entire west bank by the lake. [8] As the encampment grew in size, crime at the park surged, disproportionately affecting the homeless. [9] Four homeless individuals died at the park in 2020. [10]
On March 25, 2021, the park was closed for renovations and cleared of nearly 200 homeless tents. [9] The park was cordoned off with chain-link fencing. [11] This was done to address the high increase of the homeless population throughout the park and repair any damages. Closure notices were posted throughout the park days before the sweep, but a crowd of over 200 protesters met LAPD. This situation escalated tension between neighbors on how to handle the homeless problem in Los Angeles properly.
The lake reopened on May 26, 2021, after the tents were removed. [12] Upon its reopening, the park was closed after hours, from 10 pm to 5 am nightly. [13] The city spent $1.1 million to repair and cleanup the park. [9] The cleanup effort yielded 35 t (35,000 kg) of trash, including 700 lb (320 kg) of biological waste and 30 lb (14 kg) of drug paraphernalia. [9] [14]
183 people experiencing homelessness at Echo Park Lake were successfully moved into transitional housing. [15] [16] By March 2022, only 17 individuals had transitioned to permanent housing, and 48 remained on a waiting list. [15] [16] The remainder had returned to homelessness, often in worse conditions than before they were evicted. [17]
After the 2022 Los Angeles elections, Hugo Soto-Martinez was elected as the council member for Los Angeles's 13th City Council district, where the lake is located. [18] He had campaigned to remove the fence, calling it a symbol of the city's "biggest policy failure on homelessness." [19]
On February 2, 2023, Soto-Martinez announced plans to remove the fence. [20] The issue immediately proved divisive, with many concerned residents and park visitors expressing safety and cleanliness concerns and fearful of a return to the homeless encampments. [21] Others advocated for the fence to remain, or for a permanent wrought iron fence to be installed around the park's perimeter, similar to other parks in the city, like the Los Angeles State Historic Park. [19] While Soto-Martinez struggled to convince concerned residents and local businesses, he otherwise remained intransigent. [19] [13] The fencing was removed late March of 2023 and since then has been free of homelessness.
Ada Mae Sharpless's sculpture, "Our Queen of the Angels," was donated to the city in 1935 and installed at the edge of Echo Park Lake, [22] [23] and became immediately popular at its installation. Despite its official title, it has become popularly known as "The Lady of the Lake." [24]
MacArthur Park is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and later designated City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument #100.
A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people "on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or forgotten by society. A skid row may be anything from an impoverished urban district to a red-light district to a gathering area for people experiencing homelessness or drug addiction. In general, skid row areas are inhabited or frequented by impoverished individuals and also people who are addicted to drugs. Urban areas considered skid rows are marked by high vagrancy, dilapidated buildings, and drug dens, as well as other features of urban blight. Used figuratively, the phrase may indicate the state of a poor person's life.
The Los Angeles River, historically known as Paayme Paxaayt'West River' by the Tongva and the Río Porciúncula'Porciúncula River' by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly 51 miles (82 km) from Canoga Park through the San Fernando Valley, Downtown Los Angeles, and the Gateway Cities to its mouth in Long Beach, where it flows into San Pedro Bay. While the river was once free-flowing and frequently flooding, forming alluvial flood plains along its banks, it is currently notable for flowing through a concrete channel on a fixed course, which was built after a series of devastating floods in the early 20th century.
Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known for its trendy local businesses, as well as its popularity with artists, musicians and creatives. The neighborhood is centered on the eponymous Echo Park Lake.
Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a residential neighborhood with a low-income, aging population of about 7,800 residents.
Silver Lake is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California originally home to a small community called Ivanhoe, so named in honor of the novel by Sir Walter Scott. In 1907, the Los Angeles Water Department built the Silver Lake Reservoir, named for LA Water Commissioner Herman Silver, giving the neighborhood its name. The area is now known for its architecturally significant homes, independently owned businesses, diverse restaurants, painted staircases, and creative environment.
A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures.
Hansen Dam is a flood control dam in the northeastern San Fernando Valley, in the Lake View Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District in 1940. Hansen Dam was named after horse ranchers Homer and Marie Hansen, who established a ranch in the 19th century.
Oppenheimer Park is a park located in the historic Japantown (Paueru-Gai) in the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Skid Row is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. The area is officially known as Central City East.
The Santa Ana River Trail is a multi-use trail complex that runs alongside the Santa Ana River in southern California. The trail stretches 30 miles (48 km) from the Pacific Ocean at Huntington Beach along the Santa Ana River to the Orange–Riverside county line. Planned extensions of the trail reach to Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino County. When completed, it will be the longest multi-use trail in Southern California, at approximately 100 miles (160 km). In 1989, the Los Angeles Times described the path as "a veritable freeway for bicycles".
Los Angeles's 13th City Council district is one of the fifteen districts in the Los Angeles City Council. It is currently represented by Democrat Hugo Soto-Martinez since 2022, after beating previous councilmember Mitch O'Farrell that year.
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Mitch O'Farrell is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district from 2013 to 2022, during which he spent eight days as President of the City Council during the 2022 Los Angeles City Council scandal. A member of the Democratic Party, O'Farrell was the first Native American elected to the body, and was one of its two openly gay members until the end of his second term in 2022.
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The 2022 Los Angeles elections were held on June 7, 2022. Voters elected candidates in a nonpartisan primary, with runoff elections scheduled for November 8, 2022. Eight of the fifteen seats in the City Council were up for election while three of the seven seats in the LAUSD Board of Education were up for election. The seat of Mayor of Los Angeles was up for election due to incumbent Eric Garcetti's term limit. The seats of the Los Angeles City Controller and the Los Angeles City Attorney were also up for election, as their incumbents, Mike Feuer and Ron Galperin, were running for mayor and California State Controller respectively.
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Hugo Soto-Martinez is an American labor organizer and politician, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, Soto-Martinez defeated incumbent Mitch O'Farrell in the 2022 general election.