Last quarter, the security team assisted the City in getting over 293 bulky items picked up, made 12 calls/reports to the City for street repairs, and assisted in getting 486 graffiti tags cleaned up; 31 potholes were reported.  The team responded to 75 calls for assists to the LAPD and others.  They issued 30 illegal vendor warnings and assisted 13 homeless individuals. 388 illegal signs were removed.  The team addressed the subject of 8 individuals drinking in public and 14 belligerent transients.  The team captain attended 6 LAPD crime control meetings. At the April 4 meeting of the Olympic Community Police Advisory Board, the LAPD Olympic Station and the Downtown LA Bicycle Company donated six new bicycle helmets to the Wilshire Center District Safety Team for their invaluable service to the community.

Last quarter, the sidewalk maintenance team collected 1,618 bags of trash (37,214 lbs), dispensed approximately 4,000 doggy bags, and removed 133 graffiti tags on sidewalk pots, poles, and news racks.  The crew is out every Monday and Thursday sweeping the sidewalks, picking up trash, clearing gutters and painting out graffiti from street poles and flower planters. The team empties 59 trash cans throughout the District due to the City’s reduced efforts which have led to an overflowing of the cans. 

The landscape crew for the District’s Wilshire streetscape continues to maintain all 15 medians and about 160 flower pots along Wilshire Blvd.  The work consists of removal of trash, trimming of plants, watering of plants, and repairing broken sprinklers.

Community News & Events

The WC-Koreatown Art and Architecture Walk takes place the last Thursday of every month, from 6:00 pm-10:00 pm centered on the Wilshire and Western area.  The Walk is a celebration of sustainable urban living, showcasing historic architecture, galleries, artists, photography, restaurants, bars, cafes, and businesses located in the Wilshire Center District. Last month the AIA LA Gallery located at 3780 Wilshire Blvd. premiered an exhibit of photography by Christina Craemer. This solo exhibit of photography focused on three separate series of images taken by Christina over the course of a year. Christina’s images are abstracted meditations on nature, from a clear reality to the dreamlike and surreal.

The next meeting of the Wilshire Center Business Watch will take place on Thursday, June 13, 2013, 12:00 noon at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, 3424 Wilshire Blvd., El Camino Real Conference Room (5th floor).  Complimentary light lunch will be provided by the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District. Reported at the last meeting: there have also been a number of snatch-and-grab robberies, where people run by (or skateboard by) victims and grab electronics, again usually smartphones and iPods.  However, a boy on a skateboard was just arrested in February.  He confessed to committing 10 to 12 such robberies, mostly along Wilshire Blvd. between Vermont Ave. and Normandie Ave.  After his arrest, the number of these occurrences decreased substantially, so he may have been responsible for many of them.  Deputy DeBondt with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recommended that all transit riders have the Metro Sheriff’s telephone number programmed into their cell phones in case riders need to contact the Sheriff’s Department to report a crime or other emergency.  That telephone number is (888) 950-7233.

The Korean American National Museum site has been secured at Sixth and Vermont. On April 4th, City Council President Herb Wesson Jr. officially signed the lease for the Korean American Museum to build a new 45,000 sq. ft., 3-story national museum and cultural center at Sixth and Vermont. Construction is expected to begin by 2015.

The Anderson Munger Family YMCA at 3rd & Oxford ceremonial groundbreaking took place on February 1.  They announced that they anticipate the new YMCA being completed in spring of 2014.  A lap pool, fitness center, children’s activity room and rooftop running track are among the amenities at the Y’s 26th branch in the city.  Also included in the 30,000 square foot facility are an older adult class area, and child watch room.

Wilshire Center-Koreatown Walkability Factor of 90

Wilshire Center-Koreatown is the 2nd most walkable neighborhood in Los Angeles with a Walk Score of 90.  WCK is a walker's paradise where daily errands do not require a car.  ’Walk Score’ is the cutting-edge of walkability. Walkscore.com helps individuals find walkable places to live.  Walk Score is a number between 0 and 100 which measures the walkability of any address.  WC District has been working for the past 18 years to create an environment in which people want to live, work and shop. It is a truly walkable community with a population of over 91,000. What is happening now and into the future is that both young and old are moving from the suburbs to walkable communities such as the Wilshire Center-Koreatown community.

The millennials (18-34), represent the biggest population bubble in fifty years.  Sixty-four percent of college-educated millennials choose first where they want to live, and only then do they look for a job. Fully 77 percent of them plan to live in America’s urban cores.  The empty nesters at approximately 77 million Americans want walkability. This group is finding that their suburban houses are too big.  Freedom for many in these generations means living in walkable, accessible communities with convenient transit linkages and good public services like libraries, cultural activities, and health care.

Several Comments from Local Residents

 “Enjoy being back in L.A. spend most of my life living in O.C. enjoying the people and neighborhood in Wilshire Center/Koreatown!” “Thank You, awesome job you all do for the community... Thanks for your help, keep up the great job!”  “Thanks for making Wilshire Center prettier! We appreciate all your hard work!” “Great job...thank you for listening to my request your young man from Wilshire Center cleaning unit was here Thursday at Wilshire and Normandie cleaning what was left from the Thursday street sweeper. Gracias again.” “Thank you Wilshire Center District Clean Team, you guys ROCK!” “Thank you for making our area more beautiful. Now if only we could get people to stop throwing their trash on the ground!”

The best place to keep informed of Wilshire Center District’s activities is on Facebook; become a friend of Wilshire Center District at Facebook.com/wilshirecenter.

To all residential tenants: please make arrangements to have your bulky items removed for free from the curbside, by calling 1-800-773-2489, from Monday through Friday, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., at least one day before the regular collection day.  Bulky items are collected on the day of the regular trash collection day.  For more information and on-line service go to http://lacitysan.org/solid_resources/refuse/services/bulky_items.htm. 

PLEASE CALL 311 IF YOU SEE BULKY ITEMS AND GRAFFITI – TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE OUR COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE

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Video highlighting much of the work that the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District does on a daily basis was presented at the last Annual Membership Meeting.

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