ALEXANDER JUNG

Join us on Thursday for our #EyesOnTheStreetLA conversation about what makes a great street tick!

We’ll be pulling lessons from Jane Jacobs’s seminal work, “Death and Life of Great American Cities,” and discussing how they apply to LA.

Bring your ideas to the convo using the hashtag  #EyesOnTheStreetLA and our handle @LAGreatStreets to talk about what brings people out to streets, what keeps them coming back and what role communities play in creating safe and vibrant streets.

Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Great Streets Initiative, at its core, is about people. As  the great urbanist and people-watcher William Whyte once noted, “What attracts people most, it would appear, is other people.” But who are the people working behind the scenes to make Great Streets happen? Where do they come from? What are their aspirations? Are they nice to their mothers?

First up is Field Marshal Nat Gale:

Nat Gale, Great Streets Director, is from Hartford, Connecticut, AKA the “insurance capital of the world.” Nat lives in Silver Lake. His favorite thing about Los Angeles? How LA’s cultural and creative diversity manifests itself into the built environment (whatever that means).

Then there’s Carter:

Carter Rubin hails from Brentwood, Los Angeles. He lives in Santa Monica and was recently appointed to the the city’s Planning Commission (way to go!). His favorite thing about Los Angeles? “By the time I’ve seen everything in LA, enough will have changed that I’ll have to see it all over again.”

Next is our dear fellow:

Lilly O’Brien is from Detroit, Michigan. She lives in Westwood and is currently finishing up her master’s degree at UCLA. She is the proud recipient of a prestigious Bohnett fellowship and is looking forward to a life in public service. She loves the incredible diversity of Los Angeles and also The Virgil.

Followed by MC Alex:

Alex is originally from Honolulu. He currently lives in Koreatown and loves the diversity of spaces, places, and faces in Los Angeles. He has been dubbed the Mayor of Koreatown (except when he’s at City Hall and Mayor Garcetti is within earshot) and is currently finishing up his degree at UCLA.

Then there’s the newest member of the team:

Kaitlin Scott is from Huntington Beach, CA. She currently lives in Los Feliz and is also attending UCLA (I’m sensing a trend here). She loves LA’s food scene, the Eastern Columbia Building, and old motel signs, apparently. 

And last but not least…

There’s Alvaro Gomez (Álvaro Gómez in Spanish). Alvaro hails from the city of San Bernardino and lives in the West Adams area of Los Angeles. He is finishing up his master’s degree at USC (fight on!) and loves art deco buildings, front lawns, and LA history. He is a proud contributor to this page and loves all 7,500 miles of LA’s streets.

3rd Street (Downtown) - Los Angeles, USA