Image courtesy of North Long Beach: Color Block Walk.
The community is invited to the North Long Beach Color Block Walk, celebrating the culmination of the North Town Open Space Master Plan, on Saturday from 10:00AM to 2:00PM, with the kick-off to start at 10:30AM, at Myrtle Avenue and East 67th Street.
The Vice Mayor’s office has been working with the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, the Department of Health and Human Services and the local nonprofit urban design studio, City Fabrick, to develop a plan for North Long Beach that identifies opportunities to create new public open spaces and the connections between them.
“Color Block Walk is an exciting, engaging, and family friendly way to cap off our successful North Town Open Space planning process,” Vice Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement. “Be on hand as we reimagine the way we activate open space right here in Long Beach.”
The Color Block Walk is an event where attendees get covered in non-toxic, washable color powder, and is free and open to the public.
Last year, thousands of residents, stakeholders and community members were asked to participate in the planning process, and identified over 140 ideas on how to use underutilized land for new types of open spaces.
Following some prioritization based on community input, feasibility and equity, several priority projects have been identified, including one of the most popular projects, the 91 Freeway Embankment Loop, which the Color Block Walk will be a temporary demonstration of, according to the announcement.
The half-mile Color Block Walk is also a Jane’s Walk, a program honoring the forward-thinking urbanist, Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) who put the interests of residents and pedestrians first, in opposition to a car-centered approach to urban planning. Walk Long Beach is bringing the program to the city for the first time, with the official weekend to take place May 5 to 7.
Dogs are welcome and limited parking is available along 67th and Penfold streets, so attendees are encouraged to use alternative modes of transportation. A live DJ, light refreshments and prizes will be given out throughout the day, as well as opportunities to learn more about some of the new open space ideas and the process it took to identify them.
For more information, visit the Facebook event page here or call the District 9 office at (562) 570-6137.