With the 2028 Olympic Games now officially slated for Los Angeles, the Westwood Village Improvement Association had much to talk about at its annual meeting on Oct. 26 at the Luskin Conference Center at UCLA.
Addressing around 100 attendees, Executive Director Andrew Thomas said, “Our friends at UCLA will be hosting the Olympic village which is really going to focus the attention of the world on our community.”
He noted that Westwood has 10 years to prepare for Metro’s purple line extension and “we’re working to encourage to Metro to build us the best possible subway portals that will add to [Westwood’s] character, that are clean and that are safe.”
He also spoke of how Westwood is trending upwards, noting that in 2012 – the year the Westwood Business Improvement District (BID) was established – generated $1.63 million in sales tax revenue. In 2015 it generated just under $1.9 million, but in 2016 that number jumped to $2.3 million in sales tax revenue.
Fifth District Councilmember Paul Koretz told attendees that ever since he came into office just over eight years ago, “One of my top priorities was making Westwood Village thrive. We are now attracting people from far and wide, and in a relatively short period of time we’ve had thousands of pounds of trash removed, sidewalks pressure washed, and hundreds of trees trimmed every year.”
The Association is working hard on a variety of issues to upgrade Westwood including its recent Bruin Bike share program, sidewalk reconstruction, new branding and an annual block party.
However, one of the things Koretz said he hoped to move up was the process to start looking at the BID’s specific plan, which he agreed needed updating.
Thomas said that one of the biggest issues facing the village is the Westwood Association’s food use assessment, which designates that foods not defined as restaurants are considered fast food. “This puts us at a disadvantage,” Thomas said, because places such as 800 Degrees and Tender Greens are designated fast food places which means Westwood is already over its designated cap for fast food establishments, making it virtually impossible for new eateries to enter the village.
“Anyone who has spent time in our district knows we have not yet met our potential,” Thomas said. “With the Olympics and the purple line coming up in 10 short years, we need to accelerate our revitalization if we’re going to be putting our best foot forward.”
