Event Background: Re-Envisioning the Arroyo Seco

Sixty-four years ago, amid much fanfare, groundbreaking took place to construct what was then called the Arroyo Seco Parkway, a scenic “pleasure drive” that was to be part of a complex and multi-varied transportation system along the Arroyo Seco corridor stretching from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles. Simultaneously, construction also began on the Arroyo Seco flood control channel.

Within a few years, the pleasure parkway and multi-modal transportation system had given way to the notion of a high-speed freeway (“the first freeway of the West”) as the dominant transportation mode.

Plans for greening the surrounding communities and creating a more environmentally sensitive landscape design both on and off the freeway had largely disappeared.

Over the last several years, however, an active and vibrant set of community movements seeking new landscape, open space, and transportation approaches, has emerged to reclaim the history of the Parkway and the communities along the Arroyo Seco corridor. With the help of key allies, such as State Senator Richard Polanco, community organizations within the Arroyo Seco have been able to win important victories, including state recognition of the Parkway's historic significance.

In 2002, representatives from many of these organizations came together to form the ArroyoFest Steering Committee. On June 15, 2003 the Committee, in coordination with with Caltrans, transportation agencies, elected officials, community groups, schools and colleges, museums, and businesses, succeeded in closing the Historic Arroyo Seco Parkway so that residents of the Arroyo, as well as people throughout the region, could bike and walk ON this historic road, celebrate the rich heritage of the Arroyo Seco and support current efforts to improve the area's quality of life.

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