BOULEVARD PLAN UNVEILED : REDESIGN AIMS TO MAKE ROADWAY MORE APPEALING.Byline: Mary Beth Alexander Daily News Staff Writer During her slide show Tuesday, Carol Robinson paused at the photo of a quaint Italian restaurant veranda nestled in a small, outdoor shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into of red brick buildings and old-fashioned awnings. ``Ah, Woodland Hills,'' she said, seeming a bit relieved to show such a cafe could be found in the community, at the corner of Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. and Paralta Avenue, after flipping through a series of portraits of friendly looking shops and eateries mostly in Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. and Pasadena. It is the way, she said later, she wished all of the boulevard could look. ``Everybody likes that stuff, right?'' The slide show was part of a public meeting held at Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care organization, based in Oakland, California, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney R. Garfield. in Woodland Hills to discuss a plan to transform Ventura Boulevard from near Valley Circle Boulevard to Corbin Avenue. About a dozen business owners and a handful of residents attended the meeting to review the recently completed draft of the Woodland Hills street-scape plan. They milled around drawings of tree-lined streets and medians, and flipped through the draft plan - a 36-page guide four years in the making that calls for friendlier signage and shopping centers with common courtyards and ample walkways to attract pedestrians. Many seemed genuinely pleased with the idea. ``(The) plan sounds so wonderful,'' said Carol Levin, a Woodland Hills resident for more than 30 years. ``My tongue is hanging out, frankly.'' Others said they supported the concept but were worried that the signage and facade guidelines might cause them to blend in Verb 1. blend in - blend or harmonize; "This flavor will blend with those in your dish"; "This sofa won't go with the chairs" blend, go fit, go - be the right size or shape; fit correctly or as desired; "This piece won't fit into the puzzle" to the point of anonymity. ``Visually, aesthetically, it's very nice,'' said Beryle Cosey, a manager for Jennifer Convertibles Jennifer Convertibles Inc. ((AMEX:JEN)) is the owner and licensor of sofabed specialty retail stores and leather specialty retail stores in the United States, with stores located throughout the Eastern seaboard, in the Midwest, on the West Coast and in the Southwest. . ``But I would be concerned whether customers would be able to locate us.'' The plan is the first of five to be completed as part of a proposed project to revamp the boulevard from Studio City to Woodland Hills, and pay for the improvements by creating business assessment districts. It will cost about $1 million per mile to complete the Woodland Hills portion of improvements, said Tom Rath rath (rä, räth), circular hill fort protected by earthworks, used by the ancient Irish in the pre-Christian era as a retreat in time of danger. , an associate planner for the city of Los Angeles
``The intention is . . . to give (Woodland Hills) an ambience which makes it a desirable commercial center so people will stop and shop and enjoy,'' Rath said. The draft is being reviewed now by city officials, and must receive approval from the city Public Works and Cultural Affairs boards, and finally the Planning Commission, Rath said. He said the draft could appear before the commission prior to the end of the year. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Carol Robinson shows a draft of planned improvements for Ventura Boulevard from Studio City to Woodland Hills. Tina Gerson/Daily News |
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