Revitalizing the Southeast Corner of Ocean and Pine: Activating Victory Park Prepared for the Downtown Long Beach Associates By April Economides, Green Octopus Consulting May 2015 ABOUT THIS PAPER This paper aims to offer inspiring and practical ideas of ‘what could be.’ It explains the benefits Long Beach will enjoy by restoring and activating Victory Park; it describes what ensures successful pocket parks, as well as what to avoid; it looks at successful pocket parks in other cities, including best practices in park management and activation; and it puts forth recommendations about how to move forward. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO LONG BEACH? The intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue is one of the most important intersections in Long Beach. It serves as a main thoroughfare for pedestrians, including many conventioneers and tourists, and has a high volume of vehicular traffic. Located next to the Convention Center, it links the attractions, hotels and restaurants of South and North Pine Avenue and is one of the main intersections used by Downtown visitors. The intersection is also heavily used by nearby residents, Downtown workers, business visitors and transit commuters. Prospective developers and business owners looking to relocate or open anew in Downtown regularly pass through this intersection, as do many of the Convention Center’s current and prospective clients. Two thriving businesses – the Renaissance Hotel and Rock Bottom Brewery – grace the north corners, and exciting plans are in the works for the Ocean Center Building located on the southwest corner. In contrast to this activity, the approximately 11,000-square-foot property on the southeast corner is vacant, surrounded by a fence. Occasionally, transients access the area and sleep inside. The Renaissance Hotel is concerned about the blighted lot, which its guests look out upon, as do the occupants of the adjacent office buildings. Several other developments are in the works along this stretch of Ocean Boulevard; however, this prime location, as of yet, has no definitive plans for renovation. This corner offers a large, untapped opportunity to bring social and economic value to Downtown. Most recently, the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) commissioned the Urban Land Institute to offer recommendations on how to better connect the waterfront to the Downtown core. One of its recommendations was to activate this important corner. But what should be developed? Actually, that decision is already set in stone, and thankfully, it’s great news for all stakeholders: the southeast corner is part of Victory Park, deeded to the City of Long Beach more than a century ago and mandated as public park space. Victory Park runs along the south side of Ocean Boulevard from Alamitos Avenue to Cedar Avenue. While it is used primarily as a decorative lawn and public art space – more to be viewed than actively interacted with (for example, there are few places to sit) – this last empty section of the park on Ocean and Pine has the opportunity to welcome people to sit and stay, and it’s located in the perfect area in which to do this. Removing the plywood fence to make way for the park will allow safer sight lines around the corner for pedestrians (and all users), which will make the corner feel – and be – safer. With its location next to the Convention Center and as one of Downtown’s main intersections, this corner of Victory Park has the opportunity to become a ‘porch’ for this stretch of Ocean Boulevard – a place to meet up with friends and a place to sit and watch people come and go. For years, a mixed-use commercial project has been proposed for the 30,000 square foot empty lot behind it, and when that development progresses, Victory Park will actually function as that building’s public ‘porch.’ The reactivation of this space presents a wonderful social and economic opportunity for Long Beach’s residents, visitors, businesses, property owners and economic development goals. The sooner this part of Victory Park is transformed from a place of blight to a vibrant public amenity, the sooner Long Beach will become more attractive to its current and prospective stakeholders. Let’s restore this hub of Victory Park into a source of civic pride and enjoyment. Downtown Long Beach Associates | Green Octopus Consulting | May 2015 1 Inside the fenced-off area of Victory Park on the southeast corner of Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue, facing south. Same space, facing west. Downtown Long Beach Associates | Green Octopus Consulting | May 2015 2 THE BENEFITS OF POCKET PARKS Pocket parks are small areas (typically one to four acres) of public space that offer an element of nature as well as places to sit and relax. They should add to a city’s friendliness and offer a place for people to come together. Cities around the U.S. and beyond are converting empty lots into thriving pocket parks because the benefits of attracting new developers, businesses, residents, tourists, conventions and overall economic vitality – on top of other health, social and ecological benefits – are too good to ignore. Successful pocket parks change dead zones into social experience zones. They: • Make an area more friendly and vibrant. • Attract tourists and conventioneers, whereas lots that are ‘eyesores’ turnoff these groups. • Increase safety by attracting more people to the space. • Increase foot traffic. • Slow car traffic and increase pedestrian safety. • Reduce crime and conflict. • Rejuvenate intersections and neighborhoods. • Increase sales at nearby restaurants, cafes, bars and shops. • Increase the tax base by attracting new businesses, workforce talent and residents. • Create a higher quality of life. • Create opportunities for social interaction and community connection. • Offer a space for art and expression. • Boost real estate values and foster economic development. • Attract developers and investors to the neighborhood. • Reduce stress for nearby workers and other park users. Increase happiness, encourage walking and improve health. Healthier workers have fewer sick days and improved work performance. • Help business associations promote retail corridors and attract special events. • Bring more attention to the area and city by generating word-of-mouth advertising. A Chicago bike shop owner describes parklets, which bring similar benefits as pocket parks, as “Instagram heaven”, and another Chicago shop owner compared his neighborhood parklet to a "town square," noting that users sat in the parklet and just stared at storefronts. • Foster community pride and neighborhood attachment. • …and more. ENSURING SUCCESS Do all pocket parks bring these benefits? Unfortunately, no. They must be strategically designed, managed and activated to ensure success. Creating pastoral parks in urban centers without daily activation tends to invite blight – or at least ‘dead space.’ Cities get the kind of social environment they plan for. Public space must be thoughtfully created and cared for to support city life. To encourage more ‘life’ in a place, cities must design for people. The best and easiest way to make a public space safe is to attract a lot of people and a diversity of people. Empty spaces attract unsafe and illegal behavior. Activated spaces attract desirable behaviors. Whereas pastoral parks require a lot of maintenance from shrinking parks departments, pocket parks can be created in a way to nearly self-sustain. The good news is that the recipe for success is straightforward and tried-and-true. So what is the recipe for success? Downtown Long Beach Associates | Green Octopus Consulting | May 2015 3 BEST PRACTICES Successful urban pocket parks need three things to be successful: Good Design + Good Activation + Good Management. Design: The Foundation for Success Victory Park has specific design guidelines, which the City and DLBA (and any external landscape architect hired), should work together to follow and interpret. Here are some recommendations on designing the space well for people: Landscaping: In the 21st century, where California cities are facing drought and dwindling municipal budgets, landscaping should be drought-tolerant and easy and inexpensive to maintain. It is unlikely that the original drafters of the Victory Park guidelines would have required water- intensive sod had they known the City would be facing a severe drought. Low water landscaping, such as decomposed granite and drought-tolerant shrubs, is the only ethical way to see through the vision of Victory Park within modern day constraints. The landscape design can honor the guidelines, the drought reality and also the Coastal Commission’s dedication to coastal area-appropriate vegetation. The City and its people are best served by thoughtfully going this route instead of leaving the site in its current state of blight. Seating: Seating that is comfortable, convenient and social makes people want to sit and stay, which is the goal when creating any successful pocket park. For this reason, chairs are preferable because they can be can be arranged in a circle for conversation. They can also be moved to orient toward or away from the sun, other people and activity. In contrast, benches tend to create private, individual spaces and not promote conversation. Some benches also encourage daytime and overnight sleeping. Chairs that are moveable, upright, light and weather-resistant are ideal. They should be stacked and locked at night to prevent theft. Chairs will also help balance the large scale of the surrounding tall buildings with smaller, h u m a n - s i z e d e l e m e n t s The Porch in Philadelphia. Downtown Long Beach Associates | Green Octopus Consulting | May 2015 4 Safety: Ensuring public safety is always a top consideration of any public space. One of the best ways to design this is to provide good sight lines (no blind spots) into the center of the park from all sides. In that respect, the heavily trafficked pedestrian and vehicular routes on Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue as well as the surrounding hotel and office buildings provide natural opportunities for ‘eyes on the park’ throughout the day.