Leaders from Westwood Forward submitted a petition last month with 983 signatures to the Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowermentto create a new neighborhood council for UCLA, Westwood Village and the North Village.
In its efforts to recruit supporters, Westwood Forward, a coalition of UCLA graduate and undergraduate student leaders, faculty, staff members, Westwood homeowners, renters, and business leaders, sent out a letter that read, in part:
“When we see Westwood’s lack of affordable housing; sky-high rent prices; long-vacant buildings; and a complete lack of places to dance, listen to live music, or play pool, you’d think our elected representatives would do something about it.
But unfortunately our Westwood Neighborhood Council has done the exact opposite: They have repeatedly opposed UCLA’s housing projects , fraternity houses and private 1 2 3 housing development projects that would considerably alleviate our housing crisis, citing the 4 fact that these projects have “too many units” as if we weren’t in desperate need of more units, “too few parking spaces” even as these projects would diminish the number of cars driven into Westwood by allowing students to walk to class rather than drive in or bus in from afar, and alleged negative aesthetic impacts that they somehow find more important than addressing the basic human need of providing a roof over our heads.
Westwood has an opportunity over the next few years to change its specific plans and also because there will be immense interest on the part of the City to get Westwood ready for the Purple Line Extension and hosting the Olympics. If the community shows it is ready to embrace the future, we have a real shot at zoning for significantly more housing and revitalizing our nightlife and business community; but if the Council representing our community continues to fight this change, then we will be left behind.
We can petition to start our own Neighborhood Council that would represent UCLA, the areas that are predominantly housing for the UCLA community, and the business area that is primarily frequented by the members of this community. This plan would include all stakeholders within these boundaries, from homeowners to students to commuting employees to renters and business owners. It would work to respect the interests of all and clean up and preserve the historic beauty of our community while boldly charging ahead to fight for the housing and entertainment we need to revitalize the amazing place that is Westwood.”
